
Lake Washington.
Kelly Link is one of those writers who I'd been aware of for a long time, yet for whatever reason, I hadn't read. So the other day, when a friend recommended reading "Stone Animals" as a way into Kelly Link's work, I was glad for the gentle nudge. I opened up the link; I was hooked right away. And I was absorbed to the very end. "Stone Animals" is strange, and funny, but also very human; I love how simultaneously entertaining and touching this story is.
Here's one of my favorite paragraphs. Henry is the dad, Catherine is the mom, Tilly & Carleton are the kids:
Henry came into the kitchen, holding silver candlesticks and a stuffed armadillo, which someone had made into a purse. It had a shoulder strap made out of its own skin. You opened its mouth and put things inside it, lipstick and subway tokens. It had pink gimlet eyes and smelled strongly of vinegar. It belonged to Tilly, although how it had come into her possession was unclear. Tilly claimed she’d won it at school in a contest involving donuts. Catherine thought it more likely Tilly had either stolen it or (slightly preferable) found it in someone’s trash. Now Tilly kept her most valuable belongings inside the purse, to keep them safe from Carleton, who was covetous of the precious things — because they were small, and because they belonged to Tilly — but afraid of the armadillo.
Isn't that fantastic? Partly, the unexpected details are what bring this description to life. But I also think a large part of what makes it work so well is the amount of thematic contrast. There's a touch of elegance (silver candlesticks, lipstick), the morbid ("made out of its own skin"), the ordinary (subway tokens), playfulness ("a contest involving donuts"), desire (covetous Carleton), fear (also Carleton), protectiveness (Tilly), and suspicion (Catherine). In other words, there are many, many different notes going on here, and yet instead of feeling disjointed, they complement each other. But how do you get the right combination? I'm guessing that Kelly Link didn't have all these exact details in her first draft; I'm guessing there was some trial and error, that she swapped out one detail for another until it intuitively felt right. Or maybe there's deeper symbolism here that I'm overlooking, a more logical connection between each element. Either way, when it works, it works.
Other stories I read this week:
"A Courtship" by Jonathan Liebson
"When We Were Happy We Had Other Names" by Yiyun Li
"The Husband Stitch" by Carmen Maria Machado
"Dark Matter" by Caro Claire Burke
"The Message" by Clarice Lispector (not available online; find it in the Complete Stories)
"Explain It To Me" by Jenessa Abrams
If you've read any of these stories, let me know your thoughts!