Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed The Collector of Hearts : New Tales of the Grotesque on + 1221 more book reviews
Some are Born to sweet delight
Some are Born to sweet delight
Some are Born to Endless Night
--William Blake, Auguries of Innocence
This collection of stories by Oates starts out with this rhyme by Blake. I thought this was really coincidental because the novel I read immediately before this was ENDLESS NIGHT by Agatha Christie which also used Blake's poem as a focus.
These stories by Oates were really quite disturbing. They are not horror stories in that there were no ghouls, vampires, or werewolves. But the horror of the these tales focused basically on families and the various maladies that affect most of us. There were stories about abusive parents and relatives, bullying, abandonment, mental illness, missing children, and yearnings to experience new things and people. Some of the stories reminded me of Shirley Jackson's unsettling stories of family life. Children were at the center of many of these.
In "Black Rectangle" (the title is an actual black rectangle), an 11-year-old girl is invited to visit her millionaire uncle for the first time: ''As we approached the big front door which was made of carved wood, with a beautiful gleaming brass American eagle, its dimensions seemed to shrink; the closer we got, the smaller the door got.'' Inside, the magnificent house turns into a series of cramped, disorderly rooms and awkward tunnels. And Uncle Rebhorn becomes increasingly tyrannical as he coerces the family into eating a lunch of strange lukewarm food served in plastic containers -- dessert is live jellyfish -- and then into going sailing. But whatever her uncle did not or did do on that summer day is obscured by a mysterious black rectangle that the narrator sees ''flicking'' toward her.
"Dear Mother" is about a college student whose mother shows up to live with her. But the narrator of the story was happy being away from her abusive mother who may have caused the death of her sister.
"The Hand Puppet" finds a mother at a loss when she finds out her daughter may be a bully.
"Schroeder's Stepfather" was one of the most disturbing stories where the narrator, John, recalls the abuses of his stepfather. The worst was what happened to Curly, a golden-red cocker spaniel puppy that had been given to John.
"The Sons of Angus MacElster" was a story about an abusive father and husband whose sons take revenge on him after he publicly shames his wife.
"Scars" is about a performer who returns to her hometown as a celebrity but carries the scars of bullying and abuse inflicted on her when she was in high school.
"The Crossing" has a woman in a coma and details what her mind is thinking as she sinks further and further away.
In ''The Affliction,'' a man turns his bizarre skin disease into the inspiration for a career as a highly successful painter.
I really thought this was a well-written anthology. I've read a few of Oates novels as well as another collection of her stories. She is a master of the written word and really provides some unexpected and unforeseen situations. Some of the stories in this collection could be interpreted in different ways which made them all the more interesting.
Some are Born to sweet delight
Some are Born to Endless Night
--William Blake, Auguries of Innocence
This collection of stories by Oates starts out with this rhyme by Blake. I thought this was really coincidental because the novel I read immediately before this was ENDLESS NIGHT by Agatha Christie which also used Blake's poem as a focus.
These stories by Oates were really quite disturbing. They are not horror stories in that there were no ghouls, vampires, or werewolves. But the horror of the these tales focused basically on families and the various maladies that affect most of us. There were stories about abusive parents and relatives, bullying, abandonment, mental illness, missing children, and yearnings to experience new things and people. Some of the stories reminded me of Shirley Jackson's unsettling stories of family life. Children were at the center of many of these.
In "Black Rectangle" (the title is an actual black rectangle), an 11-year-old girl is invited to visit her millionaire uncle for the first time: ''As we approached the big front door which was made of carved wood, with a beautiful gleaming brass American eagle, its dimensions seemed to shrink; the closer we got, the smaller the door got.'' Inside, the magnificent house turns into a series of cramped, disorderly rooms and awkward tunnels. And Uncle Rebhorn becomes increasingly tyrannical as he coerces the family into eating a lunch of strange lukewarm food served in plastic containers -- dessert is live jellyfish -- and then into going sailing. But whatever her uncle did not or did do on that summer day is obscured by a mysterious black rectangle that the narrator sees ''flicking'' toward her.
"Dear Mother" is about a college student whose mother shows up to live with her. But the narrator of the story was happy being away from her abusive mother who may have caused the death of her sister.
"The Hand Puppet" finds a mother at a loss when she finds out her daughter may be a bully.
"Schroeder's Stepfather" was one of the most disturbing stories where the narrator, John, recalls the abuses of his stepfather. The worst was what happened to Curly, a golden-red cocker spaniel puppy that had been given to John.
"The Sons of Angus MacElster" was a story about an abusive father and husband whose sons take revenge on him after he publicly shames his wife.
"Scars" is about a performer who returns to her hometown as a celebrity but carries the scars of bullying and abuse inflicted on her when she was in high school.
"The Crossing" has a woman in a coma and details what her mind is thinking as she sinks further and further away.
In ''The Affliction,'' a man turns his bizarre skin disease into the inspiration for a career as a highly successful painter.
I really thought this was a well-written anthology. I've read a few of Oates novels as well as another collection of her stories. She is a master of the written word and really provides some unexpected and unforeseen situations. Some of the stories in this collection could be interpreted in different ways which made them all the more interesting.
