Ghosts of Gunkanjima

Thursday, August 31 2006 @ 01:55 PM GMT+4

Ghosts of Gunkanjima, Catherynne M. Valente. Ghosts of Gunkanjima had an extremely limited printing of 20, so it's doubtful as to whether you'll come across this in your library - I was lucky to have the privilege of reading it thanks to the kindness of an online friend. I'm reviewing it because it's a near perfect example of skilled small-press form perfectly mating with the contents. Needless to say, it's also absolutely beautiful. Not much larger than a matchbook, the tiny poem is bound with metal mesh encasing a leaf skeleton; holding it in your hand, you can almost hear the ghostly creaking of the pet cricket in its pages, so out of place amidst the unnatural. The content is both beautiful and heartrending, half historical background, half dialogue between the ghosts of a husband and wife who at times forget their own death.

Read August 2006

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