What binds the collection together is Oyeyemi’s use of keys, literal and metaphorical, that unlock (or not) the mysteries of what it means to be human. Who and the Brothers Grimm, YouTube videos and “The Lord of the Rings” and yet stand apart, a stylist like no other.
It’s a credit to her protean talent that she can evoke, at least for one reader, A.S. Her first collection of linked stories, “What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours,” audaciously samples genres from fantasy to pop culture to science fiction to academic satire, creating a disquieting world that exists as a shadow version of our own. Is a key a gate, a gift, or an invitation? What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours captivates as it explores the many possible answers.Over the course of five novels, Nigerian-British writer Helen Oyeyemi has emerged as one of the most unnervingly original writers at work anywhere, thwarting expectations with a fierce glee. Oyeyemi's tales span multiple times and landscapes as they tease boundaries between coexisting realities. And in "If a Book Is Locked There's Probably a Good Reason for That Don't You Think," a key keeps a mystical diary locked (for good reason). "'Sorry' Doesn't Sweeten Her Tea" involves a "house of locks," where doors can be closed only with a key - with surprising, unobservable developments. In "Is Your Blood as Red as This?" an unlikely key opens the heart of a student at a puppeteering school. In "Books and Roses" one special key opens a library, a garden, and clues to at least two lovers' fates.
The key to a house, the key to a heart, the key to a secret - Oyeyemi's keys not only unlock elements of her characters' lives, they promise further labyrinths on the other side. Playful, ambitious, and exquisitely imagined, What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours is cleverly built around the idea of keys, literal and metaphorical. Fox comes an enchanting collection of intertwined stories.
From the award-winning author of Boy, Snow, Bird and Mr.
0 kommentar(er)
