Vampires in the Lemon Grove

[Jeannette]

Karen Russell presents us with a variation of supernatural (or were they?) short stories on a range of topics. Some we liked, some we didn't, some we couldn't decide. How did you feel?

[Sue]

I felt too incomplete with a lot of the stories. Probably one of the big reasons why I couldn't completely enjoy the book

[Jeannette]

Sue wrote: "I felt too incomplete with a lot of the stories. Probably one of the big reasons why I couldn't completely enjoy the book"

I agree. With a lot of the stories I felt like I'd enjoy it more if I'd had just a bit more to them. I think that's why I really liked "Reeling for the Empire." You kind of start in the middle, but then you get the back story as it goes, even if it does leave things a bit open-ended.

[Jenny]

I'm sorry to be posting months behind; I'll try to get going on the current book so as to participate in future discussions. I'm enjoying this book right now. I just finished reading "The Seagull Army Descends on Strong Beach, 1979". The first 3 stories have provoked a lot of thought. "Vampires" and "Reeling" both made me think about what makes us human (in the context of the human emotions and fears shown by the not-so-human characters vs. their animal instincts that they could not suppress). "Seagull" was interesting to me because (view spoiler)[Nal was given the clues to understand that the seagulls were responsible for his mother's firing. At the same time, that means they also enabled his relationship with Vanessa to bloom. If his mother hadn't been fired, then Nal would have spent the summer away from Vanessa at the LMASS college program, leaving her in the clutches of his affable brother, and Nal none the wiser. In fact, the seagulls gave him more to talk about with her, other than just Japanese class - since they had the disappointment of LMASS to commiserate over. (hide spoiler)] Whether this is only a silver lining in the grand scheme of things for Nal, or whether it might show that an entirely new and better future is available to him, I don't know.

[Sue]

I'm glad you're enjoying it so far! Overall the book was interesting. I wasn't too keen on Vampires. It was interesting but he just seemed to... think too much? I really enjoyed Reeling. I got a clearer picture of what the author was trying to convey and the story was really compelling. For Seagulls, you make a really good point with all the items that they show him, but to me the whole thing seemed TOO weird. For me, the problem may be that although the story was interesting, there is an underlying creepy... aharmonic... off feeling that I don't like. And at least a third of her stories give me that vibe. Can't wait to hear what you think of the rest!