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    The Unfinished World: And Other Stories
    The Unfinished World: And Other Stories
    The Unfinished World: And Other Stories
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Unfinished World: And Other Stories

    Written by Amber Sparks

    Narrated by Ali Ahn, David Aaron Baker, Jane Cramer and

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A highly anticipated collection of wildly imaginative short stories from "one of contemporary fiction's true mad scientists" (Necessary Fiction). In the weird and wonderful tradition of Kelly Link and Karen Russell, Amber Sparks's dazzling new collection bursts forth with stories that render the apocalyptic and otherworldly hauntingly familiar. In "The Cemetery for Lost Faces," two orphans translate their grief into taxidermy, artfully arresting the passage of time. The anchoring novella, "The Unfinished World," unfurls a surprising love story between a free and adventurous young woman and a dashing filmmaker burdened by a mysterious family. Sparks's stories-populated with sculptors, librarians, astronauts, and warriors-form a veritable cabinet of curiosities. Mythical, bizarre, and deeply moving, The Unfinished World and Other Stories heralds the arrival of a major writer and illuminates the search for a brief encounter with the extraordinary.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJan 25, 2016
    ISBN9781501911590
    The Unfinished World: And Other Stories

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    Reviews for The Unfinished World

    4/5

    41 ratings7 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I really enjoyed this collection of short stories, with the exception of the longest one which gives the book its title. Most of the tales I found thoughtful, insightful, and intriguing. A good collection, although I was think the author is most masterful with the briefer of the short stories.
    • 4/5
      a wonderfully weird collection that will delight those who cut their teeth on Edward Gorey, with a voice all her own.
    • 4/5
      Except for the title story, most of the works in this collection are very short, and all of them have some sense of strangeness to them, whether it's a truly surreal premise or simply a slightly dreamlike feeling to the narration. As is usual with any story collection, I liked some a lot better than others, but the best of them are compelling, and even the ones that aren't are interesting, in the good sense of the word. The writing is good, too, with a very assured and original voice.
    • 5/5
      Not enough people know about this wonderful short story collection. It's bohemian, poetic, imaginative, and filled with all things space. It's a cross between Black Mirror and Station Eleven. Space janitors, time machines, swan boys, fever librarians, jazz. The future and the past all in one magical illusion. They're less action and more contemplation, with the perfect touch of humanity.
    • 4/5
      I heard nothing but good things about this short story collection, and I'm pleased to say that it lived up to the hype! Amber Sparks has a way of writing beautiful sentences, full of passion and meaning, whether talking about a lonely janitor on a space station, a resurrected hero, a family of murderers, or a broken boy. Sometimes, when I read short story collections, they all seem to run together in the end. With The Unfinished World, however, Sparks's stories individually stand out in my mind. I hope she continues to write intriguing stories.
    • 5/5
      This collection of short stories is an inventive, wild ride: there are (among many, many others) time travelers, man-swallowing jungles, an appearance of Lancelot, and a man without a soul in a story punctuated by Irish faerie-tale tropes. While these are not the most emotionally rich stories in the world, Sparks imaginative gifts largely make up for any lack of tearjerkers. She is comfortable in many times (past, present, future); many geographies; many lengths (a few of these are scarcely a page long); many bodies (men, women, gay, straight). My favorite was her longer form, multi-paragraph telling of the man without a soul, but the death house architect was a troubling conceit - a sort of way station to house the rotting bodies of persons whose loved ones believed there was some chance they might still have a spark of life in them, the caretakers of which must be both proficient in first aid as well as wholly lacking in imagination, which would make them mad. There was also the time traveler intent on destroying the masterwork of a great artist. Despite repeated trips to the artist's age, she was only able to effect subtle changes on the great work. While I craved more of the longer pieces, there is no question Sparks' rich world promises much future fruit.
    • 5/5
      The Unfinished World and Other Stories by Amber Sparks is a very highly recommended collection of 19 short stories set in worlds that are slightly askew.

      The writing is excellent. In descriptive, precise prose Sparks manages to convey depth and meaning in the fable-like stories, many of which are very brief. There is no overall theme to the collection, which makes each imaginative selection a gem that stands alone. This quietly asks the reader to consider and pondered each selection separately, on its own merit. This is a strong collection and I appreciated and savored each selection.

      Contents:

      The Janitor in Space: A woman who works as a janitor in space believes there is there a right way to atone for the past, to rid yourself of sorrow.

      The Lizzie Borden Jazz Babies: Twins do everything together, until one takes a different course and the other wants revenge.

      The Cemetery for Lost Faces: The life of Clarence and Louise, a brother and sister whose parents tragically died. "It just goes to show, people said later. It just goes to show how fairy tales always stop too soon in the telling. Others said it was never a fairy tale at all. Anyone could see that. They were all too lovely, too obviously doomed. But the wisest said, that’s exactly what a fairy tale is. The happily-ever-after is just a false front. It hides the hungry darkness inside."

      The Logic of the Loaded Heart: Questions to determine the value of John's life. "If John is three, and John’s mother is six times his age, how old was John’s mother when John was conceived in the back of Al Neill’s pickup truck after a Styx concert in Milwaukee? If John’s parents spend 100 times zero days being actual parents to John, how many days’ total is that? Does your answer change if John’s mother sometimes bought him Mr Pibb and lottery tickets when she stopped at the gas station on her way home from work? Extra credit: Please calculate the probability that at his mother’s current age, John will drop out of school and work in a burger joint while playing lead guitar in a heavy metal band called The Slaughterhouse Four."

      Thirteen Ways of Destroying a Painting: A time traveler tries thirteen different actions to prevent a painter from creating a specific work of art.

      Lancelot in the Lost Places of the World: "Lancelot has been summoned out of sleep to find a secret kingdom."

      And the World Was Crowded with Things That Meant Love: A couple who met in person only once exchange gifts of devotion over their lifetime.

      Birds with Teeth: Marsh and Cope, who used to be friends, are rival paleontologists. "It really began at Haddonfield, after he pointed out Cope’s dreadful mistake with the Elasmosaurus platyurus. The head is on the tail, he told the team in private."

      For These Humans Who Cannot Fly: A man's love for his wife inspires his life's work, building death houses. "Every death is a love story. It’s the goodbye part, but the love is still there, wide as the world. When my wife died, I began to understand this."

      Take Your Daughter to the Slaughter: Father's take their daughters on a hunt to kill werewolves.

      We Were Holy Once: The Benders are a family who travel the country with their daughter, Doctor Katie, who is a healer.

      La Belle de Nuit, La Belle de Jour: There is mythical trouble for seven brothers and their sister when a witch moves into the kingdom and marries their father.

      The Men and Women Like Him: Hugh is a Cleaner who has to stop time pirates from changing the course of history.

      Things You Should Know About Cassandra Dee: Seven facts about Cassie, an ugly girl who can see bad things that will happen in the future.

      The Fires of Western Heaven: Reflections about the aftermath of war.

      The Process of Human Decay: What happens after a man dies.

      The Fever Librarian: "From the Eternal Library’s Official Employee Handbook: The brain of the Fever Librarian should be made mostly of melancholy. The Fever Librarian should wear black bile in the veins. The Fever Librarian should be an unmarried woman with a soft, drowned heart, and a choleric disposition. She should be pale and thin, with a look that hints at Perpetual Anguish of the Soul. She should resemble someone’s grandmother, someone we have known for ages in the abstract. Dependable. Invisible."

      The Unfinished World: This titular novella follows the separate lives as two future lover, Set and Inge, grow up and eventually meet in the 1920s.

      The Sleepers: "Ancient dreams cling like crumbs to the mouths of the sleepers. They mutter and twitch, chasing after phantom women, fragments of words, half-drunk goblets of wine. This is what the sleepers find outside of history: a weakness in repose for which there is no cure but dreaming."

      Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Liveright Publishing for review purposes.