The People in the
Castle: Selected Strange Stories, out from Small Beer Press, is a new
compendium of Joan Aiken’s stories from throughout her long career. The
collection showcases Aiken’s storytelling skill, while also emphasizing some of
her recurring themes: small cruelties, deserved punishments, loyalty, and the
bonds of love (which we see across a wide range of spectrums—familial,
romantic, friendship, and even pet-human).
I’ve long been a fan of Aiken’s work and was looking forward
to this collection (which, Small Beer Press should be lauded for: Aiken’s work
seems to have fallen away and their push to get it back into the world is a
good one). The first two stories “A Leg Full of Rubies” and “The Portable
Elephant” set my expectations even higher. They are lovely fables, filled with
gorgeous sentences and, even in their strangeness, the emotions ring true.
However, as I delved deeper into the collection, I felt
myself getting somewhat bogged down. Too many of the stories feel so similar to
the last (not in subject, necessarily, but in tone and voice) that they began
to blend together. This feels like a collection not to sit down and
read-through (my preferred mode for story collections), but rather to pick up
on occasion and read the next story and then set down for a bit before tackling
another.
Of the stories in the middle, the ones that stuck out to me
were the ones that Aiken wrote about bonds between animals and humans
(something Aiken has always written beautifully about): from the strange “Humblepuppy”
to the heartbreaking and lovely “Lob’s Girl,” both of which pulled on my
dog-loving heartstrings.
I also was pulled in by the stories which held promised
threats and darkness within them. I appreciate that Aiken seemed the opposite
of sentimental. When she goes dark, she usually lets that darkness pervade the
piece. This can be seen clearest in stories like “Old Fillikin” and “The Man
Who Had Seen the Rope Trick.”
In the end, though, this is ultimately a collection that
starts and ends strong (the final story “Watkyn, Comma” is deeply affecting).
But, the middle just doesn’t hold up as well as those end-pieces. Is this an
problem with the compendium itself? That there were just to many stories to
include, so that none got enough breathing room? For people coming new to
Aiken, I might suggest one of her other story collections (such as The Monkey’s Wedding). Still, for fans
of Aiken this collection might be just the thing if you wish to savor her work
over a long period of time. A story here and a story there. A great
storyteller, such as Aiken was, would probably appreciate a reader parsing out
her tales like small sweet treats.
The Math
Baseline Assessment: 6/10
Bonuses: +1 for celebrating Aiken’s work, +1 for the absolutely exquisite story “The Portable Elephant”
Penalties: -1 for feeling somewhat repetitive with story choice
Nerd Coefficient: 7/10 “a mostly enjoyable experience”
Baseline Assessment: 6/10
Bonuses: +1 for celebrating Aiken’s work, +1 for the absolutely exquisite story “The Portable Elephant”
Penalties: -1 for feeling somewhat repetitive with story choice
Nerd Coefficient: 7/10 “a mostly enjoyable experience”
***
POSTED BY: Chloe, speculative fiction fan in all forms, monster theorist, and Nerds of a Feather blogger since 2016.
Reference: Aiken, Joan. The People in the Castle: Selected Strange Stories [Small Beer Press, 2016]
Reference: Aiken, Joan. The People in the Castle: Selected Strange Stories [Small Beer Press, 2016]
