Down to a Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese
Down to a Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese is a collection of short stories that has been languishing in my book pile for far too long and I was determined to read it during Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon. I have heard a lot of mixed reviews for this one, from people really loving it to others disliking it. So I was curious to figure out where I would land on that scale. Sadly, I’ve discovered that the more short stories I read, the more I just can’t get into them. (I’ll give Deborah Ellis’ Lunch With Lenin a pass though, I did like that one.) Maybe I’m just not reading the right short stories. I am really glad to have explored this genre a little bit this past year, but I’m not going to be jumping up and down to read any more in the very near future.
Thinking back on this book, I really can not remember any of the stories. I vaguely remember something about a man looking in a mirror while he’s shaving and reminiscing about his body. Another about two best friends and one who continually pushes the other away. All the stories are very dark and troubling and dive deep into a psychoanalysis of the characters. Which given that the author is a psychotherapist isn’t very surprising. The writing itself was very difficult for me to get into. Half the time, I kept asking myself, “what did I just read?”
For example, the following paragraph is found in the short story entitled, “I’ll Make It. I Think”
Once, when I was younger, I made up a fable about my life. It was my own nipple and I sucked it dry. It’s worth repeating. Trouble is I still don’t understand it all, but if feels right, true to what I know about me and my destiny (?).
Maybe I’m just not a savvy reader, but I have no idea what any of that means. And sucking your own nipple dry not only thoroughly confuses me, but scares me a little too.
But there were passages of very poetic writing as well, as seen in this passage in “Echo,”
That feeling of terror, of being lost on a beach on a sea of strange blankets and bare bodies, that dumbstruck horror of feeling very much alone and torn off or away, as if one is dislocated, a fragment in a cruel time or place, a mons pubis disjointedly staring out of an oven in Auschwitz is what it is all about. It is a ligament tear of the very soul, a lifelong inflammation that no medicine will cure; one dies hobbles.
It’s this type of writing that makes me step back and read really slowly, so I don’t miss anything. While I do like this particular passage, I have no clue what mons pubis really means but I can probably take a wild guess. (Just did the Wikipedia thing – who really uses that term in a conversation? AND I had no clue that this book review would go this direction. What in the world am I doing? I normally don’t talk about nipples and mons pubis’s!)
This wasn’t the book for me. If you like deep, dark, character driven short stories you may find it worth the read, but personally it’s not a book that I would recommend. The upside is that it only took about an hour or so to read.
I’m going to go ahead and pass on my copy of Down to a Sunless Sea to somebody else if they’d like to give it a try. Let me know if interested and I’ll choose a recipient.
Genre: Short stories
Published: Wheatmark Books, November 2007.
Paperback, 148 pages. ISBN: 9781587367335
Down to a Sunless Sea is available from independent bookstores, Powells and Amazon.
(Wondering what kind of info you’d like in this space, as I might start doing this. Consider this my test run.)
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Category: Adult, Book Reviews, Fiction
Tags: A-D Title, E-H Author, Fiction, published 2007, short stories
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I won’t read this book, but I like all the info at the end of the post! I need to start doing that.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 3:11 amYikes, this book is not for me. I do sometimes like character driven works, but the phrases you quoted really killed any appeal it would have had.
I like your new info blurb! Very discreet but informative.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 3:36 amI had a hard time with this book as well and in the past I have like short stories. I say in the past because now I am not so sure about them. I think it can be difficult to find well-written shorts and if you don’t find them a lot of the time you reach the end of one and wonder what it was all about.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 4:41 amI’ve never read short stories, and I am pretty sure this isn’t the one to start with! Carrie at Books and Movies has been reading something called “100 Shots of Short’ that seems to be working for her. James from Ready When You Are C.B. recommended “The Interpreter of Maladies” by J. Lumpri as a good place to start as well. I’m waiting until I get my Kindle (for Mother’s Day or my birthday, I’m hoping!) and then I will download one of them.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 5:26 amYikes, what a review! I’m sorry this one didn’t do it for you. I’ve read a few short story collections that I’ve liked, so you can go ahead and throw my name in for this one. I’m more than willing to give it a try. Thanks Natasha!
on May 3rd, 2009 at 7:33 amI love short stories, but I’ve postive this collection isn’t for me. And if you want more info on the mons pubis (and even if you don’t), you MUST check this out:
http://www.bestweekever.tv/2009/04/30/cuchini-the-camel-toe-eraser-taking-the-wind-out-of-your-vaginal-sails/
It is the funniest thing I’ve read all week.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 7:34 amOk, sorry if I linked to a post that was not really family friendly…
on May 3rd, 2009 at 7:37 amI didn’t like it either. I don’t usually read short stories, so that probably didn’t help, but I found the prose confusing, and as I could hardly relate to any of the characters, it was even more difficult to figure out what was going on or feel sympathetic for them.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 7:59 amI can’t wait to see what search terms bring people to this review!
on May 3rd, 2009 at 8:41 amAmy – Thanks for your feedback!
Meghan – I chose those quotes by randomly flipping through the pages. They are interesting.
Nicole – I really wasn’t sure what they were about besides being dark and grim.
Sandy – The ones I’ve chosen so far just aren’t for me. Thanks for the recommendations, I’ll have to check them out. But I’m burned out on them right now, so it will probably be a while!
Heather – Well, so far it might be all yours!
Lenore – Oh no! I have no idea if you’re upset or not. I can’t tell. It really wasn’t a family friendly book and I probably should have never finished it. Had no idea my review would go the way it did, but that’s the direction it went.
Jeane – You said it well!
Raych – I’m going to be in trouble now!
on May 3rd, 2009 at 10:23 amRight before I posted my comment, I posted another comment with a link to best week ever where they discussed mons pubis and camel toe. So I thought you rejected my comment because of the link. But it may have just been a technical difficulty. I am not offended
on May 3rd, 2009 at 10:57 amI didn’t especially enjoy the book either. It had a few moments but not enough of them.
I’m not much of a short story reader either but I’ve found a way around it. I tend to like anthologies by a variety of authors instead of just one. Then I’ll read one story a week until I’m done. I also review the stories individually instead of as an entire collection.
I typically post my short story review for the week on Saturday. My latest review is for Shadow-Below by Robert Reed.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 11:32 amI don’t think I would enjoy this book either, but I did enjoy your review! It made me chuckle. The info at the end of your post is great.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 11:40 amLenore – Oh, now I understand! It probably went into spam, I’ll go rescue it now!
pussreboots – I’ve never really tried anthologies. I wonder if I’d like those beter.
Kathy – Glad you enjoyed the review though!
on May 3rd, 2009 at 11:56 amI guess I’m not a savvy reader either because this doesn’t appeal to me either. But your review was fun to read so the outcome is: bad book read = fun post written.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 12:38 pmI’m sure there are readers out there who would enjoy this type of book, but I’m definitely not one of them. The first passage you quoted doesn’t make much sense to me, either.
I like short stories in general, but I’m more a fan of classic short stories. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe, O. Henry, etc. I also really enjoyed Neil Gaiman’s short story collection, Fragile Things.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 2:43 pmSorry this one didn’t work for you. They look very grim. I’m hit-or-miss with short stories–some I absolutely love, others leave me cold and I can’t even finish the collection.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 4:29 pmI’m the same way about short stories. Although, I have to say I really enjoyed Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 8:48 pmI just can’t get into short stories either, the only exception being children’s short stories.
This one sounds…well interesting. Not rushing off to add it to the TBR pile.
on May 3rd, 2009 at 10:01 pmThis one sounds a bit over the top. I’m not really into short stories either.
on May 4th, 2009 at 9:44 amI agree the stories were dark and disturbing. I didn’t like them much either, but mostly because they were more like character sketches than stories.
on May 6th, 2009 at 7:12 amI had a really tough time with this one also. The writing was way too convoluted for my tastes and I had to keep re-reading and finally just read and didn’t try to understand (bad Trish!). I hate that… Short stories are on and off for me. Mostly off (except some of the more classic ones–Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Welty, Poe, Hawthorne, Irving…). I don’t think you’re alone in not loving short stories.
on May 6th, 2009 at 9:25 pmTrish- Good point on the classic short stories. I love many of those classics…the standards just seem to have dropped a bit. All of the authors you mentioned had fantastic literary works. So I change my POV to Trish’s
on May 6th, 2009 at 9:49 pmHmmm, I typed up a comment but it disappeared into never never land. Bummer! Anyway, I think I said something along the lines of–I agree Jenn. Seems like modern short stories are written with the intent of confusing the reader and leaving them feeling unsettled. Although, I just finished a collection called Tea and Other Ayama Tales which was one of the better ones I’ve read in a long time. The stories were all well self-contained and I never ended a story with the “huh?” feeling.
on May 6th, 2009 at 9:59 pmTrish – Your comment went to spam (who knows what is up with that!) but I rescued it before your second comment here. I haven’t really tried classic short stories. I bet I would enjoy them better than what I’ve read this year.
Jenn M. – Don’t you love how other people can change your mind?!
Margot – Yay for a fun post! That makes me happy because I wasn’t looking forward to writing this review. It went places I wasn’t expect to go.
Ruth – You give a vote for short stories too. I guess I should look into them more.
Ali – I should have stopped reading this collection but at least it was a fast read.
Kelly – Thanks for the recommendation. Always looking for new titles.
KT – Glad I’m not the only one.
Anna – I don’t mind character sketches but I guess I just didn’t like any of these characters.
on May 6th, 2009 at 10:09 pmI’m glad to read your review of this collection. The author sent me a copy over a year ago. I was completely torn about on how to review it. Then my health took a serious bad turn . I still owe him an review-I feel very bad about it, but he hasn’t dunned me about it and I’m glad because my nerves couldn’t take it.
on January 6th, 2010 at 7:42 pmYour thoughts-though somewhat different than mine, (I think I found a few gems but it does need some editing) have suddenly helped mine to gel. Thank you so much for being brave enough to say what you thought. I know of others who were afraid to write a negative review and one or two got a not very pleasant note from the author over their reviews. One of these days when my head is clear I may get to that review after all. Thanks again.