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raincorbyn's review
5.0
This really made me re-think my stance on redemption arcs, in fiction and real life!
The introductory essays by the editors set the stage by asking what redemption is, and why we prefer revenge to it so much that we sometimes present revenge stories as redemption, as if the person enacting revenge is in fact participating in a redemption arc for themselves. But, one then considers, what happens to the perpetrator of harm, and why do we consider those who experience harm to need redemption in the first place? Plenty of cultural ideas spring to mind.
I liked all of the stories in this collection, which had unique, batshit, weird, Other voices throughout. I'm personally a bit burned out on dark/inverted fairy tales, so while I balked at first at Lena Ng's The Hunstman, it was so well written I enjoyed it. dave ring's story was probably my favorite, being so thickly queer, guilt-ridden, and full of saucy betrayal and strong, messed up characters.
The essays I thought were interesting, mostly in the juxtaposition of Donyae Cole's essay to the others. She rightly points out that in fiction and real life, only white men "get" redemption arcs that serve to erase their harm done, and (me extrapolating now) the stories we tell about non-white people, and black people in particular, are more like "rags to ruin" arcs. It's made me think about the purpose of redemption versus accountability, versus justice, all conversations we are having anew in the moment where abolition and transformative justice are once again under discussion.
Great stuff!
The introductory essays by the editors set the stage by asking what redemption is, and why we prefer revenge to it so much that we sometimes present revenge stories as redemption, as if the person enacting revenge is in fact participating in a redemption arc for themselves. But, one then considers, what happens to the perpetrator of harm, and why do we consider those who experience harm to need redemption in the first place? Plenty of cultural ideas spring to mind.
I liked all of the stories in this collection, which had unique, batshit, weird, Other voices throughout. I'm personally a bit burned out on dark/inverted fairy tales, so while I balked at first at Lena Ng's The Hunstman, it was so well written I enjoyed it. dave ring's story was probably my favorite, being so thickly queer, guilt-ridden, and full of saucy betrayal and strong, messed up characters.
The essays I thought were interesting, mostly in the juxtaposition of Donyae Cole's essay to the others. She rightly points out that in fiction and real life, only white men "get" redemption arcs that serve to erase their harm done, and (me extrapolating now) the stories we tell about non-white people, and black people in particular, are more like "rags to ruin" arcs. It's made me think about the purpose of redemption versus accountability, versus justice, all conversations we are having anew in the moment where abolition and transformative justice are once again under discussion.
Great stuff!
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