johnson_erine4's review against another edition
5.0
This story was very sad. not the boo hoo kind of sadness but you just felt for the main character as she is going through her life and realizes she missed most of it (you'll find out what I'm talking about once you read it). It also shows how people deal with loss and the pursuit of happiness or at least contentedness. I listened through Levar Burton Reads. Great story
ladynigelia's review against another edition
3.0
LeVar Burton Reads episode 9
There's the important fantasy element of pickling memories, but the story also touches on being torn between two worlds. For the grandmother it's literally China and the US. For Katie, both worlds are in the US, but the cultures are still difficult to bridge. As an Asian American I recognized some of the painful comments made toward her.
Deciding how to deal with painful memories is a difficult balance. We do need to learn from our mistakes and if we forget, how will we learn? But wouldn't it be so much easier to pickle an especially traumatic memory so we could move past them more easily? Who are we if we don't remember our past? This thread also edges toward senility and Alzheimer's. They're not specifically addressed, but the undercurrent is there.
I think I prefer my stories to have clear morals rather than making me think too deeply about the meaning and who I am... This certainly does provoke a lot of questions.
There's the important fantasy element of pickling memories, but the story also touches on being torn between two worlds. For the grandmother it's literally China and the US. For Katie, both worlds are in the US, but the cultures are still difficult to bridge. As an Asian American I recognized some of the painful comments made toward her.
Deciding how to deal with painful memories is a difficult balance. We do need to learn from our mistakes and if we forget, how will we learn? But wouldn't it be so much easier to pickle an especially traumatic memory so we could move past them more easily? Who are we if we don't remember our past? This thread also edges toward senility and Alzheimer's. They're not specifically addressed, but the undercurrent is there.
I think I prefer my stories to have clear morals rather than making me think too deeply about the meaning and who I am... This certainly does provoke a lot of questions.
leftylauren's review against another edition
4.0
Reviewed specifically for "1000 Year Old Ghosts" by Laura Chow Reeve as read on Levar Burton Reads.
zamyatins_fears's review against another edition
2.0
Another short that I listened to via the Levar Burton Reads podcast. I really enjoyed the premise of this story. It's about three women who know how to pickle their memories in jars for safekeeping, allowing them to forget bad memories, without completely losing them. I felt that the story itself felt a little rushed and ended up feeling a little flat for me. I wish there had been more character exploration, as the characters felt a little wooden. Still, it was a cute story with a theme that I usually enjoy, it just didn't feel like the author explored the concept very much and some of the transitions as time passed seemed a little clumsy.
ellenrhudy's review against another edition
3.0
Most of the stories in this collection left me wanting a little more of them, but I'm excited by the idea of the collection and the diversity of voices represented. Laura Chow Reeve's "1000-Year-Old Ghosts" is a stunner and I think worth the price of admission. Emily Chammah's "Tell Me, Please" didn't quite deliver (for me, anyway) but the characters stuck with me. Definitely looking forward to the 2018 edition.
pearseanderson's review against another edition
3.0
I really tried to take my mind off news and work and read some random book this week, and it was this collection. It was fine, I did not enjoy the stories as much as I had hoped, so I am giving it a 7/10. The design was great, the intros from each lit mag editor were helpful, and overall this was a short, quick read. My favorites were Amber Caron's "The Handler," Amy Sauber's "State Facts for the New Age," which felt bordering on melodrama/satire, "Edwin Chase of Nantucket" by Ben Shattuck, and I guess that's it. I dunno, I wish I would've liked the others like 20% more than I did. Happy they were from so many interesting backgrounds and settings, though it all sort of became about hidden loves! So many hidden loves in these stories! Curious what the 2018 collection will include, I'm excited for Kleeman's judging process.
bhavani's review against another edition
4.0
Have you tried pickling vegetables? It's easy and a great way to preserve them, especially when they're wilting at the back of the refrigerator. But 1000-year-old ghosts subverts the idea of preservation. In this tale of memories, relationships, and traditions, the women use pickling as a way to remove their memories and deal with overwhelming sadness. As time goes by, they have jars of memories bottled away and they slowly dissolve like salt in water, until nothing remains...
For me, memories, be they good or bad, sad and embarrassing, cringe-worthy and regretful, these are the things that make up our lives and experiences. Being human means embracing all these things and learning to live with some while thriving despite others. They can lift us up or destroy us, depending on the choices that we make and the power we give them.
For me, memories, be they good or bad, sad and embarrassing, cringe-worthy and regretful, these are the things that make up our lives and experiences. Being human means embracing all these things and learning to live with some while thriving despite others. They can lift us up or destroy us, depending on the choices that we make and the power we give them.
slolley's review against another edition
5.0
This is, so far, my favorite story from the podcast: Levar Burton Reads. The premise is such a fascinating one. What if you could bottle up memories that you want to forget? Give this book a listen on the podcast it is a short story and worth the ride.
lisaajnine's review against another edition
2.0
Just couldn't get into it. Really liked some of the writing though, so I'm thinking it was just me.