Official Review: Strange by Mark Taylor
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- Latest Review: "Strange" by Mark Taylor
Official Review: Strange by Mark Taylor
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Strange" by Mark Taylor.]
2 out of 4 stars
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Strange, a collection of short stories by Mark Taylor, follows six unrelated protagonists as they deal with the surreal dreams and circumstances that seep into their lives.
The first story, “Networking,” follows a man named Cas through a week’s worth of dreams brought on by his desperate quest for human connection over the internet. Dreams are also the key feature of “Total Entertainment,” in which Michael Archer, recently unemployed in an Orwellian dystopia, finds a final refuge creating scenarios for Absorption Entertainment: the only entertainment company left in the world. “Eternal Light,” the third story in the collection, explores the lonely hell of a woman named Dor who finds herself the sole inhabitant of a shadow-less Paris. On the other hand, Jeff, the protagonist of “Dead Game,” would much rather be alone after gaining the unsolicited attention of an overly friendly and overly strange salesman. The unnamed protagonist of “Elizabeth,” is forced to deal with a series of sleepless nights plagued by a mysterious, unidentifiable beeping while pursuing an equally mysterious woman. The last story in the collection, “Inside,” is told in four parts which follow another unnamed protagonist as he participates in an odd experiment with the eccentric psychologist, Dr. Schofield.
I rate Strange 2 out of 4 stars.
As a whole, I found this collection disappointing. The official summary of the book makes it seem like the stories will be related, but the only intentional relation I found here was that each story relies on a twist ending to make an impact on its reader. Any other relationships between the stories were based on underdevelopment of characters and an inability to really distinguish between the narrative voices in five out of six. Crusty, inauthentic language, especially in terms of internal monologue, marks the biggest issue I had with this book as a whole. The protagonists tend to be pretentiously written to a degree that I have major trouble becoming emotionally invested in their stories. This is not to say that I hated the characters, but rather that their characterization is too vague and shallow for me to root for or against them in their respective situations. I would much rather have hated Cas, for example, than be left in a general “I don’t care” mindset after his story ended.
Most of the issues I had with Strange stem from underdevelopment of ideas and characters. In stories with an unlikable protagonist, like Cas, there needs to be a balance of someone for the audience to care about. This could be an antagonist, or the object of desire, depending on the angle of the conflict. Conversely, the lack of villainy in “Total Entertainment,” weakens Michael as a tragic figure. In this case, it might have actually benefitted the story to cut characters and focus more on the core conflict of Michael versus his circumstances. The entire first scene of this story only serves as a confusing misdirection that fails to add tension and is irrelevant to the Michael centric plot. Mr. Reubens and Michael were not distinct enough characters from each other in that neither was developed in accordance to their situation: if the intent had been a contrast between the suffering of the producer and guiltless enjoyment of the consumer, then characterization would have greatly helped the impact of the piece. Similarly, I found myself wanting much more out of “Eternal Light” in terms of who Dor is, her relationship with Theo, and how they came to have a box with seemingly celestial power in their possession.
“Eternal Light” in particular highlights my main wish for this collection, and that is expansion. This story especially has some very interesting concepts that could be brought out much stronger in longer form writing, nixing the bookending cliché which really confounds whatever cathartic release the reader could have gotten from the ending. Dor’s story could be much more powerful with more imagistic detail of her descent into madness from the isolation, as well as a less open ending. Strange, as it is, does not feel like a collection of short stories, but rather a collection of half formed ideas that could each potentially do very well on their own if expanded upon and tightened for tension and character. There is a lot of potential here, however, so I can’t say I would advise against reading the book.
******
Strange
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2 out of 4 stars
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Strange, a collection of short stories by Mark Taylor, follows six unrelated protagonists as they deal with the surreal dreams and circumstances that seep into their lives.
The first story, “Networking,” follows a man named Cas through a week’s worth of dreams brought on by his desperate quest for human connection over the internet. Dreams are also the key feature of “Total Entertainment,” in which Michael Archer, recently unemployed in an Orwellian dystopia, finds a final refuge creating scenarios for Absorption Entertainment: the only entertainment company left in the world. “Eternal Light,” the third story in the collection, explores the lonely hell of a woman named Dor who finds herself the sole inhabitant of a shadow-less Paris. On the other hand, Jeff, the protagonist of “Dead Game,” would much rather be alone after gaining the unsolicited attention of an overly friendly and overly strange salesman. The unnamed protagonist of “Elizabeth,” is forced to deal with a series of sleepless nights plagued by a mysterious, unidentifiable beeping while pursuing an equally mysterious woman. The last story in the collection, “Inside,” is told in four parts which follow another unnamed protagonist as he participates in an odd experiment with the eccentric psychologist, Dr. Schofield.
I rate Strange 2 out of 4 stars.
As a whole, I found this collection disappointing. The official summary of the book makes it seem like the stories will be related, but the only intentional relation I found here was that each story relies on a twist ending to make an impact on its reader. Any other relationships between the stories were based on underdevelopment of characters and an inability to really distinguish between the narrative voices in five out of six. Crusty, inauthentic language, especially in terms of internal monologue, marks the biggest issue I had with this book as a whole. The protagonists tend to be pretentiously written to a degree that I have major trouble becoming emotionally invested in their stories. This is not to say that I hated the characters, but rather that their characterization is too vague and shallow for me to root for or against them in their respective situations. I would much rather have hated Cas, for example, than be left in a general “I don’t care” mindset after his story ended.
Most of the issues I had with Strange stem from underdevelopment of ideas and characters. In stories with an unlikable protagonist, like Cas, there needs to be a balance of someone for the audience to care about. This could be an antagonist, or the object of desire, depending on the angle of the conflict. Conversely, the lack of villainy in “Total Entertainment,” weakens Michael as a tragic figure. In this case, it might have actually benefitted the story to cut characters and focus more on the core conflict of Michael versus his circumstances. The entire first scene of this story only serves as a confusing misdirection that fails to add tension and is irrelevant to the Michael centric plot. Mr. Reubens and Michael were not distinct enough characters from each other in that neither was developed in accordance to their situation: if the intent had been a contrast between the suffering of the producer and guiltless enjoyment of the consumer, then characterization would have greatly helped the impact of the piece. Similarly, I found myself wanting much more out of “Eternal Light” in terms of who Dor is, her relationship with Theo, and how they came to have a box with seemingly celestial power in their possession.
“Eternal Light” in particular highlights my main wish for this collection, and that is expansion. This story especially has some very interesting concepts that could be brought out much stronger in longer form writing, nixing the bookending cliché which really confounds whatever cathartic release the reader could have gotten from the ending. Dor’s story could be much more powerful with more imagistic detail of her descent into madness from the isolation, as well as a less open ending. Strange, as it is, does not feel like a collection of short stories, but rather a collection of half formed ideas that could each potentially do very well on their own if expanded upon and tightened for tension and character. There is a lot of potential here, however, so I can’t say I would advise against reading the book.
******
Strange
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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Latest Review: "Strange" by Mark Taylor
