Gargoyles About
Okay, I finally finished Gargoyle No. 48. Not that there was any reason why it took so long, but just that I've had so much else going on that I've been a slow reader. I suppose summer might be a continuation of that problem, given the usual uptick of social life in the summertime.
Anyway, as always, I totally enjoyed the issue of Gargoyle. It even had a couple relationship stories in it. (Sorry, couldn't resist that jab about a certain comment that I blogged about recently.) Just goes to show those pesky "relationship stories" can really knock one's socks off.
I guess my favorite story was Butterfly Barbecue Sauce by James Thompson. How can one not like a story where a lifeguard dummy is the protagonist, I ask? Seriously, it's one wacked-out story with a lot of truths about human nature as well as the nature of relationships.
Another story that blew me away was The Crime Museum by Suzanne Feldman, which brings a real sci-fi, speculative strain to the volume, as well as This Other Eden by Michael Hemmingson, which goes to realms of social dread and just nails it home. Other stories that stuck with me were Intimacy by Avital Gad-Cykman, Oppositions by Carolyn Osborn, In Memoriam to Identity by Doug Rice, Corrections by Lynda Schor, Transactions by Jon Swan, and A Simple Affair by Katherine Vaz. Okay, so that's just about all of the fiction in the volume, ha.
Also, maybe the piece that I won't forget was Verges by Reamy Jansen. I am not sure what the heck it is, to be honest (it's in the nonfiction section) but it's definitely one of the most striking pieces in the entire issue.
If anything struck me, it was that this issue struck me as just a tad less edgy than issues I have read in the past. Not that that's a bad thing, in the case of Gargoyle, which is always a totally satisfying read where the fiction really jumps out at you. So, I highly recommend it, and I hope that others will check it out. I'm looking forward to getting the next issue that's coming out in the summer, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong...). I'm also looking forward to the end of May so I can submit some work to them.
Next on the agenda is Black Clock -- well, truth is, I've got a huge stack of reading waiting to be done but can only get through it one at a time. There are a few detours coming up, seeing how I also have some work-related reading to do coming up as well as the fact that I ordered a Hunter S. Thompson book in memoriam of the man. I have read some of Thompson's stuff but lost one book to an ex-boyfriend (before I could even finish reading it) and borrowed the rest. Oh well...
Thanks for reading,
LLB
Anyway, as always, I totally enjoyed the issue of Gargoyle. It even had a couple relationship stories in it. (Sorry, couldn't resist that jab about a certain comment that I blogged about recently.) Just goes to show those pesky "relationship stories" can really knock one's socks off.
I guess my favorite story was Butterfly Barbecue Sauce by James Thompson. How can one not like a story where a lifeguard dummy is the protagonist, I ask? Seriously, it's one wacked-out story with a lot of truths about human nature as well as the nature of relationships.
Another story that blew me away was The Crime Museum by Suzanne Feldman, which brings a real sci-fi, speculative strain to the volume, as well as This Other Eden by Michael Hemmingson, which goes to realms of social dread and just nails it home. Other stories that stuck with me were Intimacy by Avital Gad-Cykman, Oppositions by Carolyn Osborn, In Memoriam to Identity by Doug Rice, Corrections by Lynda Schor, Transactions by Jon Swan, and A Simple Affair by Katherine Vaz. Okay, so that's just about all of the fiction in the volume, ha.
Also, maybe the piece that I won't forget was Verges by Reamy Jansen. I am not sure what the heck it is, to be honest (it's in the nonfiction section) but it's definitely one of the most striking pieces in the entire issue.
If anything struck me, it was that this issue struck me as just a tad less edgy than issues I have read in the past. Not that that's a bad thing, in the case of Gargoyle, which is always a totally satisfying read where the fiction really jumps out at you. So, I highly recommend it, and I hope that others will check it out. I'm looking forward to getting the next issue that's coming out in the summer, I believe (correct me if I'm wrong...). I'm also looking forward to the end of May so I can submit some work to them.
Next on the agenda is Black Clock -- well, truth is, I've got a huge stack of reading waiting to be done but can only get through it one at a time. There are a few detours coming up, seeing how I also have some work-related reading to do coming up as well as the fact that I ordered a Hunter S. Thompson book in memoriam of the man. I have read some of Thompson's stuff but lost one book to an ex-boyfriend (before I could even finish reading it) and borrowed the rest. Oh well...
Thanks for reading,
LLB
posted by LadyLitBlitzin at 6:47 PM
3 Comments:
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I had some problems with the Butterfuly with BBQ sauce piece. The names flipped around so much, it took me awhile to figure out who was who and what was what. But that just might be my issue. Great idea, though...I love the performance piece in the courtyard at the end.
You're right, though. It didn't have as many edgy pieces as other issues do. There are a number of the "relationship" stories; more than normal. But Gargoyle's really different every time. That's part of what I like about it.
That's interesting that we had different reactions to that story. I have to say that was my favorite of the bunch. I'm glad we agree that it was a good issue... lack of as much edginess aside.
Do you have any idea what Verges was meant to be?
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