Steven Millhauser

An amazing collection of surreal short stories that tread the border between normal and supernatural, generally on the topic of what's real and our desires. Only one or two have explicitly supernatural elements but they all have something that feels close to it - you're never sure if it's something that could actually happen or if it's fantasy. I shelved it as "horror" even though it's not really because it comes close a lot - it reminds me a bit of someone like Ligotti, with far fewer horror elements but with similar topics, questioning our hold on reality and how solid our attachment society really is. His writing style reminds me of Kafka a bit with the way the sentences are structured.

Lots of good stories. His descriptions of things are great and highly imaginative so even the stories which are mostly description and don't really have a climax - Paradise Park and The Dream of the Consortium - are fascinating and make you think a lot on the idea behind them (a huge sophisticated amusement park and a giant department store, respectively). Maybe the highlight is "Kaspar Hauser Speaks", a short speech from the historical figure (although from a time after he'd died in real life) which contains a section which I felt perfectly encapsulated the feeling of being different in a way that forcefully separates you from others.

Other people have mentioned that he recycles themes a bit and I wouldn't disagree - some of the stories are similar to the others. But he brings a lot of new imagery and ideas to each one and personally they're themes that fascinate me so I didn't mind at all, although it'd maybe pall over multiple books.

A great collection if you're at all interested in surreal short fiction.… (més)