kinta's review against another edition
wouldn’t usually go towards short stories but i heard about this on my favourite podcast. all in all an amazing debut and i am very excited to see what clark does next!
i loved this book. paige clark’s collection of short stories made me laugh, cringe, cry and sometimes confused.
although i know very little about clark besides her american/chinese/australian heritage, these stories felt very personal. i love how she utilises her knowledge of all of these cultures and places to craft these vastly different tales.
this book communicated so many different perspectives from many different points in life - mourning, aging, coming-of-age and retirement (to name a few of many). however my favourite was ordinariness (something i am always craving in fiction).
this was also my first time reading some post-pandemic fiction! and i didn’t hate it. i always thought it would be something that made me cringe, but honestly it felt normal.
the thing that really brought this book home for me was clark’s nuanced representation of race and what it means to be a multicultural world. it provided me with perspectives i’m not sure i would have ever understood if i didn’t read it. although some stories ended abruptly and some dragged on, i think that is the nature of short stories.
i loved this book. paige clark’s collection of short stories made me laugh, cringe, cry and sometimes confused.
although i know very little about clark besides her american/chinese/australian heritage, these stories felt very personal. i love how she utilises her knowledge of all of these cultures and places to craft these vastly different tales.
this book communicated so many different perspectives from many different points in life - mourning, aging, coming-of-age and retirement (to name a few of many). however my favourite was ordinariness (something i am always craving in fiction).
this was also my first time reading some post-pandemic fiction! and i didn’t hate it. i always thought it would be something that made me cringe, but honestly it felt normal.
the thing that really brought this book home for me was clark’s nuanced representation of race and what it means to be a multicultural world. it provided me with perspectives i’m not sure i would have ever understood if i didn’t read it. although some stories ended abruptly and some dragged on, i think that is the nature of short stories.
greyxwaren's review
4.0
"I made a deal with God.
He stands on my veranda and asks after my husband.
We are not married, I say."
Paige Clark's She Is Haunted opens with these raw and striking lines, setting the stage for this powerful and poignant collection of short fiction that contemplates strained mother-daughter relationships, identity, and inter-generational trauma, especially within the context of transnational Asian identity. These first lines unfold expectations of Clark's simple and yet entrancing voice that weaves a series of thematically linked and contextually illusive narratives.
"I'm not sure you know what that feels like."
Clark's style is gorgeously refined, treading on the edge of the supernatural at times, but overall, this work reads as a wandering collection of memories, futures, and intimate vignettes traversing the strange, subtle landscape of daily life, if not as the reader experiences it, then rather through the eyes of the narrator, fictional or not. There is a certain defiance found in such simple lines as the one above, the language never forcing complexity or sacrificing elegance to get its point across. Still, it's deeply immersive and heavily thematic; a collection that I devoured in a single sitting.
"I wear his suit like a skin. It fits me perfectly."
As much as transformation is a reoccurring theme throughout the stories themselves, there is a sense that each story itself is transforming into the next. This collection at times seems largely unconnected save for repeated names (Are they the same characters? It's hard to say.) and general related considerations; at other times, there is the overwhelming feeling that they have the same distinct fictional world in common, one that mostly resembles our own, but takes many of the concepts we already experience just a step further, tactfully slipping in mentions of the future of global warming, the pandemic, and other sociological implications that have not progressed as far in reality as they do in this fictional universe, but yet seem likely to do so in the future. In this way, there is very nearly an element of science-fiction dystopia within the pages of this otherwise very realistic fictional work.
This is one of the first modern works of fiction that I've read that does address the pandemic and the global warming crisis in a way that feels at once dystopian, contemporary, and accurate. The unsettling nature of much of the prose pervades through personal and widespread struggles alike and digs the reader's heels in even more deeply because of it. Transient identity, relationships, grief, cultural truthfulness all maintain the same level of importance as God (the character), environment, global emergencies, etc.
"How can I be a mother when I don't know how to be a daughter?"
And of course, the elephant in the narrative: the strained mother-daughter relationships will always call to me, especially in these abstract, contemplative literary fiction works. One of the biggest complaints about this collection is that it's vague and hard to follow, but to me the apparent themes throughout were more important than the narrative itself. In this way, the collection in its entirety felt somewhat Aesop's fable-esque, albeit without a specific moral lesson. Focusing solely on the progression of the narratives will most likely leave you wondering "now what?", but in my opinion, the true value of this collection is the striking, unsettling prose and the adept considerations on womanhood, grief, self, existentialism. The "now what" never mattered. Clark brings the reader to the cliff's edge, but never asks them to jump, letting them attend to this part of the ritual of reading this work alone.
"I'll give you all the nothing I've got and more.
Overall, I was enamored with Clark's prose, found myself deeply immersed in each individual story, and know this work will be sticking with me for a while. My favorites across this strange collection were "Elisabeth Kubler-Ross", "Amygdala", and "Dead Summer", but again, there was not a weak sentence in this entire collection. Clark is as deliberate as she is descriptive, as vivid as she is vicarious, and I know I'll be looking eagerly for her next release.
"I sleep well and dream of my mother."
He stands on my veranda and asks after my husband.
We are not married, I say."
Paige Clark's She Is Haunted opens with these raw and striking lines, setting the stage for this powerful and poignant collection of short fiction that contemplates strained mother-daughter relationships, identity, and inter-generational trauma, especially within the context of transnational Asian identity. These first lines unfold expectations of Clark's simple and yet entrancing voice that weaves a series of thematically linked and contextually illusive narratives.
"I'm not sure you know what that feels like."
Clark's style is gorgeously refined, treading on the edge of the supernatural at times, but overall, this work reads as a wandering collection of memories, futures, and intimate vignettes traversing the strange, subtle landscape of daily life, if not as the reader experiences it, then rather through the eyes of the narrator, fictional or not. There is a certain defiance found in such simple lines as the one above, the language never forcing complexity or sacrificing elegance to get its point across. Still, it's deeply immersive and heavily thematic; a collection that I devoured in a single sitting.
"I wear his suit like a skin. It fits me perfectly."
As much as transformation is a reoccurring theme throughout the stories themselves, there is a sense that each story itself is transforming into the next. This collection at times seems largely unconnected save for repeated names (Are they the same characters? It's hard to say.) and general related considerations; at other times, there is the overwhelming feeling that they have the same distinct fictional world in common, one that mostly resembles our own, but takes many of the concepts we already experience just a step further, tactfully slipping in mentions of the future of global warming, the pandemic, and other sociological implications that have not progressed as far in reality as they do in this fictional universe, but yet seem likely to do so in the future. In this way, there is very nearly an element of science-fiction dystopia within the pages of this otherwise very realistic fictional work.
This is one of the first modern works of fiction that I've read that does address the pandemic and the global warming crisis in a way that feels at once dystopian, contemporary, and accurate. The unsettling nature of much of the prose pervades through personal and widespread struggles alike and digs the reader's heels in even more deeply because of it. Transient identity, relationships, grief, cultural truthfulness all maintain the same level of importance as God (the character), environment, global emergencies, etc.
"How can I be a mother when I don't know how to be a daughter?"
And of course, the elephant in the narrative: the strained mother-daughter relationships will always call to me, especially in these abstract, contemplative literary fiction works. One of the biggest complaints about this collection is that it's vague and hard to follow, but to me the apparent themes throughout were more important than the narrative itself. In this way, the collection in its entirety felt somewhat Aesop's fable-esque, albeit without a specific moral lesson. Focusing solely on the progression of the narratives will most likely leave you wondering "now what?", but in my opinion, the true value of this collection is the striking, unsettling prose and the adept considerations on womanhood, grief, self, existentialism. The "now what" never mattered. Clark brings the reader to the cliff's edge, but never asks them to jump, letting them attend to this part of the ritual of reading this work alone.
"I'll give you all the nothing I've got and more.
Overall, I was enamored with Clark's prose, found myself deeply immersed in each individual story, and know this work will be sticking with me for a while. My favorites across this strange collection were "Elisabeth Kubler-Ross", "Amygdala", and "Dead Summer", but again, there was not a weak sentence in this entire collection. Clark is as deliberate as she is descriptive, as vivid as she is vicarious, and I know I'll be looking eagerly for her next release.
"I sleep well and dream of my mother."
jaclyn_sixminutesforme's review against another edition
5.0
Paige Clark is writing some of the most innovative and exciting short fiction I’ve read in ages! I keep saying it, but short stories are completely where it is at for me still with Australian fiction. For readers outside of Australia… this is a collection you need to get your mitts on if you:
- like your short stories clever and quirky;
- if you like explorations of mother/daughter dynamics and female relationships more broadly;
- if you’re here for dog appreciation; and
- if you love nuanced food writing in fiction.
It ticks so many boxes for me in terms of elements of fiction I enjoy - each story was immersive and completely surrounded the reader within its fold. The plays with structure were genius (I particularly loved a story that used a departmental helpline for relationships, including redacted details and the most on-point adherence to policy!)
Clark describes herself as “a Chinese/American/Australian fiction writer” - I think readers that enjoy West Coast references in their fiction as much as they love #AusLit will find a connection with these stories. I know Australian titles can be hard to track down globally, but I promise this one is worth the effort!
For me, this is the book to beat for the @readingsbooks Prize for New Australian Fiction (high praise as it’s an absolutely
- like your short stories clever and quirky;
- if you like explorations of mother/daughter dynamics and female relationships more broadly;
- if you’re here for dog appreciation; and
- if you love nuanced food writing in fiction.
It ticks so many boxes for me in terms of elements of fiction I enjoy - each story was immersive and completely surrounded the reader within its fold. The plays with structure were genius (I particularly loved a story that used a departmental helpline for relationships, including redacted details and the most on-point adherence to policy!)
Clark describes herself as “a Chinese/American/Australian fiction writer” - I think readers that enjoy West Coast references in their fiction as much as they love #AusLit will find a connection with these stories. I know Australian titles can be hard to track down globally, but I promise this one is worth the effort!
For me, this is the book to beat for the @readingsbooks Prize for New Australian Fiction (high praise as it’s an absolutely
mirandaosmelak's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This is an excellent book, one that I want to re-read and savour. It's not 5*, because I thought one story didn't fit the collection, and I wasn't too impressed by it, and a few endings felt flat. Still, loads of stories were excellent, and none was bad. I especially liked how at the end certain stories seemed to be tied together, I think I'd like to read it again to find all the ties.
karabeavis's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
alkbass's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
readingwithcake's review against another edition
2.0
This was a book of vignettes and I wasn’t here for it. If you write a book with short stories I want them to be so amazing I’m begging for more and sadly I didn’t get this feeling with any of the stories. The writing was good, I won’t deny that but sadly wasn’t enough to make me enjoy the book.
One of the longest chapters and most bizarre was about a woman who gets divorced and they share a dog. Honestly I’m not sure what I even read but it wasn’t good and I’m unsure why it was the biggest chapter of the book.
I enjoyed Fortune and Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and that was it.
One of the longest chapters and most bizarre was about a woman who gets divorced and they share a dog. Honestly I’m not sure what I even read but it wasn’t good and I’m unsure why it was the biggest chapter of the book.
I enjoyed Fortune and Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and that was it.
hey_itsbee's review
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5