Preen and Primp

If I achieve no other critical acclaim in my lifetime, I will always be able to say that Margo Lanagan likes my tweets.

Tender Morsels - Margo Lanagan

buy - author site

(Miss Apricot thinks Mister Bear has inflamed tonsils.)

There was a lot of bruhaha in the reviewsphere about the events contained in the book and whether it was obscene material that should be burned, I say, burned, or not. I didn't read any of this, but I was aware of it. It was at the front of my mind when I started, a sort of mental readiness that what was to come was probably not pleasant (and knowing Margo's style, that's only to be expected).

And still, that first session I had to stop not because I was ready to stop reading - I wasn't, actually - but because I'd reached my horror saturation point and had to go find some rainbows and unicorns to snort.

It was quite a relief when that section passed. I almost understood, then, why the bruhaha, and having read the book do not agree with it. It does deal with some heinous crimes and taboos, but does not exploit them. Margo handles them with an honesty that makes liars of us all, she doesn't shy away from the consequences that follow such events, be they emotional, practical or social, nor does she make any attempt to belittle how lasting the effects can be on a person. The ending is better than the start, which is all that can be hoped for, really.

This is a recasting of Snow White, Rose Red, which is a fairytale I'm not well acquainted with. It spans two worlds, each with their joys and savage flaws, and some three generations of women who fit in neither world, and make their own world between themselves. It's a subtle fantasy, not feeling much need to be loud and brash in its unworldliness. The magic exists to serve the themes of struggle, defeat and the furious unfairness of ordinary people. The magic bends its knee to a story driven by characters.

The prose itself is an incredible magic, Margo having a precision of feeling in the details she chooses and the words she chooses to denote those details that stems from an almost childlike-innocence view of the world, before the rules of language dictate what word applied to what. It's through this delicate, exquisite prose that the atrocities are delivered, and I cannot tell you if that makes them easier or harder to stomach. Regardless, it made the book a wonder of craft.

(I had a moment, in that delightful warm burly section with the visit of First Bear, thinking of Florence, and oh my heart wanted...)

The end left me a touch disgruntled, as for me the story was always Liga's story, she who had endured the most and still endured against the demons her trials had gifted her, and yet, it is the best ending to be wished for. This story has its roots in a fairytale, but it is not a Disney fairytale with a happily ever after, nor it is a traditional fairytale with everyone dying horribly, in fact it's not a fairytale at all.

It's life. You don't get what you deserve. You can only make a life with what you get.

But, despite all the atrocities and scars, or perhaps because of them, this is first and foremost, a love story. This book is so saturated with love, the love of mothers and daughters, of sisters, of the family you make for yourself, it made me hurt it was so sweet.

Verdict: Exquisite. An incredibly powerful book, and so honest about the psychological and emotional scars that shape us long after the wound that made them has healed over. Do not read if you are feeling at all vulnerable.

Additional Blather: I consumed this as an audiobook, and dude, I'm not sure I'll do that again. The iPod just isn't set up to deal with audiobooks nicely. Possibly I have to rummage around for obscure settings some more, but on starting the book I couldn't use my iPod for anything else because otherwise I'd lose my place again, with 1134 tracks to hunt through, never find it again. Audiobooks also take much longer to consume. I'd have probably eaten the book in a couple of days, but this went on for about a month.

That said, it was wonderful to be read to, and the readers, Anne Flosnik and Michael Page, were perfectly suited to the story.

Black Juice - Margo Lanagan

Margo was our week four tutor at Clarion South. She was a relatively unknown factor; the Psychic had heard she was brutal when it came to crits, whilst being a lovely person. But she went and won a handful of Aurealis Awards right in front of us, and thus instilled the Fear Of Margo in us all.

The awards were so much deserved.

The collection starts off with "Singing My Sister Down", which was responsible for all the award winning. I read it first, during Clarion (I believe because I couldn't sleep), and had to go on to read another simply because of the effect it had on me. Margo is an incredibly powerful writer. Her ability to manipulate emotions is exceptional, and she doesn't hold back at all. "Singing My Sister Down" was a punch in the gut. Beautiful story, but don't read it if, you know, you have to be in public any time soon after. You'll want some alone time. And a box of tissues.

I was quite fond of "Red Nose Day", although I found the title misleading as it had absolutely nothing to do with SIDS. Two men with large chips on their shoulders, assassinating clowns. It should have been funny, but instead it teetered in hysteria, from hilarity and horror, much the same way clowns themselves are supposed to be funny, and more often than not are sad. It's a surprisingly touching story.

"Sweet Pippit" sees her show of her knowledge of the importance of sounds. The names the elephants give each other, how humans sound to them; it's a sweet story, full of aural texture, and ends on a wonderful blend of hope and despair.

Actually, most of her stories left me in the bluer side of the emotion spectrum, but oh, she knows just how many shades there are to blue.

It's easy to write a nasty story. It isn't easy to write a brilliant, layered, textured story that will touch you in so many different ways that, at the end, you won't be able to say what it is you are feeling.

"Yowlinin" I found to be a surprisingly grounded story. Despite the appearance of the terrible yowlinin creatures and the death and destruction they bring (what I typo, I just typed 'brain'), it is a story that all of us, each and every one of us, has gone through. That first infatuation, watching them from a distance, imagining that they will feel the same. But reality rarely listens to infatuations, and dreams.

And then, the "Rite of Spring", the one story that didn't leave me in the blue, but edged me towards green. The only note to end on. Unfortunately this story was mildly spoiled for me during Clarion, but like others, I was left wondering whether or not he did have the power to change the seasons.

I like to think he does.

It's hard to review collections, as there is no overall story to rip apart, and no one wants to read a dozen small critiques. I can say that, overall, Margo is a gobsmackingly good writer. Her stories have so many layers, short stories shouldn't be capable of fitting so many layers without exploding, and are wonderfully complex whilst being simple at the same time. Her use of language and understanding of the right word in the right place is gorgeous, and I think all aspiring writers should read a couple of her stories just to see this. There is a lot to be learned from what impressions a mere sound can make. Treat yourself and get ye some Margo writerlings.

Verdict: one of the best short story writers out there. Shall be hunting down her other collections.