Archive for January 21st, 2008
Monday, January 21st, 2008Keeping it Short - Black Ice, by Cate Kennedy
“For everything poisonous there’s something else nearby to cure it, if you just look around.” -From Black Ice-
Cate Kennedy’s short story Black Ice was published on line at the New Yorker in September 2006. It is a quick read and written in accessible language. The story’s narrator, a young boy by the name of Billy, disturbs the reader with his tale of rabbit trapping (he sells them to a neighbor as dog food). Billy’s father has an edge of violence about him and although we do not have details of the boy’s home life, the reader can assume he is raised with a firm and unforgiving hand. The tension in the story arises when a woman buys a vacant and crumbling home near Billy. She scoffs at the “local color” and wrinkles her nose in disgust at the idea of Billy’s rabbit hunting. And although their interactions are brief, the reader is left with a distinct feeling of unease regarding Billy and the woman’s differences in perspective.
Black Ice is a disturbing look at class conflict, as well as an environmental treatise of sorts. It uses nature as a symbolic and stark backdrop to human dissension. Billy is described in terms that equate him to the furry rabbits he quickly dispatches (”I made myself small as a rabbit and moved through them on my soft scrabbly claws.”) which makes his ultimate behavior something the reader sees as destined to happen.
I am glad I will be discussing this with a group of readers at 21st Fiction Yahoo group because I think there are deeper elements to the story I may be missing.
Rated 3.5/5.
Monday, January 21st, 20082008 Short Stories Read
All short stories read in 2008 will be recorded and tracked on this post. Collections of short stories may also be found under 2008 Books Read. Single stories will only be found here. I use the following rating scale:
= Excellent; a must read; highly recommended
= Good/Very good; recommended
= Okay; pretty good
= Not recommended; boring; didn’t hold my interest; bad writing
= Awful; hated it; probably didn’t even finish the darn thing
1. Black Ice, by Cate Kennedy
Date Read: January 21, 2008
Rated: 
Read for: The Short Story Reading Challenge, A Novel Challenge Yahoo group (mini challenge), AND 21st Fiction Yahoo Group
Read my review.
2. The Overcoat, by Nikolai Gogol
Date Read: March 1, 2008
Rated:
Read for: The Short Story Reading Challenge, AND Russian Lit Yahoo Group
Read my review.
3. Landscape With Flatiron, by Haruki Murakami
Date Read: April 21, 2008
Rated:
Read for: The Short Story Reading Challenge, AND 21st Fiction Yahoo Group
Read my review.
4. The Kiss, by Anton Chekhov
Date Read: May 14, 2008
Rated:
Read For: The Short Story Reading Challenge, AND Russian Lit Yahoo Group
Read my review.
5. Free Radicals, by Alice Munro
Date Read: May 25, 2008
Rated:
Read For: The Short Story Reading Challenge, AND 21st Fiction Yahoo Group
Read my review.
6. Springtime on Mars, by Susan Woodring
Date Read: June 28, 2008
Rated:
Read for: The Short Story Reading Challenge
Read my review.
7. Mr. Bones, by Paul Theroux
Date read: June 28, 2008
Rated:
Read for: 21st Fiction Yahoo Group
Read my review.
8. Natalie, by Anne Enright
Date read: July 26, 2008
Rated: 
Read for: 21st Fiction Yahoo Group
Read my review.
9. An Ex-Mas Feast, by Uwem Akpan
Date read: August 24, 2008
Rated: 
Read for: 21st Fiction Yahoo Group
Read my review.
10. The View From Castle Rock, by Alice Munro
Date read: September 26, 2008
Rated:
Read for: The Book Place Yahoo Group
Read my review.
11.