Ace’s Reviews > Moscow But Dreaming > Status Update

Finished "Zombie Lenin", a story about a girl haunted by either her own mine or the ever-following body of the former Soviet chairman. It's a dense story about death, about chthonic gods and their bargains, and about one's isolation. Needless to say, I liked it; I've always been a sucker for this type of story and I really was fascinated by this one. Not my favorite thus far - that's still Citizen Komarova, but good.

Finished "you dream." 2nd person narration, my love! This is the story of a girl, haunted by both her past sexual assault and a boy who showed her kindness and has died/somehow/someway. This isn't my favorite story in this collection; I love 2nd person but felt this was kinda confusing. It's a fine line between "too vague to really do much" and "vague enough to make the details scary" and this landed on the former.

Finished "One, Two, Three." A childless couple adopt a slavic folktale, the kikimora. The kikimora doesn't respond well to human life, and it slowly but surely begins to divide the couple apart.

This one was just sad. The kikimora's human struggles are heavily suggestive of autism, and it struck a bit of a nerve. Good story, but personally not one of my favorites.

Finished "Tin Cans"; simple, elegant, spooky. A driver for an awful soviet pedophile/sadist is haunted by ghosts of girls his boss has killed.

This has a really strong character voice and it's so strong and so good. The ghosts are elegiac and haunting, especially in their sheer multitude. I particularly like how it denies any personal relationship here - everyone is isolated. Really good.

"Citizen Komarova Finds Love " put its hooks in me and I'm not quite sure why. It's bleak but it never feels quite so bleak until the end, until the main character makes her choice and I just went "Ohh."

And then the post-script, her with the soldiers, and the Mediterranean holiday that never ends -- I got misty. Lovely use of mythology buried in here.

Picked up bc I enjoyed the short story on Levar Burton Reads. Shor story collection that is heavily based on taking a familiar thing (usually Russian, hence Moscow) but twisting it strange (the dreaming part).

First story: "A Short Encyclopedia of Lunar Seas", which tells the story of seas on the moon, and the people who inhabit them/the land nearby. Its mostly sketches, but pleasant imagery.