All of the stories in this collection of three novellas revolve, in some way, around a relationship in turmoil and there is also obliviousness (be it self-imposed or not). But the three novellas have more differences than they do similarities. The styles in which the author chooses to tell these stories shows his wide range of ability. What is most unique about the second and third story is the styles in which they are written and the forms they take. They are certainly experimental structures. Steven Millhauser is a strong writer, though the second and third story lacked in plot and well-developed characters, resting a bit too much on the experimental structures of the stories themselves. All three stories seem to include an overlapping of imagination and reality.
The Little Kingdom of J. Franklin Payne
There was too much narrative and back story at the beginning—the back story seemed largely unnecessary and reading that part seemed dragged out. It seemed to me that the back story could have been removed entirely, or at least condensed. Later, the narrative is strong and the story begins to come to life. A glimpse near the beginning of the story of the world this man sometimes lived in, or rather the world he saw in the place of his mundane world kept me interested through the more dragging parts of the story. There were a few times when I did not feel that Millhausers narrative was effective. I often like large chunks of telling, and often like useless details, but in the useless details, Millhauser seems to also lose his touch for effective narrative. That being said, once the story picked up, I fell further and further into this world, and didn't want to put the book down (unlike previously, where I had to keep re-focusing on the story because my mind would wander.) There are many long complex sentences that occasionally required re-reading and long daunting paragraphs that could overwhelm. All in all, the negative aspects of this story are minor and the strength of the story and the writing are well worth the read.
The Princess, the Dwarf and the Dungeon
This story is a series of short sections that tell of the different parts of the castle and kingdom, and through these sections, a story is told—both of the town and the people within, and of a tale they tell over and over again of the prince and a princess. Many different versions of the fairy tale are brought up throughout the story, which led me to look more closely at the relationship between the fairy tale being told and the descriptions of the town. The sections are short and easily digested. Much of it is told bluntly as if someone relating possible facts of a story, rather than attempting to hold you in the clutches of the story. However, through these small portions, the language and choice of details paints a clear picture and I found myself very curious as to what was going to happen next. There is not a typical story arch, though there is a story arch in the fairy tale. Overall, it is a dark tale, woven well.
The Paintings
This story consists of descriptions of paintings, the people they portray, and the artist. The sections of description vary in length, but I found all of a length that was easy to digest. Together they tell a story of the artists life. The descriptions are a little frustrating in their inconsistency. Some tell a lot about the painter, some about the subject of the painting, some a history of the painting itself, and others what the painting looks like. Some serve more than one of these purposes, but often not in the same order, or in the same manner, as other passages. It is as though the descriptions are a compilation of gallery descriptions, descriptions in a book of paintings, descriptions from a biography, Wikipedia articles, and just descriptions as though someone was just telling a friend what something looked like. There were times that the “obsessed historian” who seemed to be giving the descriptions would slip and reveal conjecture as though it was fact, or tell more about the relationships between the individuals than would likely be known. Despite this, all of the descriptions were effective in their purpose. The inconsistency made it hard for me, at the beginning of the story, to pick the story out of the descriptions. This isn't to say it's poorly done, but simply that it did not work very well for me. I was able to take, from the piece, enough of a story to be satisfied and interested, but with a feeling that there was more out of my reach. By the end of reading, I was fully engrossed in the story. I feel, for myself, it could have been more engaging, but it was certainly effective and powerful and worth reading.
Trigger warning: description of a visual of someone being assaulted. Please email me for more information.
You might like this book if you like: Paul Auster, Italo Calvino, Vladmir Nabokov, Mark Helprin
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