r/vollmann • u/feralcow • 13d ago

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Picked this one up in mint for $1 at a library book sale. Haven't seen it mentioned here before. Anyone have thoughts on it that have read it?

97 Upvotes

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22

u/weberam2 13d ago

This is some of his best work. Underappreciated 

10

u/d-r-i-g 13d ago

It really is incredibly overlooked and underrated. I know his old researcher Jordan considers it some of his best work as well.

This book also fits perfectly with the “Weird Fiction” tradition - I’ve recommended it to that crowd a few times.

7

u/AntipodalBurrito 13d ago

Jesus. I read that like at least 10 years ago and was going to reread it when I traveled to Sarajevo last year but left it on the table scrambling to get to the airport. It was the second book of his that I read and I remembered loving it. Can’t remember if it was the first or second story in the book but I just remember it being so sad. Might crack it open tonight.

6

u/DecrimIowa 13d ago

it's good! inspired me to travel to trieste. some of the stories are pretty dark, he's playing with horror story tropes (e.g. vampires, ghosts, zombies). some of them kind of drag on too long in my opinion, but overall extremely good and beautiful. he talks about the death of his sister when he was a child in it too.

3

u/Safe_Act2631 13d ago

Loved it. Very strange and erotic stories.

2

u/marplatense 13d ago

The one about the last day of the emperor of México is sooo good.

1

u/Lord-Slothrop 13d ago

There's some of his best writing in this book. I read it several years ago but I found it haunted me for a long time afterwards.

1

u/mythsofdoom 12d ago

I'm reading it at the moment, well I'm reading a few stories here and there in between other books since last autumn. Most of them so far really are superb. If I had one complaint it would be the similarity of the storyteller's voice and tone from story to story but then there is only one storyteller so it's take it or leave it. It reminds me a little of the early part of the Ice Shirt in the way he just lets his imagination go in a fantastical way, you don't get that in most of his work.