“Seven Pieces of Severance”
by Robert Olen Butler
New Sudden Fiction (2007)
* * (Okay) Fantasy
Seven different accounts of the moments just after decapitation.
These flashes of fiction are interesting, but ultimately not engaging. The conceit here is that the mind is still conscious after decapitation for 60 to 90 seconds, giving a person about 160 to 240 words flowing through his or her mind before death. I get that these thoughts wouldn’t necessarily be coherent, or tell a story, but the rambling mess of words, while at times bordering the poetic, does very little for me. I think I’d be more excited if there was a profanity-laced tirade, or some humor, but these are the opposite of that. What truly saddens me: I have an entire book of these stories (Severance), from which these 7 were excerpted, that I’m now not looking forward to reading. Maybe in small doses?
5k (Semi) Challenge
12 years ago
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