Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link



I’m in two minds about short stories. On the one hand they are short, self-contained, bite-sized chunks of entertainment.  On the other hand I feel like they need to have a point to them, a reason for their existence, and if they don’t I feel like I’ve wasted my time reading it.

I’m not sure how to classify these stories. I wouldn’t call them sci-fi or fantasy, but they are definitely not realist either.  The writing has a surreal quality to it. Like Dali’s melting clock or the warped mirrors in a funhouse. I liked it. It gave a different and unique flavour to these stories.

I would very much like to read a full length novel by this author. I want to see if that surrealism can be maintained for the whole length or if it can only be held for the duration of a short story. I also want to meet some real characters. The characters in these stories never had a chance to develop. That’s one of the points against short stories, in my opinion. I don’t get a chance to know and become emotionally invested in the characters. There was a lot of Manic Pixie Dream Girl throughout this collection. I think in a longer book we’d get to see a lot more character development and meet some real people.

When I finished the stories I felt let down and a little disappointed. It was like I had been expecting more of a pay off or reward for reading the story. This comes from my expectation that short stories need to have a ‘point’ to make, I suppose. I wanted the stories to keep on going though, I was enjoying reading them and I wanted to stay in that story longer, keep exploring that universe and learn more about those characters. The stories were over too soon and I didn’t get a nice little take home package from them. So while I really liked them while I was reading them, upon finishing each story that feeling was soured a little bit.

My favourite story from the collection? A tie between “Travels with the Snow Queen” and “Vanishing Act”.

3.5 out of 5 disappearing cousins for this neat little package.

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