bigbookgeek's review against another edition
4.0
Somehow, I have made it this far in life without reading much of Joyce Carol Oats' work! I have read an occasional short story in collections, but that's it. This was such a good collection of shorts that I will now definitely seek out more of her work. Chilling, creepy, and very real, she really knows how to keep readers on the edge of our seats!
abiveeke's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
hisdarkmaterials's review against another edition
2.0
JCO is NOT the author for me. I generally detest short stories as is, so I was holding out slim hope for this. I just found the stories odd and distasteful, and they weren't delivered in that wonderful creepy way King manages to do in his work...really when I read the words 'her cut', that just finished it for me. Something twisted in my gut and I could no longer enjoy any of the stories. They were well written although the copy I read had a shocking amount of typos!
rorolouisa's review against another edition
4.0
Mixed bag of stories. The last one made me feel physically ill.
hendersonj84's review against another edition
5.0
This is an excellent collection of unsettling and frightening stories. Each one has a near-perfect ending as well.
bookloversboudoir's review against another edition
2.0
This collection only contains seven stories. The Corn Maiden is over 130 pages and I’d consider this to be a novella. The stories deal with familiar themes. They include the disturbing behaviour of a teenage psychopath, revenge, murder and jealousy that becomes an obsession. These themes have been tackled over and over again in fiction. Oates has tackled them herself most notably in her collections Heat & Other Stories, Give Me Your Heart: Tales of Mystery and Suspense and The Museum of Dr Moses: Tales of Mystery and Suspense.
The stories are well written. I can’t fault Oates for that.
The best story in the collection by far is The Corn Maiden. I did some research on-line and can’t find any indication the ‘legend’ referred to in the story is real. However, there are legends of human sacrifice being used in a similar way (http://www.bartleby.com/196/103.html). The story made me think of the movie The Wicker Man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicker_Man_(1973_film) which was based on the novel Ritual by David Pinner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_(1967_novel) and the movie The Reaping http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reaping).
Unfortunately, the other stories in the collection fail to live up to the high expectations created by The Corn Maiden. They weren’t particularly original or riveting. They descended into a re-hash of stereotype suspense stories.
The worst story in my opinion was Nobody Knows My Name. The sibling rivalry aspect was interesting. The main character, Jessica hates her baby sister because her parents focus all their love and attention on her. This is not an original concept but Oates could have done something fresh with it. Instead the story becomes ridiculous when the mangy cat Jessica befriends smothers the baby to death. Oh really!
I quite liked A Hole In The Head. The main character is a cosmetic surgeon. He’s struggling to make ends meet because a number of patients have buggered off without paying their bills. He agrees to perform trephination (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trepanning) secretly on a patient for a lot of money. This procedure involves drilling holes in someone’s skull and was used years ago to ‘cure’ people who were thought to be possessed. It’s a medieval procedure no longer used. The woman is experiencing religious conflict and thinks trepanning will cure her. The procedure goes wrong and the woman dies. The rest of the story involves him trying to dispose of the body.
The rest of the stories did nothing for me. They are well below the standard I have come to expect of Joyce Carol Oates. This is the third collection I’ve found lacklustre over the past couple of years. The other two were Sourland and Give Me Your Heart: Tales of Mystery and Suspense.
The stories are well written. I can’t fault Oates for that.
The best story in the collection by far is The Corn Maiden. I did some research on-line and can’t find any indication the ‘legend’ referred to in the story is real. However, there are legends of human sacrifice being used in a similar way (http://www.bartleby.com/196/103.html). The story made me think of the movie The Wicker Man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wicker_Man_(1973_film) which was based on the novel Ritual by David Pinner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_(1967_novel) and the movie The Reaping http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reaping).
Unfortunately, the other stories in the collection fail to live up to the high expectations created by The Corn Maiden. They weren’t particularly original or riveting. They descended into a re-hash of stereotype suspense stories.
The worst story in my opinion was Nobody Knows My Name. The sibling rivalry aspect was interesting. The main character, Jessica hates her baby sister because her parents focus all their love and attention on her. This is not an original concept but Oates could have done something fresh with it. Instead the story becomes ridiculous when the mangy cat Jessica befriends smothers the baby to death. Oh really!
I quite liked A Hole In The Head. The main character is a cosmetic surgeon. He’s struggling to make ends meet because a number of patients have buggered off without paying their bills. He agrees to perform trephination (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trepanning) secretly on a patient for a lot of money. This procedure involves drilling holes in someone’s skull and was used years ago to ‘cure’ people who were thought to be possessed. It’s a medieval procedure no longer used. The woman is experiencing religious conflict and thinks trepanning will cure her. The procedure goes wrong and the woman dies. The rest of the story involves him trying to dispose of the body.
The rest of the stories did nothing for me. They are well below the standard I have come to expect of Joyce Carol Oates. This is the third collection I’ve found lacklustre over the past couple of years. The other two were Sourland and Give Me Your Heart: Tales of Mystery and Suspense.
lafee's review against another edition
3.0
I was looking forward to reading another JCO after loving Foxfire a couple of years ago but this collection of short stories was underwhelming. I wonder if she just needs more room to write, as it often seemed like what might have been a good idea didn't have the space to be fleshed out properly. It all felt a bit half-arsed. I'll definitely try another of her characteristically huge books but her short stories aren't for me.
indiarosey's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
suneaters's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I have read another Joyce Carol Oates story that will stick with me for the rest of my life. "The Corn Maiden" is probably my favorite. I was on the edge of my seat reading it, hoping that that poor girl "Fossil Figures" and "Beersheba" and "Nobody Knows My Name" were also great. By great, I mean spooky and disturbing.