SJ Norman

Hmmm. A very unique set of stories. I see the word “haunted” in its various iterations thrown around about this book a lot and would agree that this is a good word that each of these stories share in common, though in different ways. Which is really interesting, to see how this same concept is shifted from story to story. Then there are very lyrical moments that you just have to pause after reading and sit with, re-read. That’s always a plus in my book.

Other words I’ve seen to describe this book are “uncanny,” “disorienting,” and “disturbing,” and I also feel that all of these hit on some of the key feelings invoked by the writing. All of these stories take everyday scenes and render them in ways that could be seen as preternatural if you shift your perception just a bit. These stories feel like walking into a memory and reaching out to see what lies beyond the recall of image, sounds, scents. But they also feel like the moment of recall, using each of the senses to pull yourself into a different reality.

“The currawongs, the river traffic; these are my bone songs. My home frequencies. These are the sounds that have held me since I was born and have never failed, before now, to sing me back into this ground that grew me up.”

“It’s like rock climbing, I think I said to you on the phone once. Every minute ritual, every familiar sensation is a foothold in the sheer, vertiginous drop of solitude.”

Sure, there were some things I didn’t like here and there for sheer subject matter. But in the end the way it was written and the emotion and atmosphere the writing brought out of each story, almost became more of the point than what was happening in the story or at least equally important. I think “intimate” would be another word I’d want to ascribe, there’s always this feeling of closeness, of familiarity with the uncanny lingering on the fringes.

All in all, the writing is stunning and does things which seem very unique to me, in a good way. The stories are very haunting and leave you with the sensation of needing to ponder over them for much longer, whether you parse out any new information from the act or not.… (meer)