Community Reviews
I may get slapped for this opener...
I read this short story collection before I read [b:The Last Unicorn|29127|The Last Unicorn (The Last Unicorn, #1)|Peter S. Beagle|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1524764327l/29127._SY75_.jpg|902304].
I think I should let you all know that [b:The Last Unicorn|29127|The Last Unicorn (The Last Unicorn, #1)|Peter S. Beagle|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1524764327l/29127._SY75_.jpg|902304] did not blow me away at all.
I know, I know. I'm a terrible human being.
I did, however, adore [b:We Never Talk about My Brother|3465594|We Never Talk about My Brother|Peter S. Beagle|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1395145920l/3465594._SY75_.jpg|3506894].
It has managed to sneak its way into my top five favorite short story collections of all time (admittedly that is not actually a real thing - my top five lists usually have about thirty).
What I love most about a well written short story collection is just that - it's well written. If you are going to do a whole story in a few to a few dozen pages, every sentence - no, every word - needs to be immaculate. And that was done in almost every story in this collection.
I'm gonna break it down.
There may or may not be SPOILERS involved.
You may want to grab a cup of coffee or tea or whiskey (different strokes...). The first three stories were my favorites.
Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel
Anyone who has ever sought creative perfection knows what a muse is. She/he/it is your ticket to that masterpiece - that painting, that poem, that symphony, that sculpture, that book. Uncle Chaim is no different. His muse? Well, his muse is a bit different. This isn't a neon haired Treasure Troll (oh wait - that's at the local bingo hall); his muse is an ANGEL. Here is the problem: How do you capture the essence of an angel? How do you ever capture this perfection on canvas?
This story is told by a young boy, the nephew of Chaim. This adds innocence to a story that may appear equally innocent at the start but is actually a little chilling. I truly don't want to give anything away. Just know that what may sound a little boring is most definitely NOT boring.
Sneak Peek Spoiler: A Rabbi gets involved.
We Never Talk About My Brother
I love this title because it instantly gets your mind whirring. Why? Why don't they ever talk about this brother? Did he disgrace the family name? Did he die?
Unfortunately, I can't squeak a darn thing in this one without spoiling it completely. I will just say that it is nothing close to what you are thinking it is.
Sneak Peek Spoiler: If you think YOU'VE experienced sibling rivalry...
The Tale of Junko and Sayuri
Here is how this tale begins:
In Japan, very, very, long ago, when almost anybody you met on the road might turn out to be a god or a demon, there was a young man named Junko.
Well, this alone sucked me right in. I am a complete sucker for a true "tale." I want a story that involves morals, lessons to be learned. I don't even need a happy ending. I want the things that only exist in an imagination and then in a book or in a movie. This was quite possibly my favorite in the whole collection.
Sneak Peek Spoiler: One Word - Shapeshifting.
And it was here, after this fantastic "tale", that the collection stopped wowing me. Don't get me wrong; I still admire the work and think it is fantastic as a whole collection. The rest just didn't leave me breathless in the way the first thing did.
King Pelles the Sure
First line:
Once there was a king who dreamed of war. His name was Pelles.
This is a short tale about a king who has never been through war. War follows. And the unraveling of a kingdom and a king follow that. There is a lesson in this as well, but it had more of a fairytale feeling to me than the previous story. Short and sweet.
The Last and Only, or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French
I expect a lot from a story with this cool of a title. Unfortunately, I almost disliked this story. This had a lot to do with my great dislike for Mr. Moscowitz himself. It isn't really fair that I hate the story, as I wasn't tricked into disliking him. He really is an unlikeable character. It was still well written and a bit funny in an unfunny way.
Just trust me.
Spook
It's happened to us all. We get into intenserap poetry battles with ghosts.
What do you mean it hasn't happened to you?
The Stickball Witch
This was the weakest of the bunch for me. A group of young boys. A came ofbaseball stickball. A old woman neighbor who may or may not be a witch. You've heard some version of it before.
By Moonlight
A campfire tale told to a highwayman by a former Reverend. Another tale - Beagle truly does these so well. This one involves a tale (of Faeries - Oberon and Titania - and the said Reverend) within a tale. I loved the way this one played out.
The Unicorn Tapestries
From Beagle's introduction to this poem, I learned that the Unicorn Tapestries are an actual thing, and the poem is written around them. I would be absolutely fascinated to see these in real life.
Here is a photo:
Seriously...how awesome/amazing/fantastical is THAT?
I thought this poem was better than the whole [b:The Last Unicorn|29127|The Last Unicorn (The Last Unicorn, #1)|Peter S. Beagle|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1524764327l/29127._SY75_.jpg|902304] (yeah yeah...go ahead with your booing and hissing).
Chandail
I'm a little foggy on this one. To be fair (to myself), I did read this almost three months ago. I do recall that a Chandail is a sea creature. Ah, here is the perfect description of one:
Ugly, yes, marvelously horrific; yet if you look at them long enough, sometimes something happens to your sight, and you can actually see them becoming beautiful right before you, so beautiful that your eyes and mind hurt together, trying to take in such splendor. And yet they remain exactly what they are: dankly reeking multi-legged monsters, like some grotesque cross between a jellyfish and a centipede.
Now if THAT doesn't give you the willies...
But seriously, this is another tale within a tale. As I've mentioned, Beagle is a master of the tale within the tale. Maybe I would have thought more of "the book of which shall not be named again because I value my life" if it had been such a tale within a tale.
A mostly superb, almost perfect collection.
4 Stars
I read this short story collection before I read [b:The Last Unicorn|29127|The Last Unicorn (The Last Unicorn, #1)|Peter S. Beagle|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1524764327l/29127._SY75_.jpg|902304].
I think I should let you all know that [b:The Last Unicorn|29127|The Last Unicorn (The Last Unicorn, #1)|Peter S. Beagle|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1524764327l/29127._SY75_.jpg|902304] did not blow me away at all.
I know, I know. I'm a terrible human being.
I did, however, adore [b:We Never Talk about My Brother|3465594|We Never Talk about My Brother|Peter S. Beagle|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1395145920l/3465594._SY75_.jpg|3506894].
It has managed to sneak its way into my top five favorite short story collections of all time (admittedly that is not actually a real thing - my top five lists usually have about thirty).
What I love most about a well written short story collection is just that - it's well written. If you are going to do a whole story in a few to a few dozen pages, every sentence - no, every word - needs to be immaculate. And that was done in almost every story in this collection.
I'm gonna break it down.
There may or may not be SPOILERS involved.
You may want to grab a cup of coffee or tea or whiskey (different strokes...). The first three stories were my favorites.
Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel
Anyone who has ever sought creative perfection knows what a muse is. She/he/it is your ticket to that masterpiece - that painting, that poem, that symphony, that sculpture, that book. Uncle Chaim is no different. His muse? Well, his muse is a bit different. This isn't a neon haired Treasure Troll (oh wait - that's at the local bingo hall); his muse is an ANGEL. Here is the problem: How do you capture the essence of an angel? How do you ever capture this perfection on canvas?
This story is told by a young boy, the nephew of Chaim. This adds innocence to a story that may appear equally innocent at the start but is actually a little chilling. I truly don't want to give anything away. Just know that what may sound a little boring is most definitely NOT boring.
Sneak Peek Spoiler: A Rabbi gets involved.
We Never Talk About My Brother
I love this title because it instantly gets your mind whirring. Why? Why don't they ever talk about this brother? Did he disgrace the family name? Did he die?
Unfortunately, I can't squeak a darn thing in this one without spoiling it completely. I will just say that it is nothing close to what you are thinking it is.
Sneak Peek Spoiler: If you think YOU'VE experienced sibling rivalry...
The Tale of Junko and Sayuri
Here is how this tale begins:
In Japan, very, very, long ago, when almost anybody you met on the road might turn out to be a god or a demon, there was a young man named Junko.
Well, this alone sucked me right in. I am a complete sucker for a true "tale." I want a story that involves morals, lessons to be learned. I don't even need a happy ending. I want the things that only exist in an imagination and then in a book or in a movie. This was quite possibly my favorite in the whole collection.
Sneak Peek Spoiler: One Word - Shapeshifting.
And it was here, after this fantastic "tale", that the collection stopped wowing me. Don't get me wrong; I still admire the work and think it is fantastic as a whole collection. The rest just didn't leave me breathless in the way the first thing did.
King Pelles the Sure
First line:
Once there was a king who dreamed of war. His name was Pelles.
This is a short tale about a king who has never been through war. War follows. And the unraveling of a kingdom and a king follow that. There is a lesson in this as well, but it had more of a fairytale feeling to me than the previous story. Short and sweet.
The Last and Only, or, Mr. Moscowitz Becomes French
I expect a lot from a story with this cool of a title. Unfortunately, I almost disliked this story. This had a lot to do with my great dislike for Mr. Moscowitz himself. It isn't really fair that I hate the story, as I wasn't tricked into disliking him. He really is an unlikeable character. It was still well written and a bit funny in an unfunny way.
Just trust me.
Spook
It's happened to us all. We get into intense
What do you mean it hasn't happened to you?
The Stickball Witch
This was the weakest of the bunch for me. A group of young boys. A came of
By Moonlight
A campfire tale told to a highwayman by a former Reverend. Another tale - Beagle truly does these so well. This one involves a tale (of Faeries - Oberon and Titania - and the said Reverend) within a tale. I loved the way this one played out.
The Unicorn Tapestries
From Beagle's introduction to this poem, I learned that the Unicorn Tapestries are an actual thing, and the poem is written around them. I would be absolutely fascinated to see these in real life.
Here is a photo:
Seriously...how awesome/amazing/fantastical is THAT?
I thought this poem was better than the whole [b:The Last Unicorn|29127|The Last Unicorn (The Last Unicorn, #1)|Peter S. Beagle|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1524764327l/29127._SY75_.jpg|902304] (yeah yeah...go ahead with your booing and hissing).
Chandail
I'm a little foggy on this one. To be fair (to myself), I did read this almost three months ago. I do recall that a Chandail is a sea creature. Ah, here is the perfect description of one:
Ugly, yes, marvelously horrific; yet if you look at them long enough, sometimes something happens to your sight, and you can actually see them becoming beautiful right before you, so beautiful that your eyes and mind hurt together, trying to take in such splendor. And yet they remain exactly what they are: dankly reeking multi-legged monsters, like some grotesque cross between a jellyfish and a centipede.
Now if THAT doesn't give you the willies...
But seriously, this is another tale within a tale. As I've mentioned, Beagle is a master of the tale within the tale. Maybe I would have thought more of "the book of which shall not be named again because I value my life" if it had been such a tale within a tale.
A mostly superb, almost perfect collection.
4 Stars
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