Module 14: Yellowcake
Summary: The short stories are tales of magic,
supernatural events, and fairy tales retold. Every story is different, and the
extraordinary events just grow with each story.
Citation: Lanagan, Margo. (2011). Yellowcake. Australia: Allen & Unwin Publishers.
Impression: It was rather difficult to understand at
first what was happening. I thought the stories were just fairy tales, but they
took on such dramatic turns that I found myself rather mystified throughout the
reading. I’ve not really read books of short stories for leisure before so
perhaps it is my inexperience, but I was rather lost the entire time. However, I think that this generation of students would enjoy the novelty of such a book. Since children today are used to flipping between online articles and switching from television channel to channel, their brains may be more hardwired for this type of book. I would recommend this book for students that like magic and supernatural stories but do not like to read lengthy novels.
Review: Lanagan unravels familiar myths and fairy
tales, weaving them into unique, sharply resonant forms in this
characteristically stunning collection. Reading Lanagan, like learning a language by total
immersion, involves a leap of faith. Each tale conjures a world with unique
laws and lawbreakers. Rather than being coddled by comforting dollops of
exposition, readers dive into the murky unknown. Spellbound, they reach the
end, astonished at how far from shore they’ve traveled. The most powerful of
these tales reworks Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Tinderbox,” drawing on its
creepy, amoral ambiance to explore the spoils and costs of war. “Rapunzel”
morphs into a sunnier tale but with an eldritch feel. Supported by his loving
wife and apprentice-daughter, Charon ferries dead souls across the Styx.
However strange the details (a sentient building lumbers into the sea; a
fascinator plies his trade), the stories rest on bedrock human emotions.
Characters act out of fear, anger, love—to stop the pain, to make sense of the
senseless, to protect family. The shipbreaking underclass who take apart
horrifying vessels are decent folk at heart. In a tale exploring the
paradoxical complexities of loss, a mother floats away from the family
desperate to keep her. Traveling such elusive terrain requires an oblique
approach, and Lanagan, like Emily Dickinson, tells it “slant.”
Familiar roots and accessible themes make this strong
collection a good introduction to Lanagan’s mind-bending work. (author’s note) (Fantasy/short
stories. 14 & up)
(2013). Yellowcake [Review of the book Yellowcake]. Kirkus Review. Retrieved from
Suggestion: This would be a good book to have for a
presentation on supernatural/magical themes. Some students may enjoy the
wandering and slightly perplexing stories that this book offers.
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