The Daylight And The Dust: Selected Short Stories

by Janet Frame

The most comprehensive selection of Janet Frame's stories ever published, this exceptional collection has been chosen from the four different volumes released during her lifetime. Featuring the best of her stories, the book includes pieces that were written over four decades, including stories from her debut collection, The Lagoon and Other Stories. First published in 1951, those stories were written while Frame was confined in a mental hospital. When the collection won the Hubert Church Award, a threatened brain operation (akin to a lobotomy) was averted.

The stories in this new book also include selections from You Are Now Entering the Human Heart, published in the 1980s after a hiatus from writing. The last stories she published before her death, her writings from this time reveal Frame's unflinching ability to explore the drama of madness, isolation, and identity.

This new book also includes five short stories that have not been collected before, completing a volume that testifies to the brilliance of Janet Frame's life and literary talent.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, 20th Century, Literature

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

The fate befalling the young woman who wanted "to be a poet" has been well documented. Desperately unhappy because of family tragedies and finding herself trapped in the wrong vocation (as a schoolteacher) her only escape appeared to be in submission to society's judgement of her as abnormal. She spent four and a half years out of eight years, incarcerated in mental hospitals. The story of her almost miraculous survival of the horrors and brutalising treatment in unenlightened institutions has become well known. She continued to write throughout her troubled years, and her first book (The Lagoon and Other Stories) won a prestigious literary prize, thus convincing her doctors not to carry out a planned lobotomy.

She returned to society, but not the one which had labelled her a misfit. She sought the support and company of fellow writers and set out single-mindedly and courageously to achieve her goal of being a writer. She wrote her first novel (Owls Do Cry) while staying with her mentor Frank Sargeson, and then left New Zealand, not to return for seven years.

Reviews

[Το Άθχημο γατί του θενιόρ Γκουαναμίρου · Rating 5 out of 5]

Στα 1951, στη Νέα Ζηλανδία, μια νεαρή γυναίκα ηλικίας 27 ετών νοσηλευόταν σε ψυχιατρική κλινική (Seacliff Lunatic Asylum). Είχε διαγνωσθεί με σχιζοφρένεια και επρόκειτο να υποβληθεί σε λοβοτομή. Το όνομά της ήταν Janet. Όλα θα είχαν τελειώσει πριν καν ακόμα αρχίσουν, αν ο διευθυντής της κλινικής δεν διάβαζε τυχαία στην εφημερίδα, λίγες μέρες πριν την εκτέλεση της προγραμματισμένης επέμβασης, πως η συγκεκριμένη ασθενής είχε λάβει το σπουδαιότερο θεσμοθετημένο λογοτεχνικό βραβείο στη χώρα της (Hubert Church Memorial Award), για την πρώτη συλλογή διηγημάτων της, με τίτλο The Lagoon and Other Stories (Η λιμνοθάλασσα και άλλες ιστορίες). Αμέσως σπεύδει να ανακοινώσει τα καλά νέα στην Janet, η οποία τα υποδέχεται με ένα χαμόγελο απορίας. Γι' αυτήν η γραφή ήταν απλώς κάτι που την ευχαριστούσε, χωρίς περισσότερες φιλοδοξίες.

"Αλήθεια κέρδισα;" ρωτάει τον γιατρό της.

"Ναι" της απαντάει αυτός. "Θα σε μεταφέρουμε από αυτήν την πτέρυγα. Και όχι λοβοτομή".

Στην πορεία η νεαρή Janet Frame εξελίχθηκε σε μια από της σπουδαιότερες λογοτεχνικές προσωπικότητες της πατρίδας της και αποδείχτηκε πως η διάγνωσή της ήταν λανθασμένη...

Το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο αποτελεί μια ανθολογία από διάφορες συλλογές διηγημάτων της καθώς και κάποιες αταξινόμητες στο τέλος (από δημοσιεύσεις της σε εφημερίδες και περιδικά):

1. Η λιμνοθάλασσα και άλλες ιστορίες (The Lagoon and Other Stories) εκδ. 1951
2. Χιονάνθρωπε χιονάνθρωπε, μύθοι και φαντασίες (Snowman Snowman: Fables and Fantasies), εκδ. 1963
3. Η δεξαμενή, διηγήσεις και σχεδιάσματα (The Reservoir: Stories and Sketches) εκδ. 1963
4. Τώρα εισέρχεστε στην ανθρώπινη καρδιά (You Are Now Entering the Human Heart) εκδ. 1983

Όλες της οι ιστορίες είναι απλές, βατές, κατανοητές και εξαιρετικά ανθρώπινες. Κάποιες είναι περισσότερο σουρεαλιστικές και παραμυθένιες ενώ άλλες είναι ρεαλιστικές. Οι ήρωές της είναι πλάσματα που φέρουν κάτι από τον δικό της ψυχισμό, τις εμπειρίες και την προσωπικότητά της. Είναι παιδιά που βλέπουν τον κόσμο μέσα από το φως της αθωότητάς τους σε απευθείας αντίθεση με την γκρίζα και θλιβερή πραγματικότητα των ενηλίκων ή είναι ενήλικες που δεν μπορούν να ταιριάξουν με τους υπόλοιπους ανθρώπους, οπότε είναι υποχρεωμένοι να κατασκευάσουν, με τα υλικά της πραγματικότητας, τους δικούς τους φανταστικούς κόσμους και να δραπετεύσουν μέσα σε αυτούς.

Διαβάζοντας τις ιστορίες της συχνά είχα την αίσθηση μιας αδιόρατης απειλής, μιας αγωνίας για όλα αυτά τα εύθραυστα πλάσματα που γέννησε η λογοτεχνική της πένα. Ένιωθα για αυτά μια βαθύτατη συμπάθεια και πάνω από όλα: κατανόηση. Η Janet Frame πέτυχε να δώσει, με την ευγένεια, την ευαισθησία και τη δημιουργική φαντασία της, φωνή σε όλους εκείνους τους ανθρώπους που συχνά, με μεγάλη ευκολία, χαρακτηρίζουμε εκκεντρικούς, παράξενους, απόκληρους, περιττούς ή ακόμα και επικίνδυνους.

Υπάρχουν άνθρωποι που δυσκολεύονται να ταιριάξουν και να βρουν τη θέση τους μέσα στον κόσμο. Για τους άλλους είναι κάπως "λοξοί" και απροσάρμοστοι. Η όποια ιδιαιτερότητά ή μοναδικότητά τους, τελικά τους καταδικάζει σε μια μοναξιά η οποία συχνά γίνεται δυσβάσταχτη. Ο καθένας μπορεί να τους κολλήσει μια ταμπέλα και συχνά η κοινωνία με μεγάλη ευκολία επιδιώκει να τους αποβάλλει και να τους περιορίσει στην απομόνωση και στο περιθώριο.

Για όλους αυτούς, η συγγραφέας δεν προβαίνει σε δυναμικές διεκδικήσεις ούτε προσφέρει κάποιο είδος υπεράσπισης. Με τον ήπιο και συχνά μελαγχολικό της τόνο, ανοίγει ένα παράθυρο στις ζωές τους και τους δίνει φωνή, ένα ασφαλές περιβάλλον για να μπορέσουν να διηγηθούν τις ιστορίες τους.

Η ιστορία ενός παιδιού που παίζει με τη φίλη του δεν έχει τίποτε το παράξενο μέχρι τη στιγμή που αποκαλύπτεται πως πρόκειται για το μοναχικό παιχνίδι ενός παραμελημένου παιδιού με μια φανταστική φίλη. Η ιστορία μιας δασκάλας που υποφέρει προκειμένου να σταθεί στο ύψος των περιστάσεων μέχρι την στιγμή που ξεπερνάει τα όριά της, αυτό που απαιτείται είναι περισσότερο από αυτό που μπορεί να αντέξει, οπότε παθαίνει κρίση πανικού. Σε άλλους φανταστικούς κόσμους συναντούμε κοινωνίες που δαιμονοποιούν τον θάνατο προσπαθούν να τον νικήσουν αρνούμενοι πεισματικά την ύπαρξή του.

Υπάρχουν φυλακισμένοι που προσπαθούν να δραπετεύσουν είτε από μια πραγματική φυλακή είτε από το ίδιο τους το σώμα. Άλλες ιστορίες μιλούν για ανθρώπους που κάπου στην πορεία, ενώ ξεκίνησαν ως πολλά υποσχόμενοι, απέτυχαν, συντετριμμένοι κάτω από το βάρος των αφόρητων προσδοκιών και απαιτήσεων. Άνθρωποι ευέξαπτοι με κλονισμένα νεύρα που καταλήγουν σε ακατανόητες πράξεις, καλλιτέχνες που παλεύουν να γεμίσουν μια σελίδα, καταπιεσμένες γυναίκες και άνδρες που στερούνται τον έρωτα, την τρυφερότητα την αγάπη και αργοπεθαίνουν μέσα στη μοναξιά.

Όλοι αυτοί έρχονται να μας συναντήσουν και η συγγραφέας λειτουργεί ως διάμεσος. Στο τέλος μου απέμεινε το αίσθημα μιας αυθεντικής αγάπης για όλους και όλα, ακόμα και για εμένα την ίδια. Η Janet Frame λειτουργεί ως δύναμη συμφιλίωσης και εξοικείωσης. Σε κάνει να νιώθεις καλά με τον εαυτό σου, γιατί σε βοηθά να καταλάβεις πως τελικά όλοι είμαστε περισσότερο όμοιοι από όσο νομίζουμε. Και έχουμε πράγματα κοινά, εμπειρίες που συχνά αποφεύγουμε να ομολογούμε ανοιχτά, αλλά - όλοι μας - αναπόφευκτα μοιραζόμαστε.

Δεν κατάφερα να βρω ούτε ένα έργο της μεταφρασμένο στα Ελληνικά. Κρίμα. Πολύ κρίμα.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of short stories were written in different stages of Frame's life, and I found some resonated with me more than others. In this book, the latter half contained stories that meant more to me. The first half felt like she was struggling to take off.

We must not forget though, how writing saved Janet Frame from undergoing a lobotomy, as she was wrongfully placed in a mental health unit for supposed schizophrenia. Through Frame's writing, we are able to feel her sorrow with the world, and I think spending time in these mental health institutions had a profound effect on her as a person.

The second part of the book seemed to change in tone into a wave of passion, it was like Frame was most alive when she wrote these. I loved her poetic flare in which she writes and the way she was able to observe everyday things with an incredibly detailed eye.

I'm not sure whether I could class these an an uplifting collection of stories, as some have a strong depressive tone, but it is clear to the reader throughout, that Frame was an exquisite writer.

[Lissette · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are some of the most interesting short stories I've read so far. My most favorite stories came from "The Reservoir: Stories and Sketches" and "You Are Now Entering the Human Heart".

Her style is poetic and flowy, and her protagonists are well-conditioned for this style as they often carry on heavy undertones in their leisure (like, when Deanna in "They Never Looked Back" was disgusted by the fish she had to gut and resented her inability to adopt naturally the pioneer lifestyle; or how Edith in "The Teacup" went frantic when she saw Bill's teacup was misplaced when she had set everything in order for him to live comfortably, hoping her domestic affections would catch his attention so she could finally settle down comfortably, too).

"Prizes", "The Bull Calf", both with young female protagonists, and "The Bath" had huge staying power. All had themes of alienation due to the seemingly practical rituals of growing up -- and in the case of "The Bath", growing old. Frame isn't straight-forward with her message in these, unlike the fable-y story of the "Two Sheep" which had more conventional theories, but not necessarily flat. Her telling of loneliness and terror in growing up, growing old, are loyal to the honest madness of regular life. Her characters often are submerged in intense feelings they don't completely understand, or try to even deconstruct, and have had their shells broken by the real world.

[Niki Tulk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janet Frame writes from a liminal place, full of observations that shiver, mirage-like, on a horizon that seems to divide the real from the subconscious. She is at once precise and meditative, and always infuses the bright and joyous moments with shafts of pain. She writes childhood (both experienced and remembered) better than anyone. Yet again, on finishing her work, I salute her.

[Crazytourists_books · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the book, the childhood stories and the fantasy (?) ones were kind of boring; nicely written, but too short and dated. I flirted with the idea of not finishing it, but I persevered, and I found the second half quite good. Longer, deeper, and way more interesting stories!

[Jeff Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Janet Frame has always been able to capture the joy and frustration of childhood. She can recall the sweet sounds, the adventures, and the innocence. She aptly relays the hypocrisy of adults, or worse, that feeling of becoming an adult oneself. Gone are the glories of the first time, those satisfactions one gets in childhood. We must face the cold cruel world of adulthood someday. Janet Frame reminds us what that feels like.

This book is intended to be a small sampling of her work. Some of the earlier stories are very short. I think that can make the work hard to get into at times (even though many of these stories are very good). I had favorites throughout the book.

My Last Story exemplifies frustration of expression. The feeling when you keep honing your craft, but you don't feel like it is getting anywhere.

The Terrible Screaming represents how we can collectively ignore what is right in front of us. It has a surreal quality to it.

The Mythmakers Office has a Saramago quality to it. (How to fight death by ignoring it).

In The Reservoir, when one realizes one's parents are more scared than the children are.

Prizes, "Life is hell, but at least there are prizes". This is the story I heard from the New Yorker. Miranda July, promoting her new book The First Bad Man, read Prizes on the air. I read Janet Frame's posthumously published Between My Father and the King. I was immediately hooked.

The Triumph of Poetry, an unnamed despair, of mediocrity.

They Never Looked Back, a young couple trying to make it (and perhaps ill-equipped to do so).

This is a good introduction to Janet Frame. I would recommend other collected works that are a bit tighter and work together better. It is like getting a greatest hits album. There isn't a cohesive theme, but you understand the sound.



Favorite Passages:

The packing of words with varied intentions is like writing a letter to someone in a foreign land and addressing it to oneself; it never reaches its destination. (The Terrible Screaming p73)


There comes a time when one must rely on one's own news, images, interpretations, when one must resist the pressure upon one's house of conforming, orthodox, shared seasons, and, using the panel in the secret room, make one's escape to fluid, individual weather; stand alone in the dark listening to the worm knocking three times, the rose resisting, and the inhabited forest of the heart accomplishing its own private moments of growth. (One Must Give Up p. 95)

Names, they realized, bestow space, keys, power on the nameless which encircle human lives, waiting their chance. (The Triumph of Poetry. P 200)

[Josephine Ensign · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janet Frame is an author I only recently discovered while living and working in New Zealand. She has rapidly become one of my favorite authors, and she shines most brightly through the gems of short stories included in this collection. I happily stumbled into this book while browsing the book selection in Iowa City's Prairie Lights indie bookstore. And to remember that it was her writing of short stories—and having an early collection of them win a prize—that saved her from being forced to have a lobotomy! Even without knowing that fact, many of these short stories will send daggers through your heart.

[Eve Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection felt to me like half and half. Especially the earlier ones spoke to me the most and were so beautiful and moving. They were really, really, short, miniatures of tales, but each one left me with a kind of a longing.
The more we progressed, the less I felt...well, anything really. I think I might give this collection another go at a future date to see if it's just me.

[Bill]

as usual i can't get into short stories...these average 3 to 4 pages each...they barely get started and then they are over with nothing really happening.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Life is hell, but at least there are prizes." That introduction to the story "Prizes" does a decent job of summarizing the general outlook of these wonderful stories from Janet Frame, drawn from the entire span of her career.

Having myself lived for a few years in Frame's native New Zealand, I think the best indigenous word to describe her short fiction is "cheeky". Not in the harsher sense that Britons sometimes use the word, but in the playful, loving way that is characteristic of Kiwi humor, always focused on calling out pretensions and self-righteous behavior. In that spirit, Frame is always questioning basic assumptions of our social, sexual, spiritual, and especially our creative, lives. There's nothing at all mean-spirited in Frame's approach, but her cheeky outlook allows her to have fun reflecting on the sometimes absurd behaviors that are central to our shared humanity.

Beyond the title story, my other favorites from this excellent collection are "Swans", "The Birds Began to Sing", "The Teacup", "A Boy's Will" and especially "One Must Give Up", a bold declaration of independent thought and behavior that is thoroughly cheeky!

[David Sterritt]

The stories in Janet Frame’s collection “Prizes,” most of them taken from earlier collections of her short fiction, show how she grew and deepened as a short-story writer over the years. Some of the earlier stories are vague and “poetic,” but they get better as she matures, and even some of the previously uncollected early stories are quite powerful, combining language, narrative, and character psychology in rich and surprising ways. Highly recommended.

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because these stories were multiply sourced and stretched over many time periods, I had to average out the rating. Some were 5 star, some 4 star, but most earned 3 stars.

Janet Frame struggled with her mental health, and writing literally saved her from a scheduled lobotomy. Her experiences in mental institutions, the Great Depression, and WWII all funnel into her palpable feelings of loss and her profound loneliness, both of which permeate her stories. The overall effect is of one holding on to the edge of her seat, in anxious suspense, waiting for something good to happen, and knowing it probably won't.

In the first section, there are themes of restraint, bleak disappointment, and the crushing sublimation of emotions. Atmospherics serve to structure and anchor these stories.

The second section of stories greatly resonated with me. The writing explodes with fierce poetic style. The writing at this point in the writer's life is crackling and alive with satire. Frame tackles repression (including a devilishly clever allegory about sex), groupthink, denial, and manipulation. The author exposes uncomfortable truths about modern society, how we have bastardized and replaced meaning in our lives with a warped fever for conspicuous consumption.We present to the world a patina so heavy and thick even we can't recognize ourselves.

It's clear that society would prefer that we all wear a mask of happiness, at all times. Depressing thoughts are to be stuffed deep in the refuse bin, not only discarded, but unseen.Just when we are finally ready to reveal our authentic selves, we are picked apart, and reassembled by others, in order to fit as closely as possible into an acceptable mold.

The third section of stories started out strong, and then dropped into a pit of loneliness and despair.

I would recommend reading the second section first.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading the first bunch of stories (the book reprints selected stories from 4 collections, and some unpublished ones) I was prepared to give this book 5 stars. They were beautiful, poetic vignettes on growing up. Just wonderful. However the next few selections (from Snowman Snowman: Fables and Fantasies) weren't my cup of tea, and from then on I found the stories a mixed bag. The ones on childhood were nearly always great - The Reservoir, A sense of Proportion, for example - the fable like ones not so. Actually thinking back I did like others too - the poet Alan one, the escaped sex offender one, so I'm upping my 3 stars to 4. She is a great writer. Here's a taste:

The sun's hair stood on end. The sky accommodated all visiting darkness and light... Snow fell in all seasons, white hyphens dropping evenly, linking syllables of sky and earth. Flowers bloomed forever, spinning their petal-spokes like golden wheels, sucking the sun like whirlpools.

(from A Sense of proportion, describing a child's painting).

[Della O'Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

From one short story, "Lolly-legs"..."he always hurried first to the edge to look at the sea and the waves that elbowed each other in their continual journeying."
Love short stories; each of these are extremely short on words but long in metaphors and insightful observations. Beautifully written and often enticingly open ended.

[Patricia Mauerhofer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many wonderful 'miniatures'. She's a master in creating palpable atmospheres and I admire her skills of getting into children's and teenager's minds. Some of the stories go so deeply under your skin, you need to stop reading and do something else to digest.

[Ieva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kopumā romāni laikam šķita spēcīgāki, bet arī daudzi no šiem stāstiem ir izcili. Žēl, ka Freimas vairs nav starp mums, labprāt aizbrauktu pāri puspasaulei, lai satiktu un kopā paklusētu.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frame writes with such beautiful melancholy nostalgia.

[Christine Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of these stories I just loved. She has such a wonderful way with words.

[Margaret Galbraith · Rating 3 out of 5]

More on the author than the book as I found it hard to describe !
Impressive book despite some sections being rather strange but on reading about this author on Wikipedia I can now understand her style of writing. Born to Scottish/NZ parents in Dunedin NZ in 1924 and died in 2004, Nene Janet Paterson Clutha writes under the name of Janet Frame. She has over 20 list of awards and 3 honorary doctorates from NZ universities. I picked up this short story book as I wanted an insight into her writing before I read one of her books. I did enjoy excerpts from “The Lagoon and other stories” but found the others a bit too strange for me. Her writing is impeccable and her way of pulling you into the story is amazing as you can really picture the scene and feel the emotions. I would like to read her autobiography “An angel at my table” which inspired Jane Campion’s film. Her personal life seems very sad as she was in and out of psychiatric institutions. There’s not much else to say here but she’s certainly an author worth reading just for inspiration on how to write well. A great mind who wrote a lot of highly acclaimed books. A very traumatic life which comes across in her writing! However the Uncollected short works at the end of this book are worth it to keep reading.

[Sommer Schafer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, what a joy to revisit Frame's short fiction again, which continues to be better than most anything else these days. Her stories are deceptively simple; her prose is transcendent. She is a master. From "One Must Give Up":

"Fact or fancy. There comes a time when one must rely upon one's own news, images, interpretations, when one must resist the pressure upon one's house of conforming, orthodox, shared seasons, and, using the panel in the secret room, make one's escape to fluid, individual weather; stand alone in the dark listening to the worm knocking three times, the rose resisting, and the inhabited forest of the heart accomplishing its own private moments of growth."

[Chris Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning collection of short stories gathered from across the breadth of her writing career.
Many will tug at memories the reader didn't know that they had, such is the universal nature of the emotions Frame touches upon. Some read like complete (almost traditional) type stories - although her writing is exceptionally profound - whilst others are vignettes, snapshots of a particular event or emotion which give a real insight into the lives we all lead. Some will leave the reader speechless.
Superb collection from an outstanding writer.

[Robert Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful collection of stories,strange characters living on the edge, and always imagined with a very caring and empathic tone. Childhood, artistic endeavours, escaped murderers, struggling poets and cranky teens. Some very quirky tales too, very dark humour shining through.
Maybe, dare I say it , on a par with Alice Munro and William Trevor?

[Kath S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intringuing

A collection of intriguing tales of down under life. I liked it, found it a page turner. Always ready to start a new story, a new life, a new adventure. Keep a dictionary handy for some of the colloquialisms. A good read.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janet Frame has a particularly wonderful and original way of looking at ordinary things, and that is what makes her stories so good.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book bought in 2017 from Arcate secondhand bookstore. Story collection. I really liked the stories about people and characters, the less surreal ones. Great writer overall.

[Erin]

I know you're much beloved, Janet. I am so glad. I think you and I should just agree to be acquaintances, if that's okay by you.

[Sarah Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unfortunate, twenty or so years ago, I rejected Frame's written work. In a classroom environment and in a foreign place, we'd arrived in New Zealand. An Angel at my Table wouldn't distract my home-sickness and ache. Now, a different story or stories and the back of the book indicates, her 'versatility dazzles'.

Frame's talent, description extraordinaire, her characters, emotions, she puts and directs you to her imagined places. Almost all these works make it possible to relax in short and at length in bursts of nature, mystery, analysis of the human condition including her own, indeed, an awful personal story and thankful she claimed mental overthrow in these works.

The Teacup. A relevant short in that the storytelling's of a woman clambering attention all over a masculinised man. A country's hero, him in the army and Edith aims to please. The familiar swashbuckler falls short in that the world owes him. His special cup goes missing. This is devastating as though the cup a symbol of love nowhere to be and in tension Edith takes her empty out on another woman.

'Attached to the special shelf prepared for Bill there was a row of golden cup hooks; upon one of them Edith hung the teacup she had chosen for him, a large deep cup with the words ARKLOW POTTERY EIRE DONEGAL, encircled by a smudged blue capital E, printed underneath. In every way the teacup seemed specially right for Bill. How Edith longed for him to be settled in, having his tea, with her pouring from the new teapot warmed under its new cosy, into his special teacup!'

Frame's knowing in fantasy and reality and spirit of a country of sheep would be dank without her.

[Belinda Rule · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Frame's autobiography years ago but hadn't read anything of hers since. The story 'Prizes' was on the New Yorker podcast recently and was both bitchily hilarious and extremely moving, so expectations were high.

Bit of a mixed bag. The early material is melancholically sentimental. Frame's habit of creating a heavy-handed symbol (e.g. a bird calling sadly, representing the sadness of the protagonist) and then repeating it even more forcefully in the final paragraph, as if we could possibly have failed to hear that trumpet blaring right in our ear the first time, turns me into a bratty schoolchild who will now resist the lesson at all costs.

In later work Frame becomes sharper, meaner and funnier (which are sides of the same coin, really) and I start to enjoy myself far more. 'Prizes' is still by far the winner for me. I wished for more in a similar vein.

[Alice Urchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found that I really liked the stories from Snowman Snowman and You Are Now Entering the Human Heart, and a few random others, but a lot of the stories from The Lagoon just didn't interest me. I had to force myself to get through a lot of the stories from The Lagoon because they couldn't hold my attention. I was a little disappointed about that because I love some of her stories so much. I think I like her fables and fantasies the best of all of her work. "The Terrible Screaming," "The Mythmaker's Office," and "Solutions" were probably my favorite in this collection.