Two Worlds and In Between: The Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan
Two Worlds and In Between: The Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan is a collection of Kiernan’s works which span the years 1993-2004. The stories are arranged in chronological order, letting the reader watch the progression of her style… I was not the best choice of reviewer for Two Worlds and In Between… The problem is me, not Kiernan. Her prose is beautiful, her imagery is stunning, and her characters feel incredibly real. However, her stories are full of things I generally don’t like to spend my time thinking about… I have the utmost admiration for Caitlín R. Kiernan’s talents but, truthfully, I just don’t want to visit her worlds. They are beyond bleak and when I was there, I suffered along with her characters and I couldn’t wait to get out. Two Worlds and In Between: The Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan is, however, a must-read for fans of Kiernan, or for anyone who prefers their fantasy uncomfortably dark. Read the rest.
Kat–I have almost the same problem with this author. Her prose is lovely and her images, while disturbing, are very powerful, but sometimes I think she is mired in a kind of adolescent “life sucks, man!” world view, and she is adept at dragging us down into that same vision.
This actually reminds me a lot of my experience with the Boyett book recently. The writing’s great, but I just don’t want to read about excrement and pus quite that much. But I have to recognize the skill involved.
This book is sitting on my shelf awaiting my reading, mostly because I so intensely admired Kiernan’s The Red Tree a couple of years ago. That was definitely a bleak book, but the artistry overwhelmed the bleakness for me. I’ll be interested to see whether Kiernan’s stories affect me as you suggest, Kelly, or whether I find myself enjoying them.
The Red Tree was really interesting. I’m such a sucker for the “did this really happen, or is the character insane or an unreliable narrator” type of plot. Bleak, but fascinating.
I will read Red Tree, even if life does suck, because I know what a good prose writer she is, and because of the reviews.