The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander
My rating: 5/5 cats
in just under a hundred pages, brooke bolander figured out a way to rewrite american history so it’s even worse, develop two-and-change distinct storylines, flesh out the thoughts, traditions, mythologies, language, and other components of a cultural heritage belonging to a familiar nonhuman species, and drag the reader through puddles of sorrow and sick-feelings before shaking ‘em off into hope, triumph, and a raised fist of “fuck all y’all.”
plus, she manages all of that in this strikingly fanciful singsongy prose that is very appealing and adds even more dimension to the story with its suggestion of “otherness:”
Each moonrise the metal bird in the box screams a mad musth cry. Like all Man-things, the bird is obsessed with the rising and setting of the sun. The night-whistle signals rest. The night-whistle signals a bag full of tasteless dried oats, a brief escape from sad dead girls and tormenting men, and four more wooden walls, the inside of a dry skull plugged tight with moldy hay and dung. She remembers a place where the Night was made of warm shuffle and star-graze, tearing up sweet wet grass by the trunkful with moonshaded Mothers when she was old enough to tooth. She remembers, but there is no sweet grass to tear up by the trunkful, so instead she thoughtfully tears apart her stall, board by splintered board. There will be a beating in the morning. There are always beatings in the morning.
lovely, bittersweet, and powerful. it delivers so much more than its length suggests. read it, read it, read it now – you definitely have the time.
***********************************************
this is a reese’s peanut butter cup of shameful american history. i must devour it.
Mike Reynolds
June 15, 2018 at 1:15 pm
Karen! I loved this book, too.
And, hey: I love your reviews, and I’m grateful to come upon this here bloggy blog.
karen t. brissette
June 15, 2018 at 1:54 pm
mike reynolds! how tremendous to see you here! you have the honor of being my very first naturally-occurring, non-spamming comment-leaver. there are zero perks to the office except my affection-warmed heart.