The good and the bad
Between the plays of Shakespeare and Marlowe and my first job, I got the chance to read some of my own books. And write a Hive post! I decided to start with Famished, a short story collection that peaked my interest from the first time I saw it.
I have a particular opinion about this collection as it is neither exceptional nor bad. It is a unique piece of work. I must say I have never encountered anything of its sort. These stories are extremely short and would be classified as flash fiction. To give you context, there is 17 stories in less than 90 pages. That is a whole lot of stories in very few pages. It dwells on horror and dark fiction with the theme of food sprinkled on it, of course.
This post may contain spoilers. I would suggest you read this post at another time if you want to read the book for yourself.
List of titles
These titles will definitely capture your attention, maybe convincing you to read the book for yourself. If it does not interest you, I don’t think anything ever will.
“cave venus et stellas”
“feasting; fasting”
“what he choked on”
“seaside rock and other homicides”
“a tale of tripe”
“nanny lovett and pop todd”
“henry and his surfeit of lampreys”
“hot cross buns, sharp teeth and a tongue”
“shame”
“cucumber sandwiches”
“shadow babies' supper”
“the choracle”
“jar and the girl”
“sherbet”
“bread and salt”
“trimalchio jones”
“sweetie”
Genius?
My personal favourites are “bread and salt”, “sherbet”, and “the choracle” in that order.
The third on my list is precisely what the title says, a chocolate oracle. I think it is such a fun story involving uptight mothers and a chocolate fountain. It is one of the few stories that had humour. It actually made me chuckle a bit. It is also not as dark as the other stories, but it has its charm.The absurdity compliments this story perfectly. Sometimes I wish I had a chocolate oracle at my disposal.
Cults have always been a big interest of mine. What is the psychology behind it all? Are the members misfits searching for a purpose or are the leaders professional manipulators using tactics that are utter brilliance? Well, what about a leader finding his enlightenment and wisdom from sherbet. Maybe knowledge is as easy as eating sherbet. It sounds more like Doctor Faustus should have eaten sherbet rather than conjuring Beelzebub.
My favourite story, “bread and salt”, is superior to the other stories. I think it was well thought out and seriously creative. There is this narrator talking directly to the reader, introducing you to a russian greeting. It is also known as an invitation to hospitality. “Хлеб да соль” translating to “bread and salt”. This greeting is a custom in Russia when welcoming guests. It is a wish for wealth and protection. The narrator of our story explains it quite well, but a twist awaits you as their guest.
An honourable mention would be “hot cross buns, sharp teeth and a tongue”. There is even a recipe in the story for 14 hot cross buns. It is a nice tale about old people and hot cross buns. Old people are friendly and full of love, aren’t they? They are sweet and kind, right?
Critique
Personally, I think some stories would have done better with a bit more flesh on the bones. In my opinion, some stories require a bit more for the twist and/or disturbing factor to be more striking. It may be more information or more description, but each story has to be treated differently. The length do compliment some of the stories, like I have mentioned above, which fits perfectly. It has its own charm.
Fin
I know it was a rather short post, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. If you are up for a change in your reading life, I would suggest Famished.
Happy reading and happy eating…
(This post is my own creation and the photographs were taken with 