Short stories are truly a blessing in a hectic month and last month sure was busy. Same as always, here are the ones I enjoyed the most + links + if you read any, would love to know what you thought!
Seams - Olga Tokarczuk tr. Jennifer Croft
My first experience of her writing (bar her Nobel Prize lecture ‘The Tender Narrator’ which I would recommend also!) and wow… Imagine the scene: I have just finished reading this and I am pacing up and down trying to shake off the unsettling unreality that crept up on me. Read this and tell me you didn’t check your socks.
The Path of Water - Emma Törzs
A Rapunzel retelling after their ‘Happy ending’ told from the perspective of the Prince. But something doesn’t feel right… Refraining from giving away the ending, but I will say that this is one of my favourite types of narratives.
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Reporter - Daniela Tomova
A reporter from Texas goes to the Arctic to observe a zombie sled race to the North Pole. To be frank, my theory about what was going on fell through and I am still rather confused about what did happen… However, isn’t that the beauty of a short story? To present you with interesting concepts and leave you to figure out your own interpretation? To quote Knives Out ‘It doesn’t make any sense! Compels me though!’
So yes, I could have just run away. I watched myself doing it, exactly like I watch every decision I make a moment before I make it—with my meta self-awareness, that internal self-narration those of us who belong to more than one world have. (…) And I saw myself living the rest of my life with that horrible sentence.
I had been right there a second ago.
April 2045: The Hole - Taras Antypovych tr. Uilleam Blacker
Someone please explain why two guys talking about gravedigging going out of fashion and smelly socks inspired a wave of melancholy in me.
(Also Words without Borders!!!! A translated short story treasure trove!!! An absolute delight!!!!)
The Great Awake - Julia Armfield
What if your sleep was an entity so you don’t have to sleep anymore. Particularly interesting to read late at night when you can’t fall asleep, not that I am speaking from personal experience or anything…
Mika Model - Paolo Bacigalupi
Mika is a robot designed for sexual pleasure and she wants a lawyer. To quote the response essay by Ryan Calo (linked at the bottom of the story!) ‘When a Robot Kills, Is it Murder or Product Liability?’ An interesting piece on AI technology! (TW: violence)
Till next time!
Y.