How to Gut a Fish

by Sheila Armstrong

On a boat offshore, a fisherman guts a mackerel as he anxiously awaits a midnight rendezvous.

Villagers, one by one, disappear into a sinkhole beneath a yew tree.

A nameless girl is taped, bound and put on display in a countryside market.

A man returning home following the death of his mother finds something disturbing among her personal effects.

A dazzling and disquieting collection of stories, how to gut a fish places the bizarre beside the everyday and then elegantly and expertly blurs the lines. An exciting new Irish writer whose sharp and lyrical prose unsettles and astounds in equal measure, Sheila Armstrong's exquisitely provocative stories carve their way into your mind and take hold.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Irish Literature, Ireland, Literary Fiction, Contemporary

224 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2022

About the author

Sheila Armstrong is a writer from the north-west of Ireland. She is the author of two books: How To Gut A Fish, a collection of short stories, and Falling Animals, a novel.

Reviews

[Claire Fuller]

In sumptuous and evocative prose, Sheila Armstrong writes stories that are unnerving and unsettling. Stories which make you go, wait, wait, what was that?

[Miki · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5

I was really looking forward to reading this collection by Sheila Armstrong. I think How to Gut a Fish was okay but not great. My favourite stories were "Instinct", "Harlow", "Hole" and "Red Market". But considering that there are fourteen stories, four out of fourteen isn't good enough for me to consider a favourite or one I would recommend.

I think one of the biggest problems I had with many of the stories (like "How to Gut a Fish", "Cautery" and "Lemons" in addition to a few others) is that they aren't really short stories: a short story is meant to economize scenes, characters, plot and narrative while still being a complete story, and I don't think that that's what many of Shelia Armstrong's stories are. And while I'm happy to see writers experiment with form and function, if that's what Armstrong is doing with her writing, I still don't think her execution was successful for me.

With so many fantastic short story collections being published, I don't think I'll pick up anything from this author again which is such a downer.

[Physical, purchased from Book Depository]

[Kobe · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Bumapotofishus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mixture of strange short stories that leave you thinking and wondering. I really enjoyed reading this!

[Catalina Vieru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this collection of short stories. Some were right up my alley, others less so, but they all had that 'something weird' to entice my attention.

[Vic Specht · Rating 2 out of 5]

artfully twisted writing that transports - unfortunately here it was to places, perspectives and situations i didn’t care or desire to be in.

[Chiara Pistillo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t connect with any of the stories in this collection and this is probably my fault. I found, with most of them, that right when they were about to become interesting, we were already at the end of the story, and they got interrupted. I felt I didn’t have time to get into the narration, I didn’t get to know any of the characters.

I would save two stories out of fourteen: “Red Market” and “Hold Fast”. I found them a bit more complete, more self-conclusive, compared to the other stories.
In particular, “Red Market” has an eerie edge to it that makes it stand out among the other stories, and “Hold Fast” has a deeper feeling to it, the characters are slightly more three-dimensional.

However, I did enjoy Armstrong’s writing and somehow it reminded me of Rachel Cusk’s style in the Outline trilogy.

I think I had high expectations with this collection of short stories, which weren’t quite met. I will try and give it another go in the future – a different set of mind might bring a different experience and I might be more receptive with this book.

[Yasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Totally random waste of time, you keep waiting for depth but it goes nowhere. I hardly ever quit reading a book but this contributed nothing except an empty promise conveyed by a pretty cover 👎

[Carissa Skittlethorpe]

Like any anthology book, the stories were hit or miss, but they all had something in common, and that’s their abstract and cryptic nature. As a film person I visualise most things I read like a scene in a movie and they all had this blurry look, shots of hands doing things or objects or people from a distance with no full faces, it was an experience. It’s hard to say if I enjoyed these stories, I often didn’t really understand the point of them and though that’s not inherently an issue, I didn’t necessarily get much out of its abstractions either. I felt a little short changed and confused, though I really enjoyed the specifics the writer got caught up in, meandering into dream like backstories or memories with lots of details on the mundane, always avoiding the main point. Will likely read her full novel when I get the chance, definitely a unique experience for me (so far).

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this — read my actual review on my end of year round up on my blog!

[Nils · Rating 3 out of 5]

Striking, unorthodox writing (short stories), that is often poetic in its quality. It’s very bleak and disturbing, and creates a real sense of unease about what may happen next. The world seen through a bleak but precision lens.

[By Book and Bone (Sally) · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to Gut a Fish is tough to rate because two or three of the stories are 5 star stories but most don't break 2 stars.

The best thing I can say is that I really like Sheila Armstrong's prose. The imagery is vivid and effective. However, most of the entries in this collection aren't really short stories, they come across more as 1st chapters or prologues to different books, which don't exist. Several seem to start to express an idea but never follow through and end before anything of value is relayed to the reader.

Harlowe (I think that's the story's name) is brilliant. Easily the best out of the collection and a new favourite short story. I would happily recommend this collection if they were all of this quality but sadly, they're not. I can just say that if you come across this collection, read Harlowe and maybe the market one. Leave the rest.

[Sinead · Rating 5 out of 5]

ughhhh this collection of short stories is so good.

I literally wanted to go back and read each story again. the blend of everyday and bizarre is so delicate and armstrong artfully connects the natural and supernatural, how humans interact and capitalize on nature.

personal standouts were red market and the titular story! I was honestly freaked. definitely a short story collection I'll want to return to.

[readips · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't really understand the mini stories and it was a bit boring for me

[Spadge Nunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for the weak stomached or heavily empathetic reader.

Although events were described with metaphors so vivid I often felt like I was hallucinating (in an impressive way), the subjects of these short stories are very harrowing.

Prepare for a combination of hit-and-run accidents, bath-tub abortions, drunken sea sickness, bitter estranged-parent relationships, childhood bullies, a brief paedophilic encounter and a blood chilling account of domestic violence.

I‘ve been left with the feeling that I’ve been guided into a deep, dark woodland and left to find my own way out.

Sinister, harrowing, unsettling, but so intensely descriptive that you can’t stop reading.

I’m not sure it’s possible to enjoy this book.

Favourite quote(s):

‘The story morphed a little over the years, but kept the same approximate shape, like the course of a flood-prone river.’

‘They screamed and ran around the schoolyard while you tried to catch up, like pigtailed spiders skittering away from your light.’

[Adrian Atterbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary book with a wide range of themes and characters. The thing that connects them, I think, is that no one has a very nice time. These stories exist in a world where the illusion of happiness has been dispensed with, or at least is never shown to us, in case we get mollycoddled. I felt I was being given a glimpse into the real landscape of life just underneath the frippery we paint over it to keep ourselves sane. Utterly delicious. All the stories are brilliant (a standout is Mantis which nearly made me burn dinner) and the writing is glorious. I can't think of anyone who Sheila Armstrong writes like, but moments of horror are tossed into the everyday with the cold detachment of Daphne Du Maurier and characters you've grown attached to are snuffed out with a sort of affectionate casualness that made me think of Louis de Berniére. Loved it.

[Leo Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the author's technical ability and often curious, imaginative language, but unfortunately not much resonated with me outside of that. I suppose I wanted a more steady/muscular hinge in each of the stories. Several seemed to bounce from character to character or observation to observation without lingering on the more interesting details or developments.

Other people seemed to jive more with the book than I did, so I would say give it a go if it sounds interesting to you.

[Róisín · Rating 4 out of 5]

How to Gut a Fish by Sheila Armstrong is a strange and sharp collection of short stories, that packs so much into a small book. The stories are so different, the main unifying element being a foray into the unsettling and the jarring. There are stories where things may or may not have happened; or things that certainly happened but remain unsaid. Lifetimes pass before us in a flash, or short periods of time are explored in great detail. There are stories that explore cause and effect; how one small moment can have dire consequences. Then there is the story which is progressing somewhat normally before taking a delightfully surreal turn at the end. At the core of this reading experience for me is the fact that it’s the feelings and sensations evoked by each story, the moments captured, that prevail over the storylines themselves. Armstrong’s writing is so rich and dense that she packs so much into each sentence, even in the passages where nothing of particular consequence is happening; the corner of a room, food, a part of the landscape, each are described in detail as their own microcosm, with beautiful turns of phrase at every corner.

Armstrong captures the atmosphere of her landscapes so vividly. The landscape is alive in many of these stories. Any landscape is alive, as such, but here there is something unknown carried on the breeze, something latent shifting and simmering in the soil, beneath the surface; some force that manifests itself, subtly or not, in ways that infiltrate or disrupt the people passing through these landscapes. The collection opens with ‘Hole’ which remains one of my favourites for its simplicity and what remains unsaid versus the powerful sensations evoked.

These stories are a beautiful showcase of the craft of writing, and the depths of imagination to which a writer’s mind can venture. This is the kind of collection that demands a prompt re-read because you know you are going to get so many things that you missed the first time around.

[Brooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ive just finished Falling Animals, by Sheila Armstrong, & enjoyed it so much I thought I'd try her first set of short stories.

However, I didn't enjoy this book. I can only remember 3 or 4 stories - including the titular story - which were quite different and interesting. But I couldn't get into the majority. Despite the excellent writing, I found it difficult to focus on the content unfortunately.

[Rebecca B - What Rebecca Read Next · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fought hard to read this collection of short stories, I wanted to keep on, I was committed and yet I was afraid. I felt it was a test, a test that I could survive the written word that made me shudder at times, question what is real and slapped my empathy hard. Beautiful and also ugly. Life I suppose. 2 stars because I was so unsettled, 5 because it made me feel.

[eleni · Rating 4 out of 5]

such a marvelous collection of short stories: how intricately woven their amount of detail, how much weight they possess. some are explicitly traced with deeper meaning, some are just glimpses into the mundane or the weird, all are equally beautifully written. 'lemons' was by far my favorite and i cannot wait to share it with my friends - what an important piece of writing!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is unlike anything else I've read. The stories are surprising in their variety but all have a thread of a dark undercurrent with great glimmers of warmth. To be cliche about it - the writer has really taken the ordinary and made it extraordinary.

[Catherine Flavelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange book. Some of the stories I loved, particularly how to gut a fish, which conjured well to my eye the wild west of Ireland where my family live and I spent all my holidays growing up. Some of the stories didn't speak to me though and I found myself bored.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, descriptive and imaginative work

An excellent book for fans of short stories. All of the tales (bar one) are enthralling and captivating. The writing is on point and very entertaining.

[Sara SR · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this on a whim at Waterstones because it was 5£. Can't say if it was expensive or not, it left me with so many uncooked thoughts that I felt like the gutted fish for most of it. The Red Market story is probably the best, followed by the title story, then Lemons.

[Isabelle Bilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10
Gorgeous writing. It wasn't a page turner by any means - none of the stories were overly gripping but they were all very evocative. It was very sensory writing, relying heavily on visuals. I liked Instinct and Hold Fast particularly. The writing carried it rather than the stories.

[Chara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave four stars for two short stories that stayed with me, red market and lemons. Quite unsettling collection. It makes you pause and wonder ‘what did I just read right now?’ I didn’t enjoy all of them but the writing is definitely unique. Do recommend it.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

So much work is put into creating the scene that the actual story falls away. I did not see the point of most of these stories but to show off the authors descriptive ability .... Great but I'd also appreciate a full story .. something that feels complete or at least that there is a point to it.

[Lee Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible collection of, sometimes very surreal, but always sharp and visceral, short stories. I'll definitely return for a re-read – especially for 'lemons', 'instinct' and 'the skellington dance'.

[Caoimhe · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/4.5