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they say the owl was a baker's daughter: four existential noirs

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By KUBOA
$0.00 Rating: 1 star1 star1 star1 star1 star
(5.00 based on 1 review)

Published: Aug. 31, 2011
Words: 121451 (approximate)
Language: English


Description

a collection of four novella by Pablo D'Stair (Kaspar Traulhaine, approximate; i poisoned you; twelve ELEVEN thirteen; man standing behind) More information can be found at www.kuboapress.wordpress.com

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Reviews

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Review by: Trudi Stafford on Jan. 29, 2012 : star star star star star
The four novellas brought together in this collection represent some pretty messed up shit, but the writing (as unpolished as it can be at times) represents the REAL DEAL people. There is a palpable energy to the prose and a paranoia that drips over everything that cuts so deep like acid it will unsettle you in ways I can't even begin to describe.

First of all, I think it is important to establish whether this collection is for you (because I will be the first to admit it certainly isn't for everyone).

If you derive much of your reading enjoyment from having all your questions answered, than this may not be the collection for you. Each novella deals with a narrator who has become "unhinged" shall we say, causing said narrator to act out in very real and unpredictable ways. We don't know why, they don't know why. There is no rumination on the dark heart of man or any such thing. Shit happens and then it's done. There is none of that satisfying resolution that comes with the linear progression from unexpected chaos to the reestablishment of order. All four endings will leave you with more questions than answers, that I can promise.

If graphic descriptions of bodily functions like vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea and excess saliva make you queasy than this book is probably not for you. You have been warned.

Okay, if you have made it this far into the review and you're still with me, what comes next is the best part. D'Stair plumbs the depths of human paranoia and anxiety, the overall result an exceptional effort that's as unshakable and easily as memorable as Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. I'm not shitting you.

These are stories about following and being followed -- about fear of discovery and the siren song of confession. These stories are so steeped in paranoia, that your brain will succumb to the itchy fingers of paranoia as a result. You will be like Michael Douglas' character in The Game, where everyone around you is suspect and a possible threat.

I'm also going to throw out two other cinematic gems that these novellas caused me to think about: Memento and Jacob's Ladder. The former because of the stream-of-consciousness narration by an untrustworthy and possibly delusional narrator; the latter because of the sensation of absolute mindfuck (pardon my French).

**A longer version of this review was first posted to Goodreads here.
(review of free book)

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