A review by ralovesbooks
Not So Stories by Joseph Elliott-Coleman, Adiwijaya Iskandar
3.0
Thank you to Abaddon Books and NetGalley for my free ebook copy!
Recently, I started an audiobook production of Just So Stories, and I couldn't finish it. I had such fond memories of the stories, but hearing them as an adult created dissonance for me, and I couldn't figure out why. Then I started this collection of stories, and the foreword by [a:Nikesh Shukla|4428916|Nikesh Shukla|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1297525947p2/4428916.jpg][a:Nikesh Shukla|4428916|Nikesh Shukla|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1297525947p2/4428916.jpg] struck me:
"The book doesn't age very well. Because it it steeped in colonial nostalgia, and a feeling that the British Empire was a benign part of the lives of those it oppressed. ... In 'How The Leopard Got His Spots,' the line 'The Ethiopian was really a negro, and so his name was Sambo' clangs. Elsewhere the sun is described as having 'more-than-oriental splendor.' And so on. And it's this normalisation of language that makes the original hard to still love and adore."
This collection of stories talks to the Just So Stories. I thought that they would be straight retellings, but it's more than that. They interpret and respond in a way that is thought-provoking, sometimes confusing, and ultimately horizon-broadening. I'm glad to have read them, and they reminded me of the stories in the anthologies, [b:A Thousand Beginnings and Endings|35430013|A Thousand Beginnings and Endings|Ellen Oh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508166142l/35430013._SX50_.jpg|52123117] and [b:The Radical Element|29748943|The Radical Element (A Tyranny of Petticoats, #2)|Jessica Spotswood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500590427l/29748943._SY75_.jpg|50105142].
My favorite stories were:
"Best Beloved" by Wayne Santos
"The Cat Who Walked by Herself" by Achala Upendran
"Strays Like Us" by Zina Hutton
"How the Camel Got Her Paid Time Off" by Paul Krueger
Recently, I started an audiobook production of Just So Stories, and I couldn't finish it. I had such fond memories of the stories, but hearing them as an adult created dissonance for me, and I couldn't figure out why. Then I started this collection of stories, and the foreword by [a:Nikesh Shukla|4428916|Nikesh Shukla|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1297525947p2/4428916.jpg][a:Nikesh Shukla|4428916|Nikesh Shukla|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1297525947p2/4428916.jpg] struck me:
"The book doesn't age very well. Because it it steeped in colonial nostalgia, and a feeling that the British Empire was a benign part of the lives of those it oppressed. ... In 'How The Leopard Got His Spots,' the line 'The Ethiopian was really a negro, and so his name was Sambo' clangs. Elsewhere the sun is described as having 'more-than-oriental splendor.' And so on. And it's this normalisation of language that makes the original hard to still love and adore."
This collection of stories talks to the Just So Stories. I thought that they would be straight retellings, but it's more than that. They interpret and respond in a way that is thought-provoking, sometimes confusing, and ultimately horizon-broadening. I'm glad to have read them, and they reminded me of the stories in the anthologies, [b:A Thousand Beginnings and Endings|35430013|A Thousand Beginnings and Endings|Ellen Oh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508166142l/35430013._SX50_.jpg|52123117] and [b:The Radical Element|29748943|The Radical Element (A Tyranny of Petticoats, #2)|Jessica Spotswood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500590427l/29748943._SY75_.jpg|50105142].
My favorite stories were:
"Best Beloved" by Wayne Santos
"The Cat Who Walked by Herself" by Achala Upendran
"Strays Like Us" by Zina Hutton
"How the Camel Got Her Paid Time Off" by Paul Krueger