The Complete Butcher's Tales

Rating:
Summary: Imaginative, disturbing, disorienting ... and uneven
Review: The back of this book includes the description "In the fantastic tradition of Borges, Bruno Schulz, Angela Carter, and H. P. Lovecraft ..." This is a reasonable description of this collection of stories ranging from superb to interesting failures. Examples:

Missy is a tale of children's cruelty to each other in the context of an invitation to a birthday party for the purpose of humiliating a guest. This story has a touch of voodoo.

Two stories (Friendship and The Double) deal with the growth of doubles - one growing from an apparent tumor, the other growing from feet which detached themselves from their original body.

Replacement of / detaching of heads is another common motif e.g.Aunt Rose and Uncle Friedle.

Alchemy, murder, sex, shoes all make multiple appearences - used equally in humor and horror.

A few of the stories carry serious meaning i.e. "Saida" which is dedicated to Salman Rushdie which explores religious rigidity; or A Lunatic's Apprentice which spoofs gullibility and false religiosity.

Many of the stories, however, are merely well written insights into Ducornet's imagination. Or, put another way, the collection has more Lovecraft and less Schulz than I would prefer. Nonetheless, I will watch for additional short fiction by this inventive author.

Rating:
Summary: Imaginative, disturbing, disorienting ... and uneven
Review: The back of this book includes the description "In the fantastic tradition of Borges, Bruno Schulz, Angela Carter, and H. P. Lovecraft ..." This is a reasonable description of this collection of stories ranging from superb to interesting failures. Examples:

Missy is a tale of children's cruelty to each other in the context of an invitation to a birthday party for the purpose of humiliating a guest. This story has a touch of voodoo.

Two stories (Friendship and The Double) deal with the growth of doubles - one growing from an apparent tumor, the other growing from feet which detached themselves from their original body.

Replacement of / detaching of heads is another common motif e.g.Aunt Rose and Uncle Friedle.

Alchemy, murder, sex, shoes all make multiple appearences - used equally in humor and horror.

A few of the stories carry serious meaning i.e. "Saida" which is dedicated to Salman Rushdie which explores religious rigidity; or A Lunatic's Apprentice which spoofs gullibility and false religiosity.

Many of the stories, however, are merely well written insights into Ducornet's imagination. Or, put another way, the collection has more Lovecraft and less Schulz than I would prefer. Nonetheless, I will watch for additional short fiction by this inventive author.