Stories : all-new tales edited by Neil Gaiman & Al Sarrantonio
Read for the Once Upon a Time V reading challenge, see what every one’s been reading on the review site
The unnamed central character of this short story finds himself suddenly craving blood. He can’t understand it, he is a normal person, a normal man, why on earth is this happening to him. He tries to rationalise it, maybe he has an iron deficiency? Or maybe it is a totally misdirected sex-drive? And yet, he continues to find himself being drawn towards blood. Bloody raw steaks, the next-door neighbour’s chickens…
Stories edited by Neil Gaiman & Al Sarrantonio
This is a very short short story[1] Only 9 pages long or so. But I really enjoyed it.
We get to know a surprising amount about this character, his wife Vera, and his kids. He is a banker. An evil figure in the the post-Celtic Tiger Ireland, even if he never made those huge bonuses, and the neighbours are looking at him with disdain, despite the fact that they probably enjoyed more benefits than he ever did from the financial craziness. And now all of a sudden he needs blood.
This is an amusing, almost light-hearted take on vampirism, and I really enjoyed the link between the Death of the Celtic Tiger, the blood-sucking bankers, and vampires, it made me smile. And as is usual with Doyle, his writing is always so colloquial and almost easy-going that he makes anything very readable. He isn’t an author I would associate with fantasy or horror, but then again I suppose his Family was horrific in its own way.
This story is also in Doyle’s Bullfighting
Other reviews: Follow the thread ; Today I read
Sounds funny. I like Roddy Doyle and am surprised he ventured into such territory but then again why not.
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I wouldn't say it is laugh out loud funny, but it a more humourous take on the vampire than I'd normally read.
I haven't read Doyle in years, not since <cite>The woman who walked into doors</cite>, I think. Must get back into his books, I always enjoyed them.
Ooh, this is my favorite blog format so far. Elegant! I read Stories not too long ago and liked it okaay… For me there weren't any stand-out stories in it, despite the fact that Gaiman and Sarrantonio, two of my favorite editors, were involved. So that was disappointing. Normally I really like Doyle's writing, especially the Paula Spencer novels, but I barely remember Blood, even after you wrote about it! 999 was a million times better.
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I like this theme, but there are a few bits and pieces I want to change to make it *just right*
Of course, this may lead me to breaking the blog altogether, but if I don't experiment we'll never know.
So far I don't think there are any standout stories for me either in Stories. A few I'm enjoying more than others, and those are the ones I'll review, but for the most part they are quite forgettable I'm afraid.