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dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
Once again, I wrestle with the dilemma of trying to review a collection of short stories. Should I talk about The Sun Never Rises in the Big City, a bizzaro detective story about a detective and the search for the killer of his rag? Or The Haunted House, about a ghost struggling with its identity and trying to help a girl? Or the title story that starts with a man chasing a homicidal jester through a forest for killing his warthog? Or the fairy tale-eque The Boy in the Cabinet?
Fungus of the Heart is a collection of bizarre tales by Jeremy C. Shipp. While on the surface the only thing the tales have in common is their strangeness, a deeper look reveals that they're all about relationships. Relationships between a detective and his woman with a detonater inside her, a boy who lives in a cabinet and his cup with a smile drawn on it, or a gnome and her oposition to a war against goblins. The tone of the stories ranges from darkly humorous to creepy as hell. Many of them are so strange they have a dreamlike quality.
If you're in the mood for something different, give Fungus of the Heart a try. You won't be disappointed.
Fungus of the Heart is a collection of bizarre tales by Jeremy C. Shipp. While on the surface the only thing the tales have in common is their strangeness, a deeper look reveals that they're all about relationships. Relationships between a detective and his woman with a detonater inside her, a boy who lives in a cabinet and his cup with a smile drawn on it, or a gnome and her oposition to a war against goblins. The tone of the stories ranges from darkly humorous to creepy as hell. Many of them are so strange they have a dreamlike quality.
If you're in the mood for something different, give Fungus of the Heart a try. You won't be disappointed.
teetate's review against another edition
5.0
Haunting. Brilliant. Beautiful.
My review is here: http://tstate.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-fungus-of-heart.html
My review is here: http://tstate.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-fungus-of-heart.html
adubrow's review
4.0
(Originally posted @ CSI:Librarian.)
3.5 Stars - Yet another book that I don't quite have the words to explain. Overall, I greatly enjoyed the themes of love, loss, anger and desire explored throughout this collection as well as the ways in which people become monsters. The gender blurring throughout was really neat too. Shipp created really complex worlds in the span of a few sentences as he related unique and often powerful tales.
That said, Fungus of the Heart left with me with a lot of mixed feelings. Slightly over half of the stories - "The Sun Never Rises in the Big City," "The Haunted House," Fungus of the Heart," "Boy in the Cabinet," "Just Another Vampire Story," "The Escapist," and "How to Make a Clown" - resonated very strongly with me. I also think that the fact that they didn't always make much logical sense ending up making sense in a completely different yet awesome way. The remaining 6 stories never struck the same sort of chord with me and made sense in a way that felt less organic compared to the other 7.
In conclusion, a mostly fascinating collection that will appeal to fans of Dark Fantasy with a hint of Horror and the occasional Noir vibe.
3.5 Stars - Yet another book that I don't quite have the words to explain. Overall, I greatly enjoyed the themes of love, loss, anger and desire explored throughout this collection as well as the ways in which people become monsters. The gender blurring throughout was really neat too. Shipp created really complex worlds in the span of a few sentences as he related unique and often powerful tales.
That said, Fungus of the Heart left with me with a lot of mixed feelings. Slightly over half of the stories - "The Sun Never Rises in the Big City," "The Haunted House," Fungus of the Heart," "Boy in the Cabinet," "Just Another Vampire Story," "The Escapist," and "How to Make a Clown" - resonated very strongly with me. I also think that the fact that they didn't always make much logical sense ending up making sense in a completely different yet awesome way. The remaining 6 stories never struck the same sort of chord with me and made sense in a way that felt less organic compared to the other 7.
In conclusion, a mostly fascinating collection that will appeal to fans of Dark Fantasy with a hint of Horror and the occasional Noir vibe.
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