The genius that lies behind the best collections of short stories, like Neil Gaiman's stories in "Trigger Warning," relies on a developing theme in the stories that is inherently dependent upon the reader's response.
As the title suggests, the stories in "Trigger Warning" are designed to "trigger" a response from the reader in terms of what claims are "things that upset us."
Gaiman says that the triggers are "like trapdoors beneath us, throwing us out of our safe, sane world into a place much more dark and less welcoming. Our hearts skip a ratatat drumbeat in our chests, and we fight for breath. Blood retreats from our faces and our fingers, leaving us pale and gasping and shocked."
Fortunately, and perhaps most interesting, is the fact that this does not happen with all the stories for one person. One story will trigger these emotions and thoughts and another may not. In this way, Gaiman gives each of us a mirror to hold up to our unconscious and test our deep inner thoughts and fears.
My trigger story is "Feminine Endings." What's yours?
In Trigger Warning, global phenomenon and Sunday Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman returns to dazzle, captivate, haunt, and entertain with this third collection of short fiction, which includes a Doctor Who adventure, the David Bowie-inspired The Return of the Thin White Duke and a never-before published American Gods story, Black Dog.
The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains was serialised on BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime in November 2015.
'We are all wearing masks. That is what makes us interesting. These are stories about those masks, and the people we are underneath them.' Neil Gaiman, writing from…
The genius that lies behind the best collections of short stories, such as Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber," relies on developing a theme in the stories that is inherently dependent upon the reader's response.
In "The Bloody Chamber," Carter re-tells fairy tales such as Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, from a feisty feminist point of view meant to evoke both horror and a bit of revenge from most feminist readers. How that combination of horror and revenge affects our psyches is most revealing to the readers as to how they react to the new version of a very old, if not myth-based tale from the patriarchal cultures of the past where women were mistreated and abused on a regular basis.
My favorite was the re-telling of Red Riding Hood called "The Company of Wolves," a prelude to her next tale called "Wolf-Alice"!
With an introduction by Helen Simpson. From familiar fairy tales and legends - Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Puss in Boots, Beauty and the Beast, vampires and werewolves - Angela Carter has created an absorbing collection of dark, sensual, fantastic stories.
Madeline Miller's book Galatea re-creates the story of the Greek sculptor, Pygmalion, who brings his statue of Galatea to life and keeps her as his wife. Those familiar with the recent rendition of this timeless myth of a man creating a woman of his own making will be shocked to learn that many women find this premise frightening.
Reader response to this book is also frightening for women who come to the realization that in some form or another, whether minor or of major concern, the phenomena of men wanting to re-make women into their own image may have entered their relationship with a man at one time or another.
As the reader clutches the small booklet in their hand reading quickly through its fifty pages, they may wonder whether the size and brevity of the book enhances the reading experience in a way as to mock having someone like Galatea in the palm of your hand momentarily.
An enchanting short story from Madeline Miller that boldly reimagines the myth of Galatea and Pygmalion, now in hardcover for the first time
**A small hardcover edition featuring a new afterword by Madeline Miller**
In ancient Greece, a skilled marble sculptor has been blessed by a goddess who has given his masterpiece—the most beautiful woman the town has ever seen—the gift of life. After marrying her, he expects Galatea to please him, to be obedience and humility personified. But she has desires of her own and yearns for independence.
“The Myth of the Year fills both my mind and spirit. It explains, graphically, the intersection of myth and ritual, giving a celestial backdrop for both. It speaks of balances¬ of lunar and solar cycles, of myth and astronomy. It explains, in a broader way than has been explained before, how the writers of myth are really attempting to chart the world around them, peopling both the planet and the skies with the divine and the heroic, and in so doing, bringing all into harmony with the wheel of the year.” Miriam Robbins Dexter
“Since prehistory, mankind has recognized and responded to the sacral element of the female. No single image is sufficient to embody something which transcends time and space. The Morrigan, Celtic goddess of war, is Aphrodite, goddess of love. Her terrible, tender face in a hundred different guises peers out at us from our collective memory. Embodiment of the life force, hers is the name men cry aloud in their death throes. She is the goddess.” Morgan Llywelyn
