April 20 - "The Little Shepherd"

“The Little Shepherd”
by Italo Calvino
Italian Folktales (1980)

* * (Okay) Folktale

A mean little shepherd is cursed to stay small until the day he finds the lovely Bargaglina.

I think I’m going to enjoy detecting patterns and similarities among folktales as I continue to ready more and more. This idea of a character meeting individuals that provide him with the gifts to help him later in his quest has become a recurring trait in these Italian folktales. Only here, they don’t fit as seamlessly into the overall story, or into the action at the moment their purpose becomes clear. Instead, they feel needlessly tossed into the story as a quick cheat to advance the character’s progress. These gifts were earned, and they should have value. Overall, the story feels cobbled together – some individual parts and moments stand out, but together things just blandly, and occasionally erratically, move from point A to point B.

April 19 - "I Am the Doorway"

Sundays with Uncle Stevie“I Am the Doorway”
by Stephen King
Night Shift (1979)

* * (Okay) Science Fiction

An astronaut returned from a trip around Venus worries about the mysterious, itchy growths hidden under the bandages covering his hands.

There is a mix of science fiction and horror elements in this story that simply doesn’t add up to anything spectacular. The story seems run-of-the-mill – a recycled mass of 50’s and 60’s, B-class sci fi. Very little of King’s voice is apparent in the prose here. Granted, this is an earlier work, but while reading I found very little of the author I’ve come to enjoy so much.

April 18 - "Dreams"

“Dreams”
by F. Paul Wilson
Aftershock and Others (2009)

* * * * * (Excellent) Horror

The recurring nightmare of being trapped in the monstrous body of a manly beast leads Eva discover a startling truth.

Knowing the truth that the narrator searches for regarding her life gives us, the reader, an understanding that only further adds to the ironic twist of this tale. The idea of living your dreams as if they were the “real” world has always fascinated me. This story does a great job of exploring that very idea while also mixing in the Frankenstein mythos. Everything about this short tale succeeds. The horror here is the possibility that that great lumbering monster could have evolved out of the dream-fulfillment fantasies of an unsuspecting, murdered farm girl.

April 17 - "Soap"

“Soap”
by Deb Olin Unferth
Minor Robberies (2007)

* * * * (Great) Suspense

A woman and her husband living on the left side of a house find their soap disappearing day after day. The culprit – the creature – is adept at avoiding detection, while the couple tries everything, including poisons, to stop this thief of soap.

Points for eeriness. You wouldn’t imagine a story about a soap-stealing creature to elicit such – fear. The story has a wonderful dichotomy of humor and horror. It’s a combination that works so well in horror stories, be they movies or prose. What’s different here is that the humor comes out of the playfulness of the prose, not the jokes and antics that usually compose this side of the dynamic. I’m sure this isn’t anything new, but it is the first time I’ve noticed the combination, and I was impressed. This was a frightening surprise wrapped in a pretty package.

April 16 - "Money Can Do Everything"

“Money Can Do Everything”
by Italo Calvino
Italian Folktales (1980)

* * * (Good) Folktale

A king challenges a prince to prove that money can do everything by forcing the prince to talk to his heavily guarded daughter within three days or suffer beheading.

I’m sure there are those that disagree, but money really can do everything. Is it right and good that anything can be accomplished with the liberal application of money? Probably not, but that’s the world we live in. It was the world of the past. And it will be the world of the future. What’s funny about this story is that even the man with all the money didn’t believe this to be true and had to be saved by his more level-headed nursemaid, a woman I highly doubt had much money of her own. Yet still, she knew how the world worked. I think we all do – money or not.

April 15 - "The Palmist"

“The Palmist”
by Andrew Lam
New Sudden Fiction (2007)

* * * * (Great) Realistic

An aging palmist gives a free reading to a teenager on the bus whose future catches his attention.

There are some wonderful sentences at work in this story. So many, doing so much, that you feel as though you are right there riding that bus, following that conversation between eager palmist and skeptical teenager. This story’s real power comes in its descriptions of both setting and tone. It’s a hopeful story with an open ending that leaves you both curious and yet still satisfied.

April 14 - "Tomorrow's Bird"

“Tomorrow’s Bird”
by Ian Frazier
New Sudden Fiction (2007)

* * * (Good) Fable

A man working for the crows of the world helps to spread their desire to become “Your Only Bird.”

Another only average story – this one with a cute premise: the rebranding and mass marketing of crows as the world’s new, and only, bird. One possible underlying message – evil or darkness (you pick the big bad) is permeating the world – stands, rather obviously, right behind the words on the page. It’s easy to see the author’s point, but it’s all a little too neat. Too pat. There are, however, some nice little details that shine through, such as the descriptions of the crows’ movements and actions (so real and easily pictured), or the insane power grabs (crows owning the Tombstone Frozen Pizza company, and other ventures). It’s a nice balance of the real and the asinine. I actually wish this could be developed into something more – there’s some unexplored potential here.

April 13 - "Body-without-Soul"

“Body-without-Soul”
by Italo Calvino
Italian Folktales (1980)

* * * (Good) Folktale

Clever Jack is told by the king to rescue his kidnapped daughter from the evil sorcerer, Body-without-Soul. With gifts gained from helping four animals along the way, Jack fights for the princess’s freedom.

There is nothing wrong, or terribly exciting, about this story. It tells a simple tale in a rather straightforward – and predictable – way. The elaborate manner in which Jack must defeat Body-without-Soul is unique. It would have been more interesting if Jack’s defeat of the sorcerer hadn’t been so obvious, but the time constraint – a folktale is typically a short, short story – necessitates this compressed telling. I did find it amusing in the beginning of the tale that Jack’s mom told him he’d be old enough to venture out alone once he was able to kick over the tree in their yard. The image of the young boy dropkicking a tree each morning until it was finally felled was priceless.

[This review was posted to the blog a day late. The story was read on April 13th, but illness and an unexpected nap stole the day away from me.]

April 12 - "In the Deathroom"

Sundays with Uncle Stevie“In the Deathroom”
by Stephen King
Everything’s Eventual (2002)

* * * * (Great) Suspense

Fletcher is dragged into a deathroom and placed in a chair facing three individuals wishing to have a conversation – interrogation – about the mysterious and rebellious El Condor. His only hope for survival is escape.

A little bit of torture in the deathroom. You see and read so much about torture and its impact becomes something less than horrific. Yes, it is still often cringe-worthy, but no longer so much in idea, but in the various new methods people invent. I enjoyed that King put us in the mind of Fletcher so that we could better experience the thrill of fighting back, of escape. I think it not unusual for people to place themselves in situations such as this (or time in prison, or being shot, or fighting for your life) in an attempt to test the limits of their own courage or fortitude. That we have stories such as this allows us that experience. It is well done and you come away feeling – hoping – you are half as strong as Fletcher. Not all stories have happy endings, but sometimes a little hope isn’t such a bad thing.

April 11 - "Monster"

“Monster”
by Kelly Link
Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, and Some Other Things That Aren’t as Scary, Maybe, Depending on How You Feel About Lost Lands, Stray Cellphones, Creatures from the Sky, Parents Who Disappear in Peru, A Man Named Lars Farf, and One Other Story We Couldn’t Quite Finish, So Maybe You Could Help Us Out (2005)

* * * * * (Excellent) Children’s

The boys of Bungalow 6 felt compelled to go camping in the woods. Neither threat of rain nor monster could keep them from doing what the bullies of Bungalow 4 had already done. Even James Lorbick, the least popular – and unhappiest – boy in camp, felt the need to brave the night outdoors.

Another excellent story in this wildly inventive – slightly offbeat – collection of short stories for (intelligent and literary) children. Link does a great job of pacing and characterization, all building up to a very enjoyable climax: James Lorbick’s jittery, immensely funny campfire chat with a monster. The story succeeded in bringing back fond – but maybe not entirely accurate – memories of camp. However much (or little) of my own camping experience I do remember, this tale and these campers felt right. The magic came in both the tiny details (the “joy” of cramped and wet and smelly tents) and the supernatural horrors (terrified children fleeting the blood-stained hands of a quick white monster). It’s the type of story you hope to hear while sitting around a campfire – a story chock full of humor, and chills.