My Whole Expanse I Cannot See…

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Archive for June 15th, 2016

I’m alive!

June 15th, 2016 | Category: Life,Opinions

So, obviously, I haven’t written in… awhile. It seemed like a break was necessary.

Anyway, after finishing my Goodreads 2016 Reading Challenge WAY early, I decided to re-read Caitlin R. Kiernan’s entire body of work. If you haven’t read Kiernan, it’s like saying you’ve never read Faulkner. She’s important.

I don’t re-read many writers, it usually feels pointless. They give you a story, the secrets are revealed and that’s that. Generally, it doesn’t seem worth the time to go through the book again. It’s not like you can multi-task while reading, it’s a real time-sink. Of course, rules have exceptions, and Caitlin R. Kiernan is on my very short list of exceptions. Unlike so many writers of our day, Kiernan doesn’t spoon-feed readers her stories’ revelations. She is very against “the reveal,” she leaves readers with questions, she leaves us to decide on so many whys and wherefores. It’s cause for criticism on occasion, which to me, only proves that readers are getting lazy. If you can’t google it, something’s obviously wrong. Our world isn’t supposed to have mystery, unanswered questions make us uncomfortable. The thing is, when you’re writing about human frailty, insanity, loss, magic, beings who were around to see the sun blink on, sometimes there just aren’t answers. Some things are simply unknowable.

Caitlin R. Kiernan writes beautifully conceived, gorgeously dark and compelleing stories that are fun to read and read and read again because with each reading the fog clears a little more, but never completely. There’s always something left to think on, always another reason to take another look.

Right now, I’m reading The Drowning Girl, which is a pretty good place to start if you’re new to Kiernan’s work. It’s a one of her stand-alone novels, it has absolutely no ties to her other books. It’s one of the most unique works of fiction I’ve ever read.

Well, that’s enough for now.

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