I found the last part of Vampires in the Lemon Grove very difficult to visualize, since I didn't recognize the funicular.
I admit, though, I overall had difficulty with Lemon Grove - the concept seemed very likable, yet I found the uneven pacing of the backstory intrusions constantly throwing me out of the story. While I recognized the 'falling out of love' allegory on which Lemon Grove is built, it struck me as a muddy connection, weakened by the author's lack of explanation regarding her 'reinvention' of vampires. Did others have this same experience?
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I agree, and for some reason I feel that this was not the authors intent. For some reason the story just didnt seem to flow like others do that have repeated interuption. It left me feeling very uneasy. Then again, maybe that is what we are supposed to feel.
ReplyDeleteI was reading reviews of this particular story online, and there was one that caught my eye because it was only two words long-- "Sour suckage"
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I found great humor in this, despite the fact that this story was a close second favorite for that week's readings (it trailed "Last Worders"). I liked the idea of a vampire being presented so rationally different from what we have grown accustomed to them being. I would not say that the vampire in this story was vulnerable, per say, but I did feel an odd connection of sorts to him because of his sense of lacking a purpose. It was an odd concept to grasp that vampires don't actually have to drink blood, they don't actually have to sleep in coffins, they don't actually have to avoid the sun, etc.
It's almost like a reflection of the self-fulfilling prophecy. You see yourself as having a certain trait or being associated with certain characteristics, and you will constantly shape your actions to stay in check with this perception. The vampire here saw himself as just a vampire in his younger days, and he followed the accepted rules and nature of being a vampire down to the last detail.
I think that this reinvention of vampires was highly thought provoking though. It made them so much more human. It showed that just like us, even vampires have the chance to overcome their stereotypes and even they can face identity crises.
Yes, the uneven pacing of the backstory was highly annoying, and the connection of falling out of love did not really seem to connect directly, but I think maybe it was a hit back to the whole theme of how even vampires aren't anything more than humans with a stereotype or label that leads them feeling pressured to conform to.
Vampires has some of the most beautiful and artful prose you will ever encounter in a short story with fantasy elements, in addition to a wonderfully unique voice, and I think its a shame that some readers contribute pseudo-literary criticism without understanding the author's intent or the need to balance exposition and narration. Whatever missing thematic or symbolic commentary some might contrive, Vampires was included in BASS because it epitomizes a writer's devotion to the craft, back story included. There is a a reason why English and CW are separate programs. More often than not, scholars =/ good writers. This thread proves that.
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