Love the sound of Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind & The Secret Lives of Insects - I will be adding them to the tbr!
Also we have to talk about Our Share of Night I want to hear all about you DNFing. I read it recently in October (my first Enriquez) and at times was really enthralled by the historical / political explorations, but other times completely bored at how meandering the narrative could be. I seriously don’t think it needed to be as long as it was - and in my review last month said I think I will much prefer Enriquez short stories because there is less opportunity for bloated & meandering narrative. What I will say is I was incredibly impressed at the fear Enriquez writes with and I will admit at times feeling marginally scared. I wanted way more history on the ‘Dirty War’ but I guess that is not a fault of Enriquez but more a reflection of my personal taste in loving books where I can learn. I have found some fiction since on this time period in Argentina and am hoping it satisfies!
I’ve definitely also heard A Sunny Place for Shady People may be her strongest collection and I think I might go there next. While reading your review, I wondered if you have read short story collection ‘Every Drop Is A Man’s Nightmare’? I read it last December and to this day is the strongest short story collection I have personally ever read. It is also speculative fiction - so I thought I’d recommend!
Oo I just searched back through my archives to see why I DNF'd! My main problem I think was its slowness. I could just tell it was going to dither, and I really just didn't have the patience for it. Also seems I thought the protagonist was a "brooding man who has women fawning all over him". I don't usually like to complain I 'can't connect' with characters but I can see why I might have been a little less than enthusiastic about that element. Anyway, I like long books, even books where there isn't loads happening but I couldn't *feel* Enriquez knew where she was going. It's like a first draft, you get all that out and then cut out the extra bits after the fact that don't serve the story overall. I have found this with short story writers turned long ass novelists though haha - it's like the sublime to the ridiculous!
Interestingly I've heard the opposite, that the earlier two collections are better!! I definitely will try another at some point. And adding Every Drop is a Man's Nightmare to my list! Looks v interesting.
Ok yes I am agreeing with most of your Our Share of Night reflections - I also love a long book but I agree that it was hard to feel where Enriquez knew where she was going (hence my comment about how the writing felt very meandering). The protagonists father was indeed a man who had women fawning all over him and it was a bit sickening. I agree with first draft comments too - and laughed at your sublime to the ridiculous comment - it makes sense though! Short story to 750 page novel is a big word count freedom jump!
Oh interesting re the collections! I am going to have to do some searching to see where to start with her short stories - but perhaps I'll move chronologically. And I'm happy to hear Every Drop is being added to the list!! I look forward to hearing what you think, whenever you get round to reading it.
I immediately added Jonathan Abernathy and The Spears Cuts Through Water to my list. I'm so glad I found your videos! For a long time, I've been reading and mostly following YouTubers who focus on literary fiction. A couple of years ago, I realized I was having trouble connecting with or caring about many of the books everyone seemed to be reading. At first, I thought it was just me, that maybe I'd fallen out of love with reading altogether. But then I realized the issue was more about being dissatisfied with a lot of contemporary literary fiction. Recently, I've also started reading more speculative fiction, and I absolutely love it. Right now, I'm reading The Pride of Chanur by C.J. Cherryh, since Jo Walton frequently recommends her books.
Thank you again for this post and for all of your videos!
Love the sound of Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind & The Secret Lives of Insects - I will be adding them to the tbr!
Also we have to talk about Our Share of Night I want to hear all about you DNFing. I read it recently in October (my first Enriquez) and at times was really enthralled by the historical / political explorations, but other times completely bored at how meandering the narrative could be. I seriously don’t think it needed to be as long as it was - and in my review last month said I think I will much prefer Enriquez short stories because there is less opportunity for bloated & meandering narrative. What I will say is I was incredibly impressed at the fear Enriquez writes with and I will admit at times feeling marginally scared. I wanted way more history on the ‘Dirty War’ but I guess that is not a fault of Enriquez but more a reflection of my personal taste in loving books where I can learn. I have found some fiction since on this time period in Argentina and am hoping it satisfies!
I’ve definitely also heard A Sunny Place for Shady People may be her strongest collection and I think I might go there next. While reading your review, I wondered if you have read short story collection ‘Every Drop Is A Man’s Nightmare’? I read it last December and to this day is the strongest short story collection I have personally ever read. It is also speculative fiction - so I thought I’d recommend!
Oo I just searched back through my archives to see why I DNF'd! My main problem I think was its slowness. I could just tell it was going to dither, and I really just didn't have the patience for it. Also seems I thought the protagonist was a "brooding man who has women fawning all over him". I don't usually like to complain I 'can't connect' with characters but I can see why I might have been a little less than enthusiastic about that element. Anyway, I like long books, even books where there isn't loads happening but I couldn't *feel* Enriquez knew where she was going. It's like a first draft, you get all that out and then cut out the extra bits after the fact that don't serve the story overall. I have found this with short story writers turned long ass novelists though haha - it's like the sublime to the ridiculous!
Interestingly I've heard the opposite, that the earlier two collections are better!! I definitely will try another at some point. And adding Every Drop is a Man's Nightmare to my list! Looks v interesting.
Ok yes I am agreeing with most of your Our Share of Night reflections - I also love a long book but I agree that it was hard to feel where Enriquez knew where she was going (hence my comment about how the writing felt very meandering). The protagonists father was indeed a man who had women fawning all over him and it was a bit sickening. I agree with first draft comments too - and laughed at your sublime to the ridiculous comment - it makes sense though! Short story to 750 page novel is a big word count freedom jump!
Oh interesting re the collections! I am going to have to do some searching to see where to start with her short stories - but perhaps I'll move chronologically. And I'm happy to hear Every Drop is being added to the list!! I look forward to hearing what you think, whenever you get round to reading it.
I immediately added Jonathan Abernathy and The Spears Cuts Through Water to my list. I'm so glad I found your videos! For a long time, I've been reading and mostly following YouTubers who focus on literary fiction. A couple of years ago, I realized I was having trouble connecting with or caring about many of the books everyone seemed to be reading. At first, I thought it was just me, that maybe I'd fallen out of love with reading altogether. But then I realized the issue was more about being dissatisfied with a lot of contemporary literary fiction. Recently, I've also started reading more speculative fiction, and I absolutely love it. Right now, I'm reading The Pride of Chanur by C.J. Cherryh, since Jo Walton frequently recommends her books.
Thank you again for this post and for all of your videos!
The Spear Cuts Through Water sounds fantastic!!