By the North Gate | 
so-soThe first stop is finished! Like most collections of short stories, this one was uneven but there were also some real gems. The collection's biggest issue is with race, and I'm still trying to work out how I feel about Oates' portrayal of POC characters here. I'll be curious to see which stories make it into a future collection. Next up is her first novel, With Shuddering Fall. #jcojourney
First disappointment of the JCO Journey. Eh. I really did not care for this story. Yes, it's about a racist getting got, but reading about the brutalization of blacks people/bodies today was just too much, tbh. She didn't handle this material well at all, and I know that's a problem for her.
Last one for today! "Pastoral Blood" is of a piece with "Sweet Love Remembered," and here JCO's full powers of young female rage and desire breaking free in climactic, Faulknerian, Megan Abbottian, force are truly stunning. Sweaty, painful (TW: rape), and memorable. A great summer tale.
Next! Holy cow, guys - this one left me sick to my stomach with dread and horror. I really don't want to spoil it, but let's just say your loyalties will shift. JCO is just so good at illustrating the terror of ambiguity and lack of resolution. This one will stay with me. I might be up late tonight.
The JCO Journey continues after a holiday weekend! I read three stories today, so get ready! ? "Sweet Love Remembered" is very much a prototypical JCO tale - disaffected suburban girls, strange men, the works. Of course, she's a master of those stories - and this one shows how she nailed it early.
This story, the next on the JCO Journey, feels like a riff on Absalom, Absalom, albeit in a more recent time. The language in this one is gorgeous, and it has some fascinating reflections on wealth and power. A gem for sure.
The JCO Journey continues! "The Census Taker" is full of the dread Oates is known for, and illustrates how violence isn't only physical - and can come suddenly, out of the blue, from strange and haunted places. Definitely a better story than "Swamps." Plus, writing about the water!
The JCO Journey! Reading through one prolific author, chronologically. We begin with "Swamps," the first story in Oates' first short story collection. This was fine, with some beautiful language and a sad end, but it didn't stand out above your standard MFA story. (Which I know Oates helped invent.)
