A review by arachne_reads
Ingathering: The Complete People Stories by Zenna Henderson
3.0
Henderson had an interesting way with language, "plat the twishers" and other such phrases that roll off the tongue... these wonderful uses of invented jargon dried up in later stories. She has a way of evoking loneliness that the felt entirely on the nose at some moments, especially in the Leah framing story, but that dissipated in some of the stories, and took very odd turns in others.
There seemed to be a common pattern in many of them, outsider meets one of the People, outsider is helped by the People, outsider fears the People are evil/lying/crazy, outsider comes to terms with the People, all is well. One of the most common themes I noted was the need to embrace the outsider-- not just the folk of earth needing to accept the People, but among the People themselves when faced with things that were new or challenged their ways. Her religious leanings are evident in the text, but the way the People treat death, being "Called to the Presence" and an almost joyous acceptance of it, felt a lot like C. S. Lewis's earlier writings in which he holds that grief will be banished through loving god enough-- an attitude which his later writings reversed after his own deep loss. That landed all kinds of poorly with me.
I was most intrigued by Henderson's portrayals of belonging and community, of feeling outside and alienated. There was something sharp in them, but in the ways they resolved, many of the stories felt hollow to me. I think this might be a function of myself as a reader, as most books that take an overtly Christian angle on things tend to lose me.
There seemed to be a common pattern in many of them, outsider meets one of the People, outsider is helped by the People, outsider fears the People are evil/lying/crazy, outsider comes to terms with the People, all is well. One of the most common themes I noted was the need to embrace the outsider-- not just the folk of earth needing to accept the People, but among the People themselves when faced with things that were new or challenged their ways. Her religious leanings are evident in the text, but the way the People treat death, being "Called to the Presence" and an almost joyous acceptance of it, felt a lot like C. S. Lewis's earlier writings in which he holds that grief will be banished through loving god enough-- an attitude which his later writings reversed after his own deep loss. That landed all kinds of poorly with me.
I was most intrigued by Henderson's portrayals of belonging and community, of feeling outside and alienated. There was something sharp in them, but in the ways they resolved, many of the stories felt hollow to me. I think this might be a function of myself as a reader, as most books that take an overtly Christian angle on things tend to lose me.