benji_jet's review
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
panos's review
4.0
taking a unique personal detail from the past and showing how it lingers in what is otherwise very normal life for the protagonist. On the one hand, I totally agree, the way that Miranda took this weird and totally fascinating detail and forms the story is incredible. On the other hand, for me, it does not work perfectly. Maybe it is the writing style, perhaps it was just the mood that I was in the day that I read it or perhaps it was just the piece, but it felt to me that the piece did not explore this fascinating subject to its fullest potential. Miranda could go deeper but she doesn't. I feel like this piece could also be shorter. I don't believe that every detail was earned or was progressing the world-building or was interesting. I am sure that I am going to remember the ending of this piece for a long time. She crafted an exceptional ending.
t__tj's review
4.25
NSFW. A light and fun read nonetheless. A great short story with moments of endearing awkwardness and a clean resolution. To explore how one memory can affect one's perception of identity and their intimate relationships is interesting and was well-developed in this story.
"We’d been tunnelling toward each other for years. It was hard work, but the assumption was that eventually our two tunnels would connect. We’d break through—Hallelujah! Clay-encrusted hands finally seizing each other!—and we would be together, really together, for the remaining time that we were alive. So long as we both dug as hard and as fast as we could, everything would work out. But, of course, neither of us knew for sure how the other person’s digging was going. One of us might have been doggedly tunnelling toward the other person, while the other person was curling away in another direction. That person might not even have been aware of how off course he or she was. One of us might have tunnelled straight down for a few weeks, in anger, and then tried to get back on track, but now honestly had no idea where to go. We might break through—Hallelujah!—only to find that we were seizing the dirty hands of a stranger. What to do then? Or we might simply get tired, and stop digging, decide that here was good enough. All the while saying things like “We must be getting close!” and “I can’t wait until the day finally comes!” We might never meet up at all; we might die before it happened. Or worse: maybe there had never been any hope of our meeting up, because what was that even a metaphor for? Oneness? A child’s dream of love?"
"We’d been tunnelling toward each other for years. It was hard work, but the assumption was that eventually our two tunnels would connect. We’d break through—Hallelujah! Clay-encrusted hands finally seizing each other!—and we would be together, really together, for the remaining time that we were alive. So long as we both dug as hard and as fast as we could, everything would work out. But, of course, neither of us knew for sure how the other person’s digging was going. One of us might have been doggedly tunnelling toward the other person, while the other person was curling away in another direction. That person might not even have been aware of how off course he or she was. One of us might have tunnelled straight down for a few weeks, in anger, and then tried to get back on track, but now honestly had no idea where to go. We might break through—Hallelujah!—only to find that we were seizing the dirty hands of a stranger. What to do then? Or we might simply get tired, and stop digging, decide that here was good enough. All the while saying things like “We must be getting close!” and “I can’t wait until the day finally comes!” We might never meet up at all; we might die before it happened. Or worse: maybe there had never been any hope of our meeting up, because what was that even a metaphor for? Oneness? A child’s dream of love?"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
citlali_ar's review
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"I just laughed again and again to demonstrate consent."
Una historia corta bastante interesante, bizarra y muy bien escrita.
Me agrada la reflexión ausente y algo cínica de la protagonista. Entender cómo el suceso del vídeo ha permeado todas las áreas de su vida, demandando protagonismo en la forma en que entiende sus relaciones y a sí misma.
El estilo de escritura es ágil, agradable y con varias frases muy bien construidas. Probablemente busque más de la autora.
"We might never meet up at all; we might die before it happened. Or worse: maybe there had never been any hope of our meeting up, because what was that even a metaphor for? Oneness? A child’s dream of love?"
Una historia corta bastante interesante, bizarra y muy bien escrita.
Me agrada la reflexión ausente y algo cínica de la protagonista. Entender cómo el suceso del vídeo ha permeado todas las áreas de su vida, demandando protagonismo en la forma en que entiende sus relaciones y a sí misma.
El estilo de escritura es ágil, agradable y con varias frases muy bien construidas. Probablemente busque más de la autora.
"We might never meet up at all; we might die before it happened. Or worse: maybe there had never been any hope of our meeting up, because what was that even a metaphor for? Oneness? A child’s dream of love?"
katscribefever's review
3.0
Disquieting. There was a great deal of beautiful writing, but the undercurrent of grotesque sexual acts was like a metal bowl of cold water on the face of a sleeping dreamer, reminding the reader that human life is far from idyllic whenever romance is involved.
goldbirdcages's review
5.0
Sam used his small pointing finger to tap each old bloodstain on the sheet; they dated back more than a decade, a disgusting constellation. It was one of those things you didn’t notice until suddenly you did. Like ants. Like everything.
levitybooks's review
5.0
My 2nd best read of 2020.
Video review
A NSFW short story you should read on a lunchbreak. It's freely available from the link in the GoodReads book description. Play the audio and read it while she tells it. Her voice really adds tone to the sentences.
This reminded me why I still have a crush on Miranda July. I laughed at loud a few times and the story is very lucid and present. I've seen her short films (still yet to see the acclaimed 'big film') and was worried that her writing wouldn't be as good. This was a surprisingly engaging short story. In some ways it reminds me of Jonathan Franzen's writing, but the meanness has been replaced by kindly awkwardness.
Video review
A NSFW short story you should read on a lunchbreak. It's freely available from the link in the GoodReads book description. Play the audio and read it while she tells it. Her voice really adds tone to the sentences.
This reminded me why I still have a crush on Miranda July. I laughed at loud a few times and the story is very lucid and present. I've seen her short films (still yet to see the acclaimed 'big film') and was worried that her writing wouldn't be as good. This was a surprisingly engaging short story. In some ways it reminds me of Jonathan Franzen's writing, but the meanness has been replaced by kindly awkwardness.