“I feel reasonably comfortable with the notion that narrative could be merely decorative. It’s how I try to feel OK with what has occurred.”
Cosmogony, by Lucy Ives, is a collection of twelve short stories, half of which appeared in previous publications. Unfortunately this collection did not resonate with me. Irritations included the repeated, casual references to drug taking. Neither was I impressed with the many mentions of accepted violence within sexual encounters. I suspect these were intended to be erotic but were chiefly porn played out in private and lacking any form of titillation. It all came across as sad and lonely without any hint of redemption.
Each of the stories starts and ends. They have words in between that express thoughts and opinions, some of which are pithily written. And yet the plots never seem to go anywhere that has a point worth consideration. Reading through the first story there appeared to be a minimalist style of prose with interesting imagery. Reading on, the repeated lack of coherence and abrupt endings put paid to this thinking.
“The floor of time drops down, releasing a cloud of sand, and from out of the shipwreck, tragic but below us, harmony reconstitutes itself.”
The author employs an interesting use of mathematical style formulae as a storytelling device. This worked to an extent and added interest in that concentration was required to follow direction taken and potential meaning. Direction would, however, then stray from interest gleaned.
Relationships were transitory and lacked empathy.
“D is, in any given instance, affected by ancestry as well as the styles of ignorance, repression, passion and fear tolerated by a subject at a given moment in the subject’s mortal trajectory.”
The Poisoners offered up a well worn plot, effectively told although with a somewhat ambiguous ending. A point being raised throughout the collection was how little lovers understand each other’s wants and needs.
Some of the later stories seemed a little better; perhaps the writing style was growing on me?
The Volunteer offered an interesting perspective on time travel although context was convoluted.
In the closing story, Ersatz Panda, the narrator asserts: ‘This story is interesting’. I couldn’t agree.
A collection not entirely without merit but that mostly failed to fully engage my interest. This is not a book I will keep on my shelves.
Cosmogony is published by Soft Skull, New York
