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circlesofflame's review
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
mothic's review
Just wasn't for me. Found myself getting bored and zoning out even during some of the flash pieces.
bonnieking's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliantly decadent. Truly different and refreshing.
charkar's review
4.0
3.5 stars
Famished is an unsettling little collection of short stories centring around food, and I mean that in the best possible way. It's weird, it's dark, a little spooky at times, and very reminiscent of both gothic literature and classic fairytales. There's nothing very nice to be found in the pages of this book and that's what makes it enjoyable.
As with all short story collections, some of the pieces are better than others. My personal favourites included henry and his surfeit of lampreys, what he choked on, and shame. All were particularly unsettling for me to read: from the imagery to the emotions described they weren't easy to get through. But they (like all the stories in this book) were thought-provoking and left me - dare I say it - hungry for more weird fiction.
Because there really is no other way to describe this other than weird. Each story has a strange concept, each different to the last but still maintaining similar themes and tones. The big ones being anxiety, uncertainty, and the macabre. And, of course, food. But while food is so integral to this collection, it also really isn't. Yes, it's the overarching theme of the book, but in some stories it took a backseat and merely served as a way to convey difficult emotions.
It's very cleverly done as I simultaneously want to read more and get answers for some of the more obscure stories. Admittedly, a few of them did go over my head a bit as I'm not a particularly analytical reader, but nevertheless I enjoyed this strange little collection of short stories.
Famished is an unsettling little collection of short stories centring around food, and I mean that in the best possible way. It's weird, it's dark, a little spooky at times, and very reminiscent of both gothic literature and classic fairytales. There's nothing very nice to be found in the pages of this book and that's what makes it enjoyable.
As with all short story collections, some of the pieces are better than others. My personal favourites included henry and his surfeit of lampreys, what he choked on, and shame. All were particularly unsettling for me to read: from the imagery to the emotions described they weren't easy to get through. But they (like all the stories in this book) were thought-provoking and left me - dare I say it - hungry for more weird fiction.
Because there really is no other way to describe this other than weird. Each story has a strange concept, each different to the last but still maintaining similar themes and tones. The big ones being anxiety, uncertainty, and the macabre. And, of course, food. But while food is so integral to this collection, it also really isn't. Yes, it's the overarching theme of the book, but in some stories it took a backseat and merely served as a way to convey difficult emotions.
It's very cleverly done as I simultaneously want to read more and get answers for some of the more obscure stories. Admittedly, a few of them did go over my head a bit as I'm not a particularly analytical reader, but nevertheless I enjoyed this strange little collection of short stories.
ems_shelflove's review
4.0
‘Famished: eighteen stories to whet your appetite and ruin your dinner.’
Centred around the topics of food and appetite, this collection of short stories will either make you ravenously hungry or put you off food for life. In picking up this glorious collection of stories, you are opening yourself up to a world of gruesome tales in which cannibals masquerade as elderly neighbours, tea parties and cucumber sandwiches become the scene of a murder, and an entire belief system is formed around sherbet and its use in occult cult practices. Prepare yourself to meet demonic dolls, ghouls and ghosts, and lacerating lampreys in this eerily enchanting literary feast.
Vaught’s stories delve into the darkest depths of the imagination and are reminiscent of adult re-tellings of fables of fairy tales. The collection strongly reminded me of The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, both thematically and in Vaught’s visceral and rich descriptions. She has an incredible skill for being able to transition from the mundane to the macabre with absolute ease, and each and every one of her stories had an immersive dream-like quality to it which often tipped into the realms of terrifying nightmares.
Each story is wickedly wonderful in its own right, but one of my favourites has to be ‘A Tale of Tripe’ in which our narrator is haunted by the spectres of her mother and grandmother who taunt her with childhood memories of being force-fed tripe. I also loved ‘Nanny Lovett and Pop Todd’ which is narrated by the grandson of the infamous demon barber and his abominable accomplice, and ‘Shame’ which talks about the simplistic joys of eating Nutella straight out of the jar.
If you’re looking for a short story collection to sink your teeth into ahead of spooky season, look no further!
(4.5 stars)
Centred around the topics of food and appetite, this collection of short stories will either make you ravenously hungry or put you off food for life. In picking up this glorious collection of stories, you are opening yourself up to a world of gruesome tales in which cannibals masquerade as elderly neighbours, tea parties and cucumber sandwiches become the scene of a murder, and an entire belief system is formed around sherbet and its use in occult cult practices. Prepare yourself to meet demonic dolls, ghouls and ghosts, and lacerating lampreys in this eerily enchanting literary feast.
Vaught’s stories delve into the darkest depths of the imagination and are reminiscent of adult re-tellings of fables of fairy tales. The collection strongly reminded me of The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, both thematically and in Vaught’s visceral and rich descriptions. She has an incredible skill for being able to transition from the mundane to the macabre with absolute ease, and each and every one of her stories had an immersive dream-like quality to it which often tipped into the realms of terrifying nightmares.
Each story is wickedly wonderful in its own right, but one of my favourites has to be ‘A Tale of Tripe’ in which our narrator is haunted by the spectres of her mother and grandmother who taunt her with childhood memories of being force-fed tripe. I also loved ‘Nanny Lovett and Pop Todd’ which is narrated by the grandson of the infamous demon barber and his abominable accomplice, and ‘Shame’ which talks about the simplistic joys of eating Nutella straight out of the jar.
If you’re looking for a short story collection to sink your teeth into ahead of spooky season, look no further!
(4.5 stars)
owlbesatreading's review
5.0
In this dark and toothsome collection, Anna Vaught enters a strange world of apocryphal feasts and disturbing banquets.’
INGREDIENTS
* 25g of dried madness
* 300ml of warmed passion, diced erratically
* A generous cupful of foul thoughts (check the back of your pantry)
* 400g of delicious words
* 1 or 2 tsps of mixed emotions
* 50g of old musty dictionary pages (‘W,T or F pages are probably most suitable)
* For the glaze: A wash of quiet darkness
METHOD
Preparation is recommended on an empty stomach.
Mix the wet ingredients together in a bowl. Do this in a careful manner, creating a revolting soup-like consistency that can easily travel through ones veins.
Next, gently combine the dry ingredients together into an old urn or suchlike. There’s bound to be one lurking on the mantelpiece somewhere. Stir with a gnarled and boney finger until it resembles an odd, dusty, cement-like mixture.
Mix both wet and dry ingredients together and divide into 17 unequal portions. You are now ready to create your worst food nightmares.
HOW DOES IT TASTE?
Comparable to a Cindy Lauper album, Famished has got to be the most magical, colourful, intelligent, bonkers, grotesque mix of stories I’ve ever had the (dis)pleasure to read. For reasons unknown, it just reminded me of how fascinated I am by Cindy Lauper in that you can’t help but find it entertaining, albeit very weirdly so.
Anna Vaught is a novelist, poet, essayist, reviewer and editor. She is also a secondary English teacher, and that shows spectacularly throughout the entire book. I spent a great deal of time looking up so many words in the dictionary, I felt like I was back in school. (Would I get an A* Ms Vaught, if you’re reading this?!)
Famished was a learning curve, a strange experience, a delight.
Famished was also heartfelt, relatable and revolting. Did it whet my appetite? It certainly did. But it didn’t make me hungry. Did it ruin my dinner? No! Funnily enough, it took me back to dinner times at home with my parents in the 80’s. Tinned mandarin segments with condensed milk for pudding was supposed to be a treat!
I must have quite a strong stomach because out of all the darn right disgusting things in this book, there was only one thing that really turned me over.
These four words – ‘…sea-foam milky tea…’
I’ve only really started reading short story collections in the last couple of years, so I’ve got quite a list to get through. Many classics and a few contemporary, but I don’t think I’ll come across anything quite like Famished again.
Although…and I’m saying this with great relish; there’s hints of SHIRLEY JACKSON in Vaughts writing. YES, that’s what I said. I’ve compared a modern author to JACKSON, the QUEEN OF MACABRE.
Famished is staying on my forever shelf, and Ms Vaughts’ vulgar little tales are living beside Shirley Jackson. They can be like ‘two sisters, secreted in the deeper recesses of darkness…’
INGREDIENTS
* 25g of dried madness
* 300ml of warmed passion, diced erratically
* A generous cupful of foul thoughts (check the back of your pantry)
* 400g of delicious words
* 1 or 2 tsps of mixed emotions
* 50g of old musty dictionary pages (‘W,T or F pages are probably most suitable)
* For the glaze: A wash of quiet darkness
METHOD
Preparation is recommended on an empty stomach.
Mix the wet ingredients together in a bowl. Do this in a careful manner, creating a revolting soup-like consistency that can easily travel through ones veins.
Next, gently combine the dry ingredients together into an old urn or suchlike. There’s bound to be one lurking on the mantelpiece somewhere. Stir with a gnarled and boney finger until it resembles an odd, dusty, cement-like mixture.
Mix both wet and dry ingredients together and divide into 17 unequal portions. You are now ready to create your worst food nightmares.
HOW DOES IT TASTE?
Comparable to a Cindy Lauper album, Famished has got to be the most magical, colourful, intelligent, bonkers, grotesque mix of stories I’ve ever had the (dis)pleasure to read. For reasons unknown, it just reminded me of how fascinated I am by Cindy Lauper in that you can’t help but find it entertaining, albeit very weirdly so.
Anna Vaught is a novelist, poet, essayist, reviewer and editor. She is also a secondary English teacher, and that shows spectacularly throughout the entire book. I spent a great deal of time looking up so many words in the dictionary, I felt like I was back in school. (Would I get an A* Ms Vaught, if you’re reading this?!)
Famished was a learning curve, a strange experience, a delight.
Famished was also heartfelt, relatable and revolting. Did it whet my appetite? It certainly did. But it didn’t make me hungry. Did it ruin my dinner? No! Funnily enough, it took me back to dinner times at home with my parents in the 80’s. Tinned mandarin segments with condensed milk for pudding was supposed to be a treat!
I must have quite a strong stomach because out of all the darn right disgusting things in this book, there was only one thing that really turned me over.
These four words – ‘…sea-foam milky tea…’
I’ve only really started reading short story collections in the last couple of years, so I’ve got quite a list to get through. Many classics and a few contemporary, but I don’t think I’ll come across anything quite like Famished again.
Although…and I’m saying this with great relish; there’s hints of SHIRLEY JACKSON in Vaughts writing. YES, that’s what I said. I’ve compared a modern author to JACKSON, the QUEEN OF MACABRE.
Famished is staying on my forever shelf, and Ms Vaughts’ vulgar little tales are living beside Shirley Jackson. They can be like ‘two sisters, secreted in the deeper recesses of darkness…’
pap3rcut__'s review
3.0
Anna Vaught has written 18 short stories that are dark and moreish like that extra slice of cake that ruins your dinner. Atmospheric and indulgent these stories were written to be ravaged. My top 3 were Cave Venus et Stellas, What He Choked On and Shame. This book is not for the faint hearted it will change your opinion on all food stuffs alike such as tripe, sherbert, seaside rock, tapas and trifle.