Lanagan, Margo: Black Juice
Black Juice (2004)
Written by: Margo Lanagan
Genre: Short Stories/Fantasy
Pages: 262 (Mass Market Paperback)
Why I Read It: I had been given a copy of "Singing My Sister Down" quite a few years ago. I read it, because the friend who passed the story on said it was a marvelous piece, and it was used in some sort of short story workshop as an example of a stellar story. I read it, I loved it, and promptly ordered the collection the story appears in. And then I let that collection sit on my bookshelf forever, because that's what I do. Thanks to the Mount TBR challenge, I finally decided to pull it off the shelf and give it a whirl.
The premise: ganked from BN.com: As part of a public execution, a young boy forlornly helps to sing his sister down. . . . A servant learns about grace and loyalty from a mistress who would rather dance with Gypsies than sit on her throne. . . . A terrifying encounter with a demonic angel gives a young man the strength he needs to break free of his oppressor. . . . On a bleak and dreary afternoon a gleeful shooting spree leads to tragedy for a desperate clown unable to escape his fate.
In each of Margo Lanagan's ten extraordinary stories, human frailty is put to the test by the implacable forces of dark and light, man and beast. black juice offers glimpses into familiar, shadowy worlds that push the boundaries of the spirit and leave the mind haunted with the knowledge that black juice runs through us all.
Provides glimpses of the dark side of civilization and the beauty of the human spirit through ten short stories that explore significant moments in people's lives, events leading to them, and their consequences.
Spoilers, yay or nay?: Nay. Given that this is a collection of short stories, there really is nothing to spoil. So instead of spoilers, you'll get some general impressions for each story before the wrap-up at "My Rating." If you don't want the general impressions, then skip to "My Rating" and you'll be good to go!
Singing My Sister Down (5 stars): I don't know how many times I've read this story, but it's so powerful, with such an interesting set-up: the titular sister has been given the death sentence, and the death sentence, in this world, is walking to the middle of a tar pit and sinking to your death. It's such a moving piece, about how family sticks together, even in the face of such tragedy. It's a wonderful story, one I know I'll come back to again and again.
My Lord's Man (2 stars): I really didn't care for this. It took me a bit to realize that the narrator, when he said "Mullord," was actually saying My Lord, and while I appreciate the dialect to an extent, it kept distracting me from the piece. I also kept wondering if this story was somehow a kind of riff on King Arthur, which in my mind elevates the story to new interesting heights. That being said, I can't prove that's what this story is, so if anyone has any light to shed on that interpretation, I'd love to hear it.
Red Nose Day (2 stars): This was such an utterly weird piece, and the piece that made me realize that Lanagan's short stories may be best consumed with multiple readings. No doubt, there's layers upon layers to her work, and this story was so bizarre and strange that I really should've flipped back to the beginning to read it all over again. I should note it's not a bad story: there's something cathartic about the thought of killing clowns, but the world the author's created is just . . . yeah, this story deserves a re-read.
Sweet Pippit (3 stars): This was another strange piece, and it's my own fault for assuming the narrator and her group was anything but elephants. Silly me, looking for the strange where the normal suffices. It's an interesting story once I got that particular detail through my thick head, with an ending that deserves a second and perhaps third look.
House of the Many (4 stars): Another fascinating piece that suddenly had a whole new meaning once I realized that what I thought was a magical object was actually something quite mundane, but described to the point of being magical. And there was something about the way Lanagan wrote this piece, something strange, magical, and yet utterly and realistically human.
Wooden Bride (2 stars): It seems that Lanagan's stories either really clicked with me, or really didn't. This one didn't, as I never really grasped the point of this ritual, though I did appreciate the kind of irony is a narrator doing something that probably wasn't in her best interest, yet she was determined to do it, to actually be known to have finished something. I suspect that a second and third reading will reveal this story to be ripe with commentary, particularly of the feminist variety, but I could be wrong.
Earthly Uses (3 stars): An interesting piece, one that might be one of the more disgusting portrayals of angels that I've seen. That being said, I wasn't wholly sure what was happening in this piece. Rather, I knew what was happening, but the why of it all was perplexing. Another story that would benefit from a re-read. I did, however, like the emotional resonance of the ending.
Perpetual Light (4 stars): I really liked this piece, the subtle ways that Lanagan reveals a future, perhaps post-apocalyptic world, and how the mundane will always be with us, no matter how gritty or unlivable the future may become. It's a fascinating little piece, and I really, really enjoyed the details of this story. One particular passage stood out (page 208):
It's the role of daughters to move ever away from their mothers . . . , and it's likely, isn't it, that someone will step in and appreciate everything the daughters can't, being so busy pushing themselves out into the world, saying, No, no, I'm not you.
Yowlinin (5 stars): I really enjoyed this, how the narrator is a character outside even her own community, for surviving an event that's about to happen all over again. In some ways, it's a story about how the more things change, the more they stay the same, and again it was the details that really captivated me in this piece. And the voice of the narrator was particularly strong (page 240):
What was I doing, thinking him handsome, calling him mine? Who did I think I was, all these months, following and watching him? This must be what they call lovesickness. But the love has fallen from my eyes now and left only the sickness.
Rite of Spring (5 stars): This was another fascinating and powerful piece where the details made all the difference. For example, page 245:
He sighed as he pulled open the cloth bag, and the robe -- well, nothing like that had ever been in our house before. Like bagged-up dragon fire, it was, all full of danger and brightness.
Of course, I adore the title, which makes me think, of course, of Stravinksy, of which I have fond memories of listening to (and reminds me I need to dig that CD up), but that with the actual literal interpretations of the title in the story is just grand, especially the kind of magic Lanagan lends the tale. A great way to end the collection.
My Rating: Worth Reading, with Reservations
I should be honest: I'm rating this a wee bit harshly. The trouble is, the first story in the collection is one I'd read and re-read years ago and loved, so I had SUPER HIGH EXPECTATIONS for this collection, expecting every story to knock me over with a feather. They didn't. The collection was 50/50 for me: half of the stories I really dug, the other half had me scratching my head. That being said, and please take note, because this is praise: all of the stories deserve to be read, and re-read, and re-read some more. There's something about Lanagan's storytelling that invites the reader to come back again and again, to consider the situation, the layers, the symbolism, of each piece. Especially the ones that didn't click with me the first time, because those are the ones the beg for a more careful look. Fans of short stories should definitely pick this collection up and give it a go, and keep this around for re-reading. I'm not even a big fan of short stories as a rule, but I'm considering re-reading these tales again in the future.
Cover Commentary: How bad is it that I never noticed the wings on this cover until I posted the pdf of the cover on my blog? Yeah, I thought so. The cover isn't eye-catching, nor is it offensive. It does what it does, but does nothing to capture my eye nor imagination. Good thing my purchase of the book didn't rely on the cover!
Next up: Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire