Grasp What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky Prepared By Lesley Nneka Arimah Depicted In Electronic Format
stories, especially from debut authors, seem to me like an opportunity for writers to pull on different shoes and walk around in them for a while.
A low risk way to play with different genres and voices without the burden of committing to an entire novel,
I can see Arimah doing that in thisstory collection, There were stories that I thought had almost N, K. Jemisinesque fantasy elements. Particularly, What it means when a man falls from the sky and What is a Volcano , The former outlining a world in which mathematicians can cure people of sadness and Europeans are refugees in Africa, The latter seemingly a folktale but both of which I would love to see form the nexus of a great fantasy/dystopian world, The story I enjoyed most was Who will greet you at home , with the creepy hair baby still giving me cause for concern whenever I see a hair brush.
The bulk of the remaining stories are what could be described as a kind of Nigerian domestic noir tales of mothers and daughters often estranged, a pervading creeping melancholy.
Some were outstanding, particularly Windfalls which also had a dark, almost horror vibe to it,
I thought Arimah was on less sure footing when she covered territory that I think Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie does extraordinarily well, stories that rely heavily on character and nuanced observations.
However, it's very early days and I am eager to see what this author does next, These are concentrated, enchanting bursts of stories mostly about the lives of women and their daughters or mothers, Some are grounded and sharpedged, others fabulous and whimsical, So good. Another bookstagrammer, bookisshhh, and I read this book of short stories together and shared our thoughts about the collection on her Instagram page, I am glad we chose to read it as our shared read because I would not have chosen it on my own, What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky is Lesley Nneka Arimahs debut collection and contains a varied mix of stories that generally succeed splendidly and occasionally fall short.
The title story is by far the outstanding tale in the collection I enjoyed it so much that as soon as I finished it I started it over again.
“Wild” is the other story that stood out to me and has stayed with me long after I finished the book, This cautionary tale proves that what people want the world to believe is often drastically different than what is actually occurring in their lives, While I enjoyed most of the stories, two of them were slow enough that I ended up not finishing them,
If you are on Instagram check out the fabulous post that bookisshhh created to share our joint thoughts on the collection, I definitely recommend this book for those who enjoy short stories and uniquely told tales,
As Nakia said, "the first story went off like a firecracker out the gate, " And, this collection of short stories ended with a bang! In this book, no two short stories are like the other in terms of plot, pace or tone.
This collection is not only a testament of Lesley's writing prowess but a display of her ingenuity,
Also, Lesley's writing pulled me all the way in! It said, "Girl, lean in, No, a little closer. Closer. " Her words sucked me right in amp made me feel everything that her characters felt, Short story collections can be hard to rate but my review is really driven by the state of awe in which this book left me.
I'm SO excited to see where Lesley Nneka Arimah goes from here, AMAZING. This is the best collection of short stories I have read so far, Granted, I haven't read that many short story collections in the first place, but still, I greatly enjoyed most of these and found myself wishing several of them were full length stories instead, See below for my ratings of each individual story,
The Future Looks Goodstars
War Stories,stars
Wildstars
Lightstars
Second Chancesstars
Windfallsstars
Who Will Greet You At Homestars
Buchi's Girlsstars
What It Means When A Man Falls From The Skystars
Glorystars
What Is A Volcanostars
RedemptionI received an advanced copy of this book because Lesley and I follow each other on Twitter where folks know I LOVE reading and she asked if she could send me one to get my thoughts.
Now that that's out of the way, SWEET BUTTERY JESUS I WASN'T READY, I am still in my feelings about what I read and it's been overhours since I finished, Although I absolutely LIVED for the forays she made into futurism, it was her brilliant writing about everyday scenarios and relationships that knocked me out.
I will end here so as to avoid spoilers but listen, BUY THIS. Or borrow it. Or whatever you have to do, If you love amazing writing You need to read this, If I could give it more than five, I would in a heartbeat, I attempted to name my favorites but that's pointless because they were all my favorites! Honestly can't wait to reread it,
!!! sitelink com
.stars. This collection of stories is out of this world literally! I really loved Arimahs wild imagination and the finesse with which she created worlds I never knew could exist.
This collection embodies how a short story collection should be: ORIGINAL, unpredictable, startling and outofthebox,
This was a collection of short stories and at first I didn't quite catch on so I kept reading and I was like what the fuck is happening why do the characters keep changing.
I really enjoyed all the stories in this collection though and that's quite rare, In fact I was kind of sad when the stories would end because I kept wanting to read more of all of them, I really really loved Who Will Greet You at Home, where a women creates a baby for herself from different materials but each child falls apart until she uses hair, regardless of the stories warning against doing so.
I really loved the magic realism woven into the stories and the story telling, I just can't get over how good all the stories were and I feel like I should
summarize them all but I'm feeling super lazy so I'm not going to but I definitely am going to go look into the author and if she has other works.
sitelink
Content Warning: Violence, Domestic Abuse, Trauma, Child Abuse
I have been blessed by a master storyteller and I am grateful.
There is so much beauty and hard realities in these stories, Through the use of magical realism and fantastical elements, characters inner turmoil are made physical, The characters are memorable and refreshingly flawed, so each story feels like a friend's you a secret, I enjoyed each and every story, they all held suspense, surprises and descriptions of family trauma, In most short story collections there are some that may not be right for the reader, but I enjoyed each one in this collection,
"This starts another argument between husband and wife, mild at first, but then it peppers and there us this thing that distance dies where it subtracts warmth and context and history and each finds that they're arguing with a stranger.
"
Besides the awesome prose, imagery and realism the author's unique experience and culture was incorporated, Windfalls is a story about a mother and daughter who live off of settlements they receive from slip and fall lawsuits, The story is told from the daughter's perspective and as she grows up the ugliness of this lifestyle becomes more pronounced, What it Means When A Man Falls From the Sky is a story about how mathematicians have figured out a formula to fix the effects of trauma and grief.
The results of this in a future world separated by class are not what it seems, and the story left me thinking about it for a long time.
Life would be so much simpler if there was a actual fix to trauma,
"Girls with fire in their bellies will be forced to drink from a well of correction till the flames die out.
"
The theme of women and girls as autonomous and powerful despite their circumstances runs throughout these stories, The stories cross continents include future technology and incorporate African culture, I am astounded by this author's talent and will happily read anything that she creates,
Recommended for Readers who
enjoy memorable short stories
like reading about diverse characters and trauma
enjoy fantasy and magical realism elements: It appears GR has combined these reviews due to removal of one of the stories as a separate GR book.
The first paragraph was my review of the story "Who Will Greet You at Home" that I believe was published online before the short story collection, and the link I included was removed.
The part after GR added "Merged review" is my review of the collection,
This is so fresh and inventive and, . . scary. It resonates like a folk tale and reminds me of that feeling when you wake up from a nightmare wondering "where the heck did that come from" I'm definitely checking out more of her work.
Merged review:
This is such a special collection of stories from a unique voice that I cant wait to read more from.
Lesley Nneka Arimah writes about things we can relate to, but she shows the inside, the underside, the turned inside out side, She lures you in and then fills you with surprises,
She hooked me with the first story, “The Future Looks Good,” which is an odd dance through past and present with a shocking end.
The title story is a brilliant, futuristic concoction about using mathematics to take on another persons grief, “Glory” tells of a young woman trying to please her mother, and all the interesting ways she fails while trying to decide if pleasing her is what she even wants.
And of course theres “Who Will Greet You at Home,” a wild take on preparing for motherhood that introduced me to this collection, and is still the most unique story I think Ive ever read.
“Round and round until the ball of hair became a body and nubs became arms, fingers, The strands tangled together to become nearly impenetrable, This baby would not snag and unravel, This baby would not dissolve in water or rain or in nail polish remover, as the plastic baby had that time, ”
Arimah does this with her stories, Round and round she weaves them until her characters come to life, . . and then turn around and surprise the heck out of you, .