"Close To You" by Megan McCarron
"Pig" by Jenn Reese
"Pig" by Jenn Reese
“Close To You” by Megan McCarron is a wonderful story, not only in the sense that it has everything a story needs, but it hints at some concepts quite extra and odd, that I loved. It’s about words, really: the difference between the words you speak and the words you think and the words you write, and the emotions and pure feeling that those words represent, sometimes inadequately, and sometimes more powerfully than you were prepared for. Basically: it’s about a lost girl, Mayla, searching the world for the woman she loves.
McCarron uses a very simplistic style to great effect in this piece, and she also has the plotting skill necessary to keep most readers from becoming bored with the obvious (but charming) naivety of the protagonist. In as far as a short story can, you get a wonderful sense of the two main characters, though I did think Nell’s “giving it up” was a bit sudden, and not hinted towards when we were given earlier glimpses of the character, which I feel might have rounded out the resolution. But as far as exquisite skill with verbiage goes, this ranks as one of my favorite sci-fi short stories ever, right up there with Terry Bisson’s “Meat.”
“Pig” by Jenn Reese ia a flash story, one of a monthly series being published by Strange Horizons. It is frankly tragic, and powerfully so, twisting my heartstrings and making me think about the experience of emotion as scent and thus, the emotional experience of pigs. PETA would adore this piece, I’m certain, and as long as it faithfully represents the culture of traditional China, it’s a great argument. The pure and simple language easily lends itself to conveying the sensory experience of smell. Also, it highlights the linked concepts of power and utility, and how the farmer and his son, as well as the humans and the pigs, experience this dynamic. Concise and gorgeous.