L.S. Popovich's Blog, page 16
October 17, 2022
Review of Later Stories by Alexander Theroux
Not short stories but novellas. While I disliked the tone of most of the stories, and much of the subject matter, I enjoyed the dollops of sophisticated prose. The companion volume, called Early Stories, is half as long and less bloated. it is a better distillation of Theroux’s capabilities and eccentricities. These features of his […]
October 10, 2022
Review of Two Stories by Osvaldo Lamborghini
A certain type of reader may find the book interesting. Though, it is more of a pamphlet than a book, being 35 pages, with notes and an introduction. The reader would be completely at sea without a lifeboat if it weren’t for the notes, but they constitute a translation of a translation. The translator has […]
October 3, 2022
Marked to Die: A Tribute to Mark Samuelsby Justin Isis
The Weird Tale, as a genre, plays host to stories of far more diversity than most other genres. It can combine elements of horror, literary fiction, historical fiction, humor, adventure, science fiction, and fantasy. Examples abound of Lovecraftian experiments in cosmic dread and Machen-esque descents into sub-realities, but no author better epitomizes the trend than […]
September 26, 2022
Review of The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud
Dreams are more interesting in the midst of the fugue. Waking spoils the coherence. Analysis takes some of the fun out of them, even if it nails a few symbols. More intriguing to me are Joseph Campbell’s sort of cultural consciousness archetypes. I feel like there is a lot more here than I wanted to […]
September 19, 2022
Review of We Love Glenda So Much and A Change of Light by Julio Cortázar
Cortázar had the face of a lion and the ability to defamiliarize the everyday. His lengthy paragraphs are more entertaining than Henry James’ because more happens, but the subtle connections between his warring ideas are often obscured by leaps in logic, incongruous character behaviors, and piquant observations. Cortázar doesn’t hold the reader’s trembling hand. To […]
September 12, 2022
Review of The Anthologist (The Paul Chowder Chronicles #1) by Nicholson Baker
Baker’s deep dive into poetry analysis and history succeeds on every level except for his audiobook narration, which is uneven, ranging from blasting your ear drums out to indecipherable murmurs. The whole book is a poetic interlude about an anthologist failing to write a poetry book introduction. The minutia of his life is cast under […]
September 2, 2022
New Artwork In Gallery
Head Over to the “Concept” and “Fine Art” Galley for a few new pieces.
August 29, 2022
Review of Trafik by Rikki Ducornet
Quirky even for Ducornet. Suffused with her characteristic charm, wit, sensuality and signature linguistic exuberance. A vivid dreamscape of “tonguefeels.” A melancholic deepening of post-atomic exotic, nebulous human-wannabes on the edge of the pendulous nostalgia-fueled singularity of an entire dissolving civilization. Memories, avatars, simulations, showerhead massages, spacey antics: both delicious and miraculous. Post-apocalyptic Consumerism, alive […]
August 22, 2022
Review of Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin
A short, atmospheric novella relating the enigmatic beauty of an unremarkable life. A quiet, heartfelt rendering of human beings intertwined in the awkward embrace of modern life in an out of the way place. I really enjoyed the setting. A well-structured short work, but less striking than a more-developed novel would’ve been. It was a […]
