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A review by mikkiokko
So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men by Claire Keegan
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
As usual, Claire Keegan does not miss!
So Late in the Day - My gosh, what a great story! It always fascinates me how Keegan can pack in so much and dissect such complicated things in a short amount of words whilst remaining so simple. In 'So Late in the Day' she does this to propose the idea that what often strains what could be a good relationship between men and a women is a lack of generosity on the man's part. And OH MY GOD does she just nail it right on the head here. I cannot tell you how often my interactions with men have been soured because of their unwillingness to put in the slightest effort or interest, let alone force themselves to unlearn the fact that they see me as a body and machine. She communicates all of that frustration and complexity simply and with language that feels like inhaling perfume! I also found it very interesting that for this story she decided to write it from the perspective of a man because it gives haunting insight into how the thinking with a lack of generosity works. I especially found it interesting when he cursed the woman in his life by calling them 'cunts', "Although he couldn't accurately attach this word to what she was, it was something he could say, something he could call her". I love how that part gets right into his head, that he just wants something to call women to have some power over them that he thinks he deserves, because god I have felt that so many times.
The Long and Painful Death - This story felt quite ethereal, something a little different from Keegan's works which often feel feel very grounded in reality. I was almost waiting for Keegan to pull out her first supernatural element, but I liked it! I got a lot of enjoyment out of this story as a writer myself, and liked how it looked into the writing process and how writer's often get revenge through dissection rather than destruction. I also REALLY wanted to eat the cake.
Antarctica - This one really turned into something I didn't expect. It revolves around a married women taking a weekend away to see what it is like to sleep with another man, but it slowly takes a turn.On the final day she finds out that the man she is sleeping with is actually a violent criminal who kidnaps her. The story ends with her stuck in his home, unable to call out for help, stuck in the freezing cold, and thinking about eternity, the exact situation she described as her idea of hell earlier in the story. This twist ending had me terrified, but also thinking. When I first started reading this book I wondered if it was going to be about exploring the morals of this woman cheating, perhaps she was in a horrible marriage of some sorts. But she wasn't, she just wanted to see what it was like. So, by the end I wondered if this story is almost supposed to a look at misogynistic punishment. I say that because I think it is among common agreement that cheating is bad, so when you intertwine that with a women experiencing sexual violence because she wanted to cheat does that cause the reader to almost slip into a misogynistic view where they think she deserved it? It is of course common that sexual violence against women is dismissed with the "well she asked for it", so is this taking that horrific line of thinking and taking it to it's extreme? I'm not sure, but what is clear is that Keegan shows the pervasiveness of violence against women. That it is a real and alive hell we all live in fear of and for some through.
So Late in the Day - My gosh, what a great story! It always fascinates me how Keegan can pack in so much and dissect such complicated things in a short amount of words whilst remaining so simple. In 'So Late in the Day' she does this to propose the idea that what often strains what could be a good relationship between men and a women is a lack of generosity on the man's part. And OH MY GOD does she just nail it right on the head here. I cannot tell you how often my interactions with men have been soured because of their unwillingness to put in the slightest effort or interest, let alone force themselves to unlearn the fact that they see me as a body and machine. She communicates all of that frustration and complexity simply and with language that feels like inhaling perfume! I also found it very interesting that for this story she decided to write it from the perspective of a man because it gives haunting insight into how the thinking with a lack of generosity works. I especially found it interesting when he cursed the woman in his life by calling them 'cunts', "Although he couldn't accurately attach this word to what she was, it was something he could say, something he could call her". I love how that part gets right into his head, that he just wants something to call women to have some power over them that he thinks he deserves, because god I have felt that so many times.
The Long and Painful Death - This story felt quite ethereal, something a little different from Keegan's works which often feel feel very grounded in reality. I was almost waiting for Keegan to pull out her first supernatural element, but I liked it! I got a lot of enjoyment out of this story as a writer myself, and liked how it looked into the writing process and how writer's often get revenge through dissection rather than destruction. I also REALLY wanted to eat the cake.
Antarctica - This one really turned into something I didn't expect. It revolves around a married women taking a weekend away to see what it is like to sleep with another man, but it slowly takes a turn.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexual violence