The Lake by Tananarive Due
My rating: 4/5 cats
WELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!
boilerplate mission statement:
for the past two years, i’ve set december’s project aside to do my own version of a short story advent calendar. it’s not a true advent calendar since i choose all the stories myself, but what it lacks in the ‘element of surprise’ department it more than makes up for in hassle, as i try to cram even MORE reading into a life already overcrammed with impossible personal goals (live up to your potential! find meaningful work! learn to knit!) merry merry wheee!
since i am already well behind in my *regular* reviewing, when it comes to these stories, whatever i poop out as far as reflections or impressions are going to be superficial and perfunctory at best. please do not weep for the great big hole my absented, much-vaunted critical insights are gonna leave in these daily review-spaces (and your hearts); i’ll try to drop shiny insights elsewhere in other reviews, and here, i will at least drop links to where you can read the stories yourselves for free, which – let’s be honest – is gonna serve you better anyway.
HAPPY READING, BOOKNERDS!
links to all stories read in previous years’ calendars can be found at the end of these reviews, in case you are a person who likes to read stories for free:
2016: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show…
2017: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show…
scroll down for links to this year’s stories which i will update as we go, and if you have any suggestions, send ’em my way! the only rules are: it must be available free online (links greatly appreciated), and it must be here on gr as its own thing so i can review it. thank you in advance!
DECEMBER 1
In her dream, she wasn’t afraid of the alligator; she’d sensed instead (smelled instead?) that the alligator was afraid of her.
what a good way to start off the project! reprinted from the anthology The Monster’s Corner: Stories Through Inhuman Eyes, due’s narrator falls squarely into santa’s “naughty” column in a story blurring the line between the literal and the figurative monstrous. it’s a clever conceit, the descriptions and atmosphere are strong, and i love how she tosses out these little half-reveals, details that snag on the reader’s brain but are ultimately unexplored teases (oh, DO tell more about mary kay and whether “trial” has two meanings in this sentence…)
it also makes me want to check out that anthology, so obviously the strategy of giving the first taste free and making ’em beg for more is working on me.
i’m glad i didn’t start this project off on a stinker. fingers crossed for the rest of the month!
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2011/09/13/the-lake/
(be advised, some of the formatting is a little janky)
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