Magic for Beginners
by Kelly Link
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Read in July, 2006
Link garners effusive praise from Jonathan Lethem, China Mieville, Michael Chabon, Peter Straub, Alice Sebold, et al. Sometimes I get it, and sometimes I don't. Some of her stories I enjoy, some of them I don't.
For example, take the two stories in this collection that I had read previously: Catskin and Stone Animals, both of which I read in McSweeney's. I liked Catskin slightly more the second time around, but it still rates a thumbs down. It's the tale of a witch and h...more
For example, take the two stories in this collection that I had read previously: Catskin and Stone Animals, both of which I read in McSweeney's. I liked Catskin slightly more the second time around, but it still rates a thumbs down. It's the tale of a witch and h...more
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Read in January, 2006
I want it to be about good and evil and true love, and it should also be funny. No talking animals. Not too much fooling around with the narrative structure. The ending should be happy but still be realistic, believable, you know, and there shouldn’t be a moral although we should be able to think back later and have some sort of revelation. No and suddenly they woke up and discovered that it was all a dream. Got that?
These are the instructions given to sex-line operator Starlight in “L...more
These are the instructions given to sex-line operator Starlight in “L...more
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Read in June, 2008
Nothing is impossible in a Kelly Link story. There are nine stories in this collection, and while a few of these shine more luminously than the others, all are read-worthy. That is not a compliment I would give many one-author short story anthologies, most of which resemble pop albums -- a few noteworthy singles, enough filler to make us feel like we've purchased a full album.
"Stone Animals" I first read in The Best American Short Stories of 2005. It introduces us to ...more
"Stone Animals" I first read in The Best American Short Stories of 2005. It introduces us to ...more
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3 comments
Here's the review from my twice-yearly zine (October '06). I think I preferred Link's debut short story collection, Stranger Things Happen, but I definitely appreciate what she's aiming for her. Nobody writes stories quite like hers:
Kelly Link is herself no stranger to the bizarre,
or even to charges of sometimes wading too deep
into its waters for some readers’ taste.
In a recent missive to members of her online
writing workshop, Link encouraged writers to
“submit more ambitious ...more
Kelly Link is herself no stranger to the bizarre,
or even to charges of sometimes wading too deep
into its waters for some readers’ taste.
In a recent missive to members of her online
writing workshop, Link encouraged writers to
“submit more ambitious ...more
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Read in March, 2008
It could be that I am simply unpleasable; or that these stories would have tickled the part of me that enjoys clever writing had I simply read them at the right time. But as it is, this book was a real grind for me to get through.
It could have been the clever turns-of-phrase that exposed rather than hid a certain hollowness of feeling at the core of these stories. (Or is this just an effect of writing about characters who are numb or inarticulate or vaguely longing or just plain vague?) It c...more
It could have been the clever turns-of-phrase that exposed rather than hid a certain hollowness of feeling at the core of these stories. (Or is this just an effect of writing about characters who are numb or inarticulate or vaguely longing or just plain vague?) It c...more
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Read in May, 2008
Nine short stories of magical realism, stories that shift effortlessly from fairy-tale mode to a much more naturalistic mode to surreal absurdity.
The thing about these stories--the frustrating, beautiful thing--is that they are not merely hard to understand. They resist all efforts to understand them. They hint at the feeling that, oh, if only you were smart enough, if only you spent enough time decoding the symbolism and the turns of phrase, everything would suddenly become bright-clear and...more
The thing about these stories--the frustrating, beautiful thing--is that they are not merely hard to understand. They resist all efforts to understand them. They hint at the feeling that, oh, if only you were smart enough, if only you spent enough time decoding the symbolism and the turns of phrase, everything would suddenly become bright-clear and...more
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Read in February, 2007
recommended to Rob by:
Creighton
Kelly Link’s Magic for Beginners collection. Pretty awesome. A lot of “coming of age” stuff and adolescent themes. But beyond charming and cute. Insightful and provocative. And sexy in that “I just found out what sexy is” sort of way. Highlights include “The Faery Handbag” (makes you bite your lip and fall in love with life again), the puzzlingly epiphanic “The Hotlak”, and the absolutely fucking terrifying “Stone Animals”. There are a couple of these short stories I...more
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Read in January, 2007
So I borrowed this book from Yuka sometime in 2006, and I started it, hoping it would tip my love/exasperation relationship with Kelly Link's writing. Then it sort of got lost in a pile of school books and other books. I picked it up again recently because I really ought to return it to Yuka. I flipped through it to figure out where I left off, and started right after the story "Some Zombie Contingency Plans," thinking, "ah yes, I remember reading the one about zombies." I...more
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Read in May, 2008
A lot of modern SF and fantasy people were calling her criminally underrated (and proof of the stupidity of the genre ghetto), so I took a look.
Two or three brilliant-or-nearly slices of slipstream/Western-magic-realist/literary-fantasy, especially the title story about this mysterious underground TV show that gets a group of middle schoolers obsessed with it and then turns out to possibly be ABOUT them as well, but only hintingly. And the final story "Lull" talks about and then be...more
Two or three brilliant-or-nearly slices of slipstream/Western-magic-realist/literary-fantasy, especially the title story about this mysterious underground TV show that gets a group of middle schoolers obsessed with it and then turns out to possibly be ABOUT them as well, but only hintingly. And the final story "Lull" talks about and then be...more
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Read in April, 2008
Kelly Link is definitely one of the best short story writers I've ever read, and this collection is a gem. I hate to say it, but it's almost too bad this book has such an obvious fantasy-tinged title, because just about all of the stories would appeal to a general-lit crowd, and the title probably limits the book's audience. Yes, there are zombies and faery purses and talking cats, but these are all dealt with matter-of-factly - there's nothing twee or twittery here. "Stone Animals" is...more
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Read in April, 2008
I enjoyed the stories where the weird/ magical realism (or whatever label you want to apply) element grew naturally around the very real characters and setting. In some stories, the strange, dream-like elements enhance the emotional core of the story (haunted suburbian dream home in "Stone Animals," David Lynch-esque alternate reality among high school kids in "Magic For Beginners.")
In other stories, the crazy stuff felt a bit too self-indulgent and overwhelming. I had th...more
In other stories, the crazy stuff felt a bit too self-indulgent and overwhelming. I had th...more
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Read in July, 2008
I marvel at Kelly Link's raw imaginative power, darker than a Grimm fairy tale, fluid as dream.
Here's me trying to explain one of the stories to my wife: "You see there's this convenience store next to a place called the Ausible Chasm, where zombies live. The zombies come into the store but never buy anything. A woman named Charlie drives past on her way to the animal shelter. Her car is filled with the ghosts of dogs she has killed."
Here's my wife's reaction: "Hmmm.....more
Here's me trying to explain one of the stories to my wife: "You see there's this convenience store next to a place called the Ausible Chasm, where zombies live. The zombies come into the store but never buy anything. A woman named Charlie drives past on her way to the animal shelter. Her car is filled with the ghosts of dogs she has killed."
Here's my wife's reaction: "Hmmm.....more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Good Lord, anybody...
This is a re-read for me (why isn't 're-reading' a category?) This is a book, along with Angela Carter's [Angela Carter] collection of short stories, Burning Your Boats, that is good to keep on hand for late-night-emergency-moroseness-life-is-crap-or-I-just-can't -sleep moments. Kelly Link, very simply, writes down your dreams. Once you have entered one of her stories anything is plausible and everything makes sense, even after you "wake up" and realize that nothing like that...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
People who think any book is enhanced by zombie and Lovecraft references (and really, don't we all?)
Some of the stories were pretty amazing--the kind you finish and immediately want to start again to see what you might have missed. I like the air of mystery and missing-ness, the way she fills the pages but leaves spaces inbetween for the imagination. I'd read some of these in anthologies. There were stories I loved (The Hortlak, Some Zombie Contingency Plans, The Faery Handbag), some I liked a lot but didn't connect to as well (The Great Divorce), some that didn't work for me (The Lull) and on...more
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Read in May, 2008
This collection of surreal short stories is one of the most striking books I've read in...my life. There is something utterly primal about the odd goings on in these tales that speaks to one's subconscious more loudly than to one's consciousness. These stories are not weird for weirdness' sake, neither are they science fiction. They are more on par with fairy tales, strumming at universal tropes and archetypes in the back on your brain. There were a few stories I did not like, that did not reson...more
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Read in February, 2007
recommends it for:
Trevor
Okay, Trev, this recommendation is for you. It is a bit much for Jen and Sharon I think. Most of my fiction-writing class HATED this book because it was so surreal, but I really enjoyed it. It's just WEIRD, but greatly so. I feel like the descriptions were supernatural and extreme because it led the reader to strain their feelings and emotions more to take in the images they were experiencing. The creativity of the author is really fabulous and I'm curious to know what you'd think of these ...more
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Read in November, 2007
I read the first three or four stories, but was too bummed to continue. Very nice whimsical, magical stories, but I wonder - does she have something against animals? WARNING, some plot details ahead. I write this half joking, the joy rides with dogs before they're put down is darkly sweet and the ominous rabbits were a bit funny, but I had had enough with the houseful of burning cats. I know...it's fiction, it's absurd. But, I'm one of those people who still cries when Bambi's mother is kil...more
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Read in September, 2007
They really need to create a half star option on here, because I would've given this 3.5 stars. I really wanted to like this collection more than I did, however its not unusual for me to only like a handful of stories out of any short story collection by a single author. That being said, the first story in the book and the title story are both worth 5 stars. She definitely has a unique writing style, although some of the stories tend to run on too long and then end abruptly. I do plan on reading...more
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Read in April, 2007
The funny thing about this book is that I came out of it much less impressed with Kelly Link than I was when I went in. I can't decide if it's because I like Stranger Things Happen better (I haven't finished that yet) or if Kelly Link is best in smallish doses. I mostly don't mind that none of her stories have endings, except for the story about the TV series about the awesome library that overlaps with this boy's life. I would have liked that one to have an ending. I would have liked it ...more
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4 comments
Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
people who like a dash of oddity/ dream logic
My sister started reading me the opening story over a long distance phone call. Eventually she became tired and had to go to bed without finishing. So I picked it up and read the whole lot.
this collection has the only zombie story worth reading. My favorites:
The Faery Handbag
"I know that no one is going to believe any of this. That's okay. If I thought you would, then I couldn't tell you."
Stone Animals
"Tilly feels sorry for Carelton. Everything he ever does, she...more
this collection has the only zombie story worth reading. My favorites:
The Faery Handbag
"I know that no one is going to believe any of this. That's okay. If I thought you would, then I couldn't tell you."
Stone Animals
"Tilly feels sorry for Carelton. Everything he ever does, she...more
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