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The Law of Strings
Fiction. THE LAW OF STRINGS AND OTHER STORIES is an existential yelp examining individual choices and our all-too-human response to unexpected events. Fans of George Saunders and Aimee Bender will delight in Gillis' surprising surrealist twists in the heart of painfully real emotion and interpersonal relationships. From a tightrope walker abandoning his trade to an Immovable Girl learning to levitate, THE LAW OF STRINGS explores what happens at the crossroads in our lives and how we decide what matters most in a world defined by chaos.
"[T]his story collection hooked me from story one and continued to captivate to the end. Expert dialogue and movement and resolution in each piece...This is a book you could read in a sitting or two. The pace is that swift; the stories are that good."—Stephen Dixon
"[T]his story collection hooked me from story one and continued to captivate to the end. Expert dialogue and movement and resolution in each piece...This is a book you could read in a sitting or two. The pace is that swift; the stories are that good."—Stephen Dixon
180 pages, Paperback
First published August 28, 2012
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March 12, 2013
Book: The Law of Strings
Author: Steven Gillis
Published: August 28, 2012 by Atticus Books, 180 pages
First Line: ”They gathered us all together, those of us who’d been here a while and those new to the game, and told us to go have a look.”
Genre/Rating: Short stories; 3.5/5 girls who wake up one morning with bones hundreds of times denser than lead
(Copy provided by Atticus Books)
Review: The press release we were sent for this book compared it to Aimee Bender (if you haven’t read her short story collection Willful Creatures, please treat yourself; it is a delight) and promised “surrealistic twists.” I was sold. I’m often an easy touch for such things. (This also holds true for movie trailers. Even though I KNOW the trailer makes a movie look amazing that often won’t be, I’m always sold on almost every single movie once I see a trailer. I’d be an easy mark if I were to ever enter a county fair, I’m afraid.)
I started the book and wasn’t impressed, and was sad about that – the author co-founded Dzanc Books and 826michigan, and has written numerous other books. I worked my way through the first story and despaired I’d be reading the rest of them. It was very physics-heavy and very esoteric, and I know next-to-nothing about the former and care very little for the latter in my fiction.
The second story was better. And they just kept getting better from there. Which raises the question – why would you begin a collection with a story that doesn’t grab your reader by the throat and refuse to let them go? I know enough from reading to know you need to hook your reader early on or you stand a good chance, in this fast-paced world where there are a million other things clamoring for our attention, of losing them to the next shiny thing. I also work in theater, and know theater is the same way. If a play starts slow and remains there long enough, your audience is daydreaming and have mentally tuned out. We need a hook. It’s just a little perplexing why the story that was chosen (“What We Wonder When Not Sure,” the title really was the best part of the story, unfortunately) to be the first impression made when reading this collection.
That being said, the rest of the collection was good, bordering on excellent. Beautiful, slightly strange, surreal little stories, most of which have some physics component, which seems to be the theme of the collection and ties in with the title, of course (it only got intrusive and obnoxious once in a while, and that might be because I have a mental block stemming from high school when it comes to physics). Some so poetic it makes your teeth hurt to read them, they’re so sweetly perfect.
The best: “As Dudee Fell” (a bittersweet, tragic friendship and romance), “The Things We Cling To When Holding On” (a beautiful piece of magic realism where one morning, a boy wakes up able to levitate and a girl wakes up unimaginably heavy) and “Hurbestone the Magnificent” (a magician, reeling from a loss, allows a new protégée into his life). Other than a couple of misses, the rest of the stories are solidly wonderful. There’s a lot of magic in this book, a lot of wonder. I’m planning on looking for other work by the author – I like his style, and I’d like to see what else he’s capable of when not tied down by the constriction of “physics” that the book prescribes. (It’s a fine idea, and I don’t mind that the book has a running theme, I’d just like to see what else he can do, especially since physics isn’t my thing.)
Lovely collection, overall. I’d be interested in seeing what others think of it.
(Originally published at Insatiable Booksluts)
Author: Steven Gillis
Published: August 28, 2012 by Atticus Books, 180 pages
First Line: ”They gathered us all together, those of us who’d been here a while and those new to the game, and told us to go have a look.”
Genre/Rating: Short stories; 3.5/5 girls who wake up one morning with bones hundreds of times denser than lead
(Copy provided by Atticus Books)
Review: The press release we were sent for this book compared it to Aimee Bender (if you haven’t read her short story collection Willful Creatures, please treat yourself; it is a delight) and promised “surrealistic twists.” I was sold. I’m often an easy touch for such things. (This also holds true for movie trailers. Even though I KNOW the trailer makes a movie look amazing that often won’t be, I’m always sold on almost every single movie once I see a trailer. I’d be an easy mark if I were to ever enter a county fair, I’m afraid.)
I started the book and wasn’t impressed, and was sad about that – the author co-founded Dzanc Books and 826michigan, and has written numerous other books. I worked my way through the first story and despaired I’d be reading the rest of them. It was very physics-heavy and very esoteric, and I know next-to-nothing about the former and care very little for the latter in my fiction.
The second story was better. And they just kept getting better from there. Which raises the question – why would you begin a collection with a story that doesn’t grab your reader by the throat and refuse to let them go? I know enough from reading to know you need to hook your reader early on or you stand a good chance, in this fast-paced world where there are a million other things clamoring for our attention, of losing them to the next shiny thing. I also work in theater, and know theater is the same way. If a play starts slow and remains there long enough, your audience is daydreaming and have mentally tuned out. We need a hook. It’s just a little perplexing why the story that was chosen (“What We Wonder When Not Sure,” the title really was the best part of the story, unfortunately) to be the first impression made when reading this collection.
That being said, the rest of the collection was good, bordering on excellent. Beautiful, slightly strange, surreal little stories, most of which have some physics component, which seems to be the theme of the collection and ties in with the title, of course (it only got intrusive and obnoxious once in a while, and that might be because I have a mental block stemming from high school when it comes to physics). Some so poetic it makes your teeth hurt to read them, they’re so sweetly perfect.
The best: “As Dudee Fell” (a bittersweet, tragic friendship and romance), “The Things We Cling To When Holding On” (a beautiful piece of magic realism where one morning, a boy wakes up able to levitate and a girl wakes up unimaginably heavy) and “Hurbestone the Magnificent” (a magician, reeling from a loss, allows a new protégée into his life). Other than a couple of misses, the rest of the stories are solidly wonderful. There’s a lot of magic in this book, a lot of wonder. I’m planning on looking for other work by the author – I like his style, and I’d like to see what else he’s capable of when not tied down by the constriction of “physics” that the book prescribes. (It’s a fine idea, and I don’t mind that the book has a running theme, I’d just like to see what else he can do, especially since physics isn’t my thing.)
Lovely collection, overall. I’d be interested in seeing what others think of it.
(Originally published at Insatiable Booksluts)
March 16, 2015
Review: The Law of Strings
by Caroline Marinaro
The title of Steven Gillis’ collection of short stories – The Law of Strings and Other Stories – couldn’t be more fitting. In Gillis’ fifteen tales, he examines the human condition through relationships with a keen eye for philosophical musings and theories of quantum mechanics. Some of the scenes Gillis paints for us verge on ridiculous but he handles the whimsy well. In the end, however, the stories are not about the plots: in each story, Gillis writes tragic characters who want nothing more than to be understood by and relate to others, even though numerous obstacles continuously prevent them from doing so. Using humor, absurdity, and scientific theories, Gillis illustrates the contradictory nature of relationships: how all humans seem to want is to connect to others and yet such a connection among such complex creatures is almost impossible. We all grasp at these metaphorical “strings” to tether us together while the world tries its hardest to pull us apart.
The collection starts with “Falling,” a story of a professional adventurer and stunt-man – that is, he get sponsored to perform stunts like walking across a tightrope that stretches between two mountain peaks – who eventually discovers that keeping the relationships he has in his life is more important than risking it. Once a reckless and fearless man, he begins to reexamine his life when he finds out his lover is pregnant. She remains noncommittal, never wanting to mention the word “love,” while he begins to cling to her more and more dearly. No longer does he want to perform dangerous, death-defying feats, he now worries for his own safety because he fears what would become of his lover and their unborn child should he die. This new outlook leads him to the conclusion that she is what matters most, even despite the fact that she refuses to admit her feelings. In this story, Gillis examines how the distance between two people can rival that of the space between mountain peaks. This space can seem as unconquerable as a thin stretch of wire but, in the end, Gillis asserts that an inherent part of being in relationships is having the courage to attempt the impossible. We see that, in “Falling,” the same tightrope that stretches between the mountain peaks stretches between the stunt-man and his lover and the stunt-man quickly realizes that the only way to cross one is to cross both.
Gillis examines this theme of wanting unattainable connections in the existentially troubling but humorous “What We Wonder When Not Sure.” In this story, a couple of generic businessmen hustle and bustle around an office, speaking desperately about “looking for it” wherever they go: hoping to find it in a barroom or on the street. No one ever defines what “it” is and, as the story progresses, you get the feeling that even the characters do not know what they are looking for. It can be said that the “it” in this story could conceivably stand for anything but they different ways in which the two main characters regard “it” seems as if they are seeking other people. The older, married business man wonders whether “it” is even out there for them to find. His younger, single colleague believes unequivocally that “it” is out there and there is nothing more important than finding “it.” The older business man has lived long enough to know that, no matter how tightly you tie yourself to someone, there will always be space between you. On the other hand, the younger man remains optimistic and naïve, refusing to question the nature of their search or the consequences of actually finding what they’re looking for.
In one of his more fantastical stories, Steven Gillis illustrates the inherent disconnect between people in an almost literal way. In “The Things We Cling to When Holding On,” a man awakes one morning to find he can levitate while a woman awakes to find she is unable to move and has basically turned to stone. When these two equally impossible people meet, they each try to fix the other: the man who can levitate tries to tell The Immovable Girl how easy levitating is while The Immovable Girl tells the floating man how her atoms had expanded in size and increased the density of her body. These two characters are complete opposites – one weightless and one weighted – but they both try desperately to force the other to change their nature. Their relationship is the epitome of a paradox and yet, in the end, they do manage to affect each other. In the end, Gillis tells us that, even though a real connection with another person is almost impossible, that does not mean that relationships are futile.
Ultimately, Gillis writes of the contradictory nature of human interaction. We will always be searching for someone to relate to and to understand us but, in the end, the strings we tie are not strong enough. His book is full of characters that consistently talk past each other, miss each other’s meanings, and never get the chance to fully explain themselves. It is obvious how badly these characters want to connect with those around them but something, inevitably, gets in the way: whether it’s the length of wire tied between two mountains or the physical impossibility of an Immovable Girl levitating.
by Caroline Marinaro
The title of Steven Gillis’ collection of short stories – The Law of Strings and Other Stories – couldn’t be more fitting. In Gillis’ fifteen tales, he examines the human condition through relationships with a keen eye for philosophical musings and theories of quantum mechanics. Some of the scenes Gillis paints for us verge on ridiculous but he handles the whimsy well. In the end, however, the stories are not about the plots: in each story, Gillis writes tragic characters who want nothing more than to be understood by and relate to others, even though numerous obstacles continuously prevent them from doing so. Using humor, absurdity, and scientific theories, Gillis illustrates the contradictory nature of relationships: how all humans seem to want is to connect to others and yet such a connection among such complex creatures is almost impossible. We all grasp at these metaphorical “strings” to tether us together while the world tries its hardest to pull us apart.
The collection starts with “Falling,” a story of a professional adventurer and stunt-man – that is, he get sponsored to perform stunts like walking across a tightrope that stretches between two mountain peaks – who eventually discovers that keeping the relationships he has in his life is more important than risking it. Once a reckless and fearless man, he begins to reexamine his life when he finds out his lover is pregnant. She remains noncommittal, never wanting to mention the word “love,” while he begins to cling to her more and more dearly. No longer does he want to perform dangerous, death-defying feats, he now worries for his own safety because he fears what would become of his lover and their unborn child should he die. This new outlook leads him to the conclusion that she is what matters most, even despite the fact that she refuses to admit her feelings. In this story, Gillis examines how the distance between two people can rival that of the space between mountain peaks. This space can seem as unconquerable as a thin stretch of wire but, in the end, Gillis asserts that an inherent part of being in relationships is having the courage to attempt the impossible. We see that, in “Falling,” the same tightrope that stretches between the mountain peaks stretches between the stunt-man and his lover and the stunt-man quickly realizes that the only way to cross one is to cross both.
Gillis examines this theme of wanting unattainable connections in the existentially troubling but humorous “What We Wonder When Not Sure.” In this story, a couple of generic businessmen hustle and bustle around an office, speaking desperately about “looking for it” wherever they go: hoping to find it in a barroom or on the street. No one ever defines what “it” is and, as the story progresses, you get the feeling that even the characters do not know what they are looking for. It can be said that the “it” in this story could conceivably stand for anything but they different ways in which the two main characters regard “it” seems as if they are seeking other people. The older, married business man wonders whether “it” is even out there for them to find. His younger, single colleague believes unequivocally that “it” is out there and there is nothing more important than finding “it.” The older business man has lived long enough to know that, no matter how tightly you tie yourself to someone, there will always be space between you. On the other hand, the younger man remains optimistic and naïve, refusing to question the nature of their search or the consequences of actually finding what they’re looking for.
In one of his more fantastical stories, Steven Gillis illustrates the inherent disconnect between people in an almost literal way. In “The Things We Cling to When Holding On,” a man awakes one morning to find he can levitate while a woman awakes to find she is unable to move and has basically turned to stone. When these two equally impossible people meet, they each try to fix the other: the man who can levitate tries to tell The Immovable Girl how easy levitating is while The Immovable Girl tells the floating man how her atoms had expanded in size and increased the density of her body. These two characters are complete opposites – one weightless and one weighted – but they both try desperately to force the other to change their nature. Their relationship is the epitome of a paradox and yet, in the end, they do manage to affect each other. In the end, Gillis tells us that, even though a real connection with another person is almost impossible, that does not mean that relationships are futile.
Ultimately, Gillis writes of the contradictory nature of human interaction. We will always be searching for someone to relate to and to understand us but, in the end, the strings we tie are not strong enough. His book is full of characters that consistently talk past each other, miss each other’s meanings, and never get the chance to fully explain themselves. It is obvious how badly these characters want to connect with those around them but something, inevitably, gets in the way: whether it’s the length of wire tied between two mountains or the physical impossibility of an Immovable Girl levitating.
June 22, 2012
A series of odd, existential short stories examining human relationships. There is one about a tightrope walker who is afraid his new relationship commitment will cause him to suddenly care so much he will fall. There is one about a woman who sympathizes with dogs so much that she buys herself a dog cage to sleep in. The nature of our human entanglements is examined with rope, cages, and racism, among other items.
I enjoyed all the stories, but found each story's narrator hard to distinguish from the last one. This didn't diminish the pleasure of each story. They are all different people, but their voices are very similar, and they seem a bit blank. Perhaps this is intentional, perhaps it is the nature of short fiction. Each is a passive observer to each unfolding oddity, while at the same time, a participant.
Definitely recommended for fans of Flannery O'Connor and the films of Hal Hartley.
I enjoyed all the stories, but found each story's narrator hard to distinguish from the last one. This didn't diminish the pleasure of each story. They are all different people, but their voices are very similar, and they seem a bit blank. Perhaps this is intentional, perhaps it is the nature of short fiction. Each is a passive observer to each unfolding oddity, while at the same time, a participant.
Definitely recommended for fans of Flannery O'Connor and the films of Hal Hartley.
July 13, 2016
"What The Law of Strings does is root itself successfully in theories I can’t comprehend and names I only vaguely remember—Wheeler, Heisenberg, Whitten—and expose the pieces that run parallel with narrative.
Everyone is seeking craft, the universe included. Gillis moves beyond shop talk. Science, other than being its own story, is important only in relation to the story being told."
FULL REVIEW AT HEAVY FEATHER REVIEW
Everyone is seeking craft, the universe included. Gillis moves beyond shop talk. Science, other than being its own story, is important only in relation to the story being told."
FULL REVIEW AT HEAVY FEATHER REVIEW
March 21, 2015
I was not always taken with the content of the stories in this collection, but I found Gillis's writing so good, his imagination so wide-ranging, and his control over difficult elements so fine that I read the collection through, which is a rare thing for me when it comes to story collections.
I read Gillis to see what this co-founder of the excellent Dzanc Books did when he was the writer rather than the editor, and I was not at all disappointed. My favorite story was “The Night I Met Me.”
I read Gillis to see what this co-founder of the excellent Dzanc Books did when he was the writer rather than the editor, and I was not at all disappointed. My favorite story was “The Night I Met Me.”
January 2, 2013
I found these stories to be mysterious and intriguing. There is a depth inside that draws one in, hidden corridors pulling one further inward. There always seems to be something just out of reach, something unspoken that has to be grasped. If you start reading, you'll see what I mean. These stories hook quickly and don't let go.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews