From this distance it does resemble fun. Fun is not knowing how it will end.
Stone Mattress
by Margaret Atwood
Genre: Contemporary Short Stories
Mini Review
This is a great collection of short stories that have fantastic character voices. I particularly enjoyed that the main characters are mostly elderly as this viewpoint is not something I've seen a lot of in short stories. And while there is some quiet reflection as you'd expect to see from more experienced characters, these tales are not relaxing, nostalgic reads. They're dark and unsettling and feature strong personalities with detailed histories.
My order of preference:
The Dead Hand Loves You
Stone Mattress
Revenant
Dark Lady
Alphinland
The Freeze-Dried Groom
I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth
Torch the Dusties
Lusus Naturae
The first three shorts (Alphinland, Revenant and Dark Lady) are connected and I do wish all the shorts had been as I loved seeing the different perspectives intertwined.
All the stories had something provocative about them and are certainly memorable. However my reading experience was that it was quite slow paced because a lot of the time the story is really a slow build of a character rather than a tense narrative.
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