#770 Reeling for the Empire- Karen Russell

#770 Reeling for the Empire- Karen Russell

What I have found over the last few years during this project, is that the entire genre of short story writing is filled with the fingerprints of Kafka, from mere references, respectful homages or outright theft of ideas. So far no other story has come close to reminding me of the depth and soul of Kafka until now. I am left breathless by this story. Where Kafka often goes dark and desolate, Russell infuses hope and human endurance. Imagine metamorphosis meets fight club!

We are in the Japanese Empire mid nineteenth century. Someone has found a tea that can turn a human into a silkworm hybrid. Girls are “recruited” to drink this tea and work in silk factories where they spend their lives in the same room spinning out the best silk the world has ever seen. But they will never see the outside again, never see their families, never truly be human.

We see these Kaiko-Joko (silkworm workers) in a place they have dubbed “Nowhere Mill”. One girl, for the first ever, has drunk the tea voluntarily and a little too fast. She survived the metamorphosis, but remains a little off inside. Eventually this boldness has made her aware of the potential of her new form, or the ability to turn bad to good, weakness to power. She will not be marginalized again, and neither will her co-workers.

“For the past several months, every time I’ve reminisced about the Agent coming to Gifu, bile has risen in my throat. It seems to be composed of every bitterness: grief and rage, the acid regrets. But then, in the middle of my weaving, obeying a queer impulse, I spit some onto my hands. This bile glues my fingers to my fur. Another of nature’s wonders. So even the nausea of regret can be converted to use.”

Wow…I love this!!!

Notable Passage: “These wings of ours are invisible to you.”

Rating: 10-10-10-10 Total= 40

#373 Do Something- Kate Walbert

#373 Do Something- Kate Walbert

Margaret is tired of the approximations in life, she needs to do something real. She is overwhelmed by anger, by idleness, by the futility of fighting against the large problems of the world; war, death, 9/11.

“Now she is blindsided by fury; the tide of her anger rising at certain unpredictable moments…as if drawn by an internal moon, waxing and waning, though mostly waning.”

Since the beginning of the war, the government has not allowed pictures of dead soldiers coming home at Dover Air Force Base. So, she has been standing outside with her camera, taking her own stand for truth and justice. Most times she is warned and she goes away, or she accepts a small fine. However, now at her tipping point she decides to utter the most empowering phrase in social activism:

“Today…I plan to resist.”

Her family doesn’t support this action, especially at her age; Her adult daughter raising her own children in particular:

“Not so long ago Caroline would have stood beside her at the fence, that her daughter would have carried a sign or at least shouted an obscenity. But this was before Caroline took that job in the Financial District.”

Powerlessness is a strong emotion.

Rating: 8-8-8-8 Total= 32

#250 Will the Circle Be Unbroken- Henry Dumas

#250 Will the Circle Be Unbroken- Henry Dumas

This is a story about the power of music. Probe is a musician playing in a closed off all-black club in Harlem. No outsiders allowed, the power of this music was known to do some serious damage to those outside the circle.

Probe is prepared to play the Afro-horn, one of only three in the world; It is his birthright. “Probe, since his return from exile had chosen only special times to reveal the new sound. There were more rumors about it than there were ears and souls that had heard the horn speak.”

Beyond the social commentary here of protecting culture, keeping the richness of your artistic identity locked in a circle, are truly amazing descriptions of live musical performances:

“The blanket of the bass rippled and the fierce wind in all their minds blew the blanket back, and there sat the city if Samson.”

“Inside the center of the gyrations is an atom stripped of time, black. The gathering of the hunters, deeper. Coming, laced in the energy of the sun. He is blowing. Magwa’s hands. Reverence of skin. Under the single voices is the child of a woman, black. They are building back the wall, crumbling under the disturbance.”

Rating: 8-8-10-8 Total=34

#95 I’d Rather Go Blind- Jabari Asim

#95 I’d Rather Go Blind- Jabari Asim

A Taste of Honey is Jabari Asim’s collection of stories about the tumultuous cultural swings of 1968. I’d Rather Go Blind is the first of these tales, and takes place in the hot summer of 1967.

Crispus Jones is the middle child of three boys and watches as the world changes around him. His thoughts start out innocent and normal for a child, thinking only of the battle back and forth of brotherly co-existence:

“I was never allowed to even handle his brush, and using it was out of the question. After all, science had yet to prove that nappy hair was not contagious.”

Things change as innocent waves turn to black power fists, and chippy nicknames turn to Brother Charles and Brother Vaughn. A police stop turns into another local death as local blind man, and friend/mentor intervenes when cops harass a few teenagers. Crispus' brother Ed is involved and gets cut by glass in the ensuing unrest.

“To my eyes, Ed looked changed, battle-scared somehow. I wonder if a piece of glass could make so much difference.”

The whole collection is connecting stories and this piece seems to set the scene and mood for what comes next. Summer of Love? Maybe not.

Notable Passage: “Curly had once told me that I was sure to get my heart broken some day. When that day came, he said, it was best to have some Etta James on hand.” The story title comes from the Etta James song.

Rating: 8-8-8-8 Total= 32