If you haven’t read the new Kelly Link story that’s in the new issue of Tin House, you should read it now. I think it’s totally different than anything she’s written before, and it’s really awesome. It’s a little long to read online, but I couldn’t pull myself away from it. If the computer is hard on your eyes, get the new issue of Tin House and read it in print.
Light
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5 responses to “Light”
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What is it you think makes it so different?
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I think the rhythm and pacing of the story is different from any of her others. There’s less lyricism than usual. The characterizations feel flatter, but purposively so. The fantastical elements seem to float unfixed, as if the reader shouldn’t be able to contextualize them and understand what they “mean” or for what many readers would try to read as metaphor. In many ways it’s a fantasy that feels like science fiction, if that makes any sense at all. For me, these are different attributes than the ones that usually show up in Kelly’s stories. Or I should say, they have all appeared variously in her stories, but not all in once place as they do here. The closest story of hers that it feels similar to, for me, is “The Hortlak”. But even that story feels as if you can read the fantasy elements as a metaphor for entrapment in a world where consumerism is the lens through which people view and understand, or fail to understand, one another. I didn’t necessarily get that feeling for this story. I can make attempts to analyze it in such a way, but it feels more resistant to analysis than any other story of hers, for me.
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I read and loved it. Apparently, the print issue has been slightly delayed at the printing plant (really! Kelly just told me).
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That’s too bad about the delay! At least we have Kelly’s story online to read till they can get it out.
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[…] Chris Barzak’s blog mentioned the Kelly Link story in Tin House a couple of days ago (and which I urge you to read) but it also has the beginnings of a piece by Rick Moody on Angela Carter which is frustratingly only excerpted.Carter is one of those authors whose writing I absolutely love but only read sparingly to savour it. Technorati Tags: angela carter, Authors, christopher barzak, kelly link addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fwww.yatterings.com%2F2007%2F10%2F13%2Ftin-house-on-kelly-link-and-angela-carter%2F’; addthis_title = ‘Tin+House+on+Kelly+Link+and+Angela+Carter’; addthis_pub = ”; Posted in Authors on October 13th, 2007 RSS 2.0 Trackback. […]
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