Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed Evil Eye: Four Novellas of Love Gone Wrong on + 1180 more book reviews
This was a very unsettling selection of four novellas by Joyce Carol Oates. JCO is one of my favorite authors; I have read several of her novels and short story collections and am never disappointed.
From Kirkus review:
With her focus on deviant and twisted characters, Oates continues to be a worthy descendant of the gothic tradition of Edgar Allan Poe.
The titular story, EVIL EYE, concerns a nazar, a âtalisman to ward off the âevil eye.' â Mariana, the narrator, is the fourth wife (almost always italicized, to emphasize her outsider status) of Austin Mohr, prominent director of an arts institute in San Francisco. Twenty-five years younger than her moody and volatile husband, Mariana is timid and conformingâuntil her domestic equilibrium is disrupted by the visit of Ines Zambranco, the first wife.
The second narrative, SO NEAR ANYTIME ALWAYS, introduces us to Lizbeth, a 16-year-old who shyly develops a relationship with Desmond Parrish, an outgoing, brash and highly intelligent young man who's supposedly taking a gap year before continuing his academic career at Amherst. Over a period of several months, Lizbeth gets increasingly nervous about Desmond's mental stabilityâa valid suspicion, as she later finds out he had killed his young sister and been incarcerated in a psychiatric ward for seven years.
âThe Executionâ puts us inside the mind of Bart Hansen, a college student seething with a monstrous hatred of his father, so he plans what he hopes will be the perfect crimeâkilling him with an axe. Although things inevitably go wrong (like his forgetting about the evidence provided by EZ Pay when he makes the journey home to do the murder), an exceptionally clever lawyer gets Bart his freedom since the trial ends with a hung jury.
The final novella, âThe Flatbed,â concerns Cecelia, a woman who's not able to have normal sexual relations because her grandfather abused her when she was young. A man romantically interested in her becomes furious when he learns of this and arranges a meeting to get revenge on the old man.
I found all of these stories to be very compelling reading. They were full of suspense and dread and were all quite disturbing. I especially thought THE EXECUTION, with its look into the mind of a very disturbed young man who resorts to murder, and THE FLATBED, showing how sexual abuse of a young girl can affect her throughout life, were stories which left me with a lingering sense of dread. The only caveat I had with these gems were the endings were not always satisfying and left me wanting more. Overall though, I would still give this one a high recommendation and I look forward to reading more JCO.
From Kirkus review:
With her focus on deviant and twisted characters, Oates continues to be a worthy descendant of the gothic tradition of Edgar Allan Poe.
The titular story, EVIL EYE, concerns a nazar, a âtalisman to ward off the âevil eye.' â Mariana, the narrator, is the fourth wife (almost always italicized, to emphasize her outsider status) of Austin Mohr, prominent director of an arts institute in San Francisco. Twenty-five years younger than her moody and volatile husband, Mariana is timid and conformingâuntil her domestic equilibrium is disrupted by the visit of Ines Zambranco, the first wife.
The second narrative, SO NEAR ANYTIME ALWAYS, introduces us to Lizbeth, a 16-year-old who shyly develops a relationship with Desmond Parrish, an outgoing, brash and highly intelligent young man who's supposedly taking a gap year before continuing his academic career at Amherst. Over a period of several months, Lizbeth gets increasingly nervous about Desmond's mental stabilityâa valid suspicion, as she later finds out he had killed his young sister and been incarcerated in a psychiatric ward for seven years.
âThe Executionâ puts us inside the mind of Bart Hansen, a college student seething with a monstrous hatred of his father, so he plans what he hopes will be the perfect crimeâkilling him with an axe. Although things inevitably go wrong (like his forgetting about the evidence provided by EZ Pay when he makes the journey home to do the murder), an exceptionally clever lawyer gets Bart his freedom since the trial ends with a hung jury.
The final novella, âThe Flatbed,â concerns Cecelia, a woman who's not able to have normal sexual relations because her grandfather abused her when she was young. A man romantically interested in her becomes furious when he learns of this and arranges a meeting to get revenge on the old man.
I found all of these stories to be very compelling reading. They were full of suspense and dread and were all quite disturbing. I especially thought THE EXECUTION, with its look into the mind of a very disturbed young man who resorts to murder, and THE FLATBED, showing how sexual abuse of a young girl can affect her throughout life, were stories which left me with a lingering sense of dread. The only caveat I had with these gems were the endings were not always satisfying and left me wanting more. Overall though, I would still give this one a high recommendation and I look forward to reading more JCO.
