Each and every story in this collection is worth looking at individually, but what about the book as a whole? I don't know about you guys, but the way Link wove all of her stories together really caught my attention. The reference to "The Cannon" in "The Hortlak" (remember the talking zombie?) and the way "The Faery Handbag" was mentioned in one of the later stories (sorry, I can't recall which one) were really interesting. I'm sure there are more direct allusions that I've missed (maybe you guys could fill in some gaps with comments, huh? huh?). I get the ominous feeling that Link has this huge, sweeping plan for all of her stories and someday they will all be published in a complete collection called THE ANSWERS. After talking about how "The Faery Handbag" was a great portal into Link's stories, I think the placement of "Lull" at the end is equally brilliant. "Lull" itself is a story contained within a story contained within a story, and so on and so on, in a very Borges-esque manner. Really, having "Lull" at the end makes the reader feel trapped in a cycle. "Lull" isn't the final story in a linear collection; it's a part of a gigantic ouroboros. Finishing up with this story made me want to go back and examine all the other tales again. I almost felt like I could understand them better. I felt like, since I'd read through the collection, I had all the puzzle pieces. This was an interesting notion to entertain. I don't often finish short-story collections feeling like the whole thing was a spider web I got stuck in.
I also got the HIDEOUS, TERRIBLE, KEEPING-ME-AWAKE-AT-NIGHT notion that the narrators for all the stories were somehow related, because they all had this secret-keeping thing going on. Maybe it's just Link's authorial preferences shining through. She obviously doesn't like telling people things.
: D
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I had the same feeling about all of the stories. I felt that there was some secret that only Link knew about, and that maybe we were supposed to understand by the end of the book! But then I didn't really understand anything. I'm not going to lie, if she published a book called "The Answers", I would buy it just to get some closure!
I bet "The Answers" is written, but only one copy was made. For her eyes only. It wouldn't surprise or upset me either, because it's Link.
I really liked your reference to Jorge Luis Borges. I have been thinking that same thing throughout my reading, especially since the short "Magic for Beginners" has a lot to do with libraries. Who can't think of Borges' "Library of Babel," or "Book of Sand?" Link has a writing style distinctively similar to several works in the unexplained category of "magical realism," I think. Those crazy Latino writers drove me nuts with that style years ago when I read them in Spanish, and now thanks to this class' discussions on Link, I can appreciate them a lot more. :)
You're right, Casey, that "The Faery Handbag" gets referenced later, but I can't remember where. Where's the reference, folks?
The reference is in Lull when one of the Susans is talking about Andrew and the book they used to read. She says, "I remember this one story about people who go under a hill. They spend one night down there, eating and drinking and dancing, but when they come out, a hundred years have gone by."
Is that the part you were talking about?
I don't know. I almost wonder if Link even knew the what was going to happen. I mean it would be nice if she had the answers all somewhere, but I could see these stories being written with the author still a little in the dark. Maybe these are based off half-recollected memories of dreams that she fleshed out into stories.
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