| Title | : | By Light We Knew Our Names |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1936873621 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781936873623 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 224 |
| Publication | : | First published September 30, 2014 |
By Light We Knew Our Names Reviews
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I have been trying and failing to write this review for days now. I don't quite know how to review it still. I can say this though: I wanted to love this. But I didn't.
The cover is beyond beautiful (even more so than it looks on the pictures) and Anne Valente's writing is stunning but I struggled with how bleak this book was, relentlessly so. Short stories are often sad and often bleak but this felt unnecessarily cruel.
The stories focus loss and trauma. This is done extremely well but made it necessary for me to take long breaks between the stories. People lose somebody or something important to them and are suspended in this world of grief. I can intellectually understand how well structured the short stories were but reading them did not often give me pleasure. I also found the stories repetitive in their bleakness and their near hopelessness.
There were a few stories that I enjoyed - and these were the ones that were more hopeful and less devastating. Here Anne Valente's talent for creating characters and stories really shone. The first story in this collection of a child finding out just how special they are worked exceptionally well and remained my favourite until the end.
This review and other thoughts on books can be found on my blog:
https://ihavethoughtsonbooks.wordpres... -
I believe this is the first ever short story collection I have ever read. It was brilliant!
This is a collection of thirteen stories that encompass so many themes I don't even know where to begin. We see girls punching pillows underneath the northern lights, a boy strumming a guitar for his sick mother, a woman who's marriage has ended in a lot of green tea and so many more amazing and beautifully constructed stories. Grief, sickness, love and life are wonderfully explored by Valente in this novel. I can't really do the book justice in my description, all I can say is that you should definitely go and pick it up!
I fell in love with Anne Valente's writing style, nearer the end I was rationing myself to a story a day as I wanted it to last longer! I know after this I shall be hunting out some more short story collections to add to my reading list. I would highly recommend to all. -
4.5 stars - a very close 5 star read.
This treasured collection of short stories gripped me from the very first story. I should warn you beforehand, this is not an easy book to swallow. Some of the stories are really hard-hitting and will tear you apart in a million pieces. But nevertheless, if you are feeling brave one day, I strongly encourage you to give this collection a try.
Valente is a poet. Her writing is in every word perfection and the way she crafts these beautiful stories is simply astounding. Not only can she be incredibly creative in imagery and symbolism, but the way she writes her characters—particularly the younger ones—is highly impressive. As someone who struggles very badly with short story collections, I began reading this one story a day but once I hit the forth short story, I couldn’t stop reading and flew though it. I usually struggle with short stories because I don’t find myself as invested into each story but this collection is perfection from the start.
Some stories have a strong sense of magic, while most remain realistic. What is amazing about some of the magical realism stories is that there is always room for speculation as to what’s what and whether it is “magical” or not. I love stories that offer you more than one interpretation and more then one way of looking at things so I have to really admire the fact that I took so much away from each of the stories.
The only reason why this book remains short of a perfect, five-star read is due one story towards the end that wasn’t nearly as gripping for me as the rest of them were. While I did enjoy the ending of it, majority of the story remained a dull experience and was unfortunately not redeemable by the last three pages. Still, don’t let that deteriorate you from picking up this wonderful book.
By Light We Knew Our Names is still a brilliant piece of art.
I should warn you, I’m bound to keep changing my rating from 4 to 5 stars as I keep mulling over some of the stories overtime. But there isn’t a single person I can think of that I wouldn’t recommend this collection to. -
3.5 stars.
By Light We Knew Our Names by Anne Valente was, although a good and highly entertaining short story collection, nonetheless a victim of the hype machine for me. I wish that I had come across this collection having never heard of it before, simply being drawn in by the beautiful cover and the enticing synopsis, rather than by the rave reviews from various people on BookTube. I can't help but wonder if my experience of the book would have been heightened even just a little. But nevertheless, this is still a very good read, and one that although I didn't adore like so many people, I would in fact return to and read again.
The eleven stories in this collection all have a sadness at their centre, with some being more hopeful than others. They cover a variety of topics, from sexual assault and adultery, to grief and illness. Very heavy subjects indeed, and ones that, based on my initial reading of the first story, I was not expecting at all. However, for the most part I did feel that the somewhat heavier stories were in fact the better stories in this collection.
My opinion regarding my favourites in this collection may be an unpopular one, because I actually felt that the stories in the second half of this collection were a lot stronger, and I found my enjoyment increasing a great deal towards the end, which bumped my rating up a half star. My favourites in the collection would have to be Latchkey (the first story, and the only one I have read twice), By Light We Knew Our Names (brutal but beautiful), Minivan, Until Our Shadows Claim Us (possibly my favourite in the collection, and the one that drew me in the most), and Mollusk, Membrane, Human Heart.
I am glad that I read this collection finally, but I'm afraid I wasn't as enamoured by it as so many other people were. Like I said though, this is a collection that I would return to, as now I know what to expect from it, I feel I may be more open to just letting myself sit and experience the stories on a slightly deeper level. Anne Valente can definitely write, and although her writing was not quite as lyrical as I was expecting based on other people's reviews, there were now and again some very heart wrenching moments that held me fast and wouldn't let me go. -
I really enjoyed this book of short stories that was sometimes magical, sometimes insightful, sometimes grieving. I found it in Hoopla while looking for something about Alaska, but only one story is specifically set under the northern lights. What a cover, too.
For fans of Karen Russell (especially
St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves) or Kelly Link (for instance
Magic for Beginners.) -
3.5
One of many impressive elements to these stories is the description of emotions felt in the physical body. The writing is always beautiful, though the stories start to feel a bit too familiar and the voices too similar as they accumulate. A few are told in first-person plural and, while that point-of-view fits each, I have to admit to being bored at the first and weary by the last. In general, though, the latter was a great story, keeping me reading in a state of tension.
The magical elements are rendered well, though I felt defeated by some of the whimsical names of the titles themselves. (I admit also to a certain lack of imagination.) A couple of the stories are brutal and realistic in their depiction of violence against women—no magic or whimsy there— though the phenomena of nature is a consolation of sorts. Conflict between science and nature is a recurring theme.
Even though I read only one story per day, I think I would’ve liked each even more if I’d come across it in isolation, in its original publication in the various literary magazines where each first appeared. That was not likely to happen, so I’m glad to have been introduced to this writer through this collection. -
Rating: 4.5 stars
2018 is going to go down as the year where I reach a deeper level of appreciation for short stories. And with powerhouses like Jen Campbell, Kirsty Logan, Daisy Johnson and now Anne Valente entering my life, I think I have good reason for it.
I have nothing but respect for people who can put pen to paper and create characters that feel lifelike, and convey feelings that so many of us have, but can’t express. For people who can create and sustain a world for hundreds of pages, to the point where that world is just as real to you as your own. Even more respect do I have for those people who can do this exact thing in a maximum of 20 pages. There is truly an art to sanding down your message, until nothing but the core remains.
The collection is woven together by themes of loss and grief, all explored through a lens of magical realism, which in my opinion is the perfect fit for both the theme and this format. I have mentioned before how grief is a topic that is close to my heart. For me personally, it’s the single most difficult experience to describe in words. At the risk of sounding woolly; it can be a tangible, almost physical presence in your life for years, yet remain unfathomable, and escape your ability to be grounded by mere words. At times it can seem to inhabit a reality of its own, as it can not belong in yours. This type of darker magical realism can sometimes be the most “true” way of describing that feeling, despite being fiction.
Many of Anne Valente’s stories do exactly that. My personal favorites from this collection include Not for Ghosts or Daffodils (probably my favorite out of all of them), Mollusk, Membrane, Human Heart and To the Place Where We Take Flight , all of which I would individually give 5 stars.
Unfortunately, this high level is not consistent throughout the collection. Overall, the second half felt was much stronger than the first. Some of the earlier stories, for example Dear Amelia and Terrible Angels were closer to two stars and brought down my total rating by half a star.
Despite those two stories, Valente’s prose is beautiful and she clearly has a lot of talent in this genre. Enough so that I feel like the stories that didn’t click with me still have the deeper layers to connect to other readers, or maybe to me at a different point in my life.
This is collection has earned itself a permanent place on my shelf, and I can see myself coming back to this many times in the future. -
Really enjoyed most of the stories, there were only a couple that were boring/hard to get through. Latchkey and A Very Compassionate Baby were the most interesting, the magical realism elements really drew me in. The ones that were most impactful were Minivan and By Light We Knew Our Names, they were brutal and depressing. I disliked Dear Amelia and A Taste of Tea, they were rather dull and nowhere near as engrossing as the other stories.
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This book has its own feel, its own place in the world of fiction. Valente is an extremely gifted writer, with an ability to merge science, magical realism, and reality in a wondrous way, but she never lets go of what truly matters, the core of her writing, which is the need of all humans to be loved and to feel safe. She forces you to slow down your reading, to luxuriate in her sensuous sentences that flow like many tributaries into one large river of truth. Highly recommended for short story lovers, especially fans of
Anthony Doerr and
Kim Edwards. -
This was an amazing collection of short stories! There was so much variety, but also clear themes that ran throughout. Beautifully written, poignant plots and a joy to read overall! This collection proves that short stories can be just as heart wrenching as a full-length novel! Can't stop gushing! Plus the cover is beautiful.
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We wake up, we have our morning coffees and small breakfasts, we rush to start the day. We find a safe heaven in the subway to read, even if only for 20 minutes and then keep the story in our minds until there is time to finish it. "By the light..." is wonderfully magical (sometimes literally). Every story through the sadness or scary moments gives hope, subtle light which will help to discover your name as well. One doesn't just read the story as a spectator but is a part of "we". I just loved it! The book touches so many diverse subjects and you really don't know what to expect from a next page and a next story, but definitely don't want to stop until you've read them all.
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Anne Valente has a heartbreakingly gentle way of writing. Even the stories that made me a bit scared/anxious of what was coming next...the words were careful, gentle, soft. From moment to moment, magical or everyday. Everything felt true. So much beauty here. This is one of my new favorite collections, indeed. Resplendent.
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This is a beautiful heart wrenching collection of stories that explore grief and trauma through the eyes of adults and children alike. Each story is thoughtful and stands on its own and left me sad in which I couldn’t read more than two a night. Highly recommend.
1. Latchkey 4.5
2. Dear Amelia 4.5
3. To a Place Where We Take Flight 4.5
4. Terrible Angels 5
5. A Taste of Tea 3
6. Everything That Was Ours 3.5
7. By Light We Knew Our Names 5 🌟
8. Everything Fell Silent, Even Sirens 4.5
9. A very compassionate baby 4
10. Minivan 4.5
11. Not For Ghosts or Daffodils 4
12. Until Our Shadows Claim Us 5🌟
13. Mollusk, Membrane, Human Heart 4 -
4.5!
Full review to come but Anne Valente has a beautiful writing style & this collection of stories on a whole veered towards the very good as I enjoyed most of the stories -
4.5/5
This short story collection which consists of 13 stories, simply just took my breath away. The stories in this collection are realistic but have a sort of weird/magical realism-esque undertone to it. Some stories are more realistic, some others distinctly surreal and some sort of straddle the border and could be arguably either. So it would be the perfect choice if you are not sure whether you enjoy magical realism, but you want to give it a try, nonetheless.
The general theme within most of the stories in this collection deal with loss in some form or the other and its so incredibly beautifully captured. It just left me in awe of how touching, painful, real and tangible words on a page can be, and how it can invoke such powerful emotions from within. The stories in this collection explore sadness, humour, joy, science, mystery, magic and our relationships with the natural world with incredible deftness and I was completely consumed into every story. And. I have to talk about Anne Valente's writing. It's absolutely stunning and fluid without being overdone.
This collection was just perfect in every single way, and it is one of the best books I have ever read. And one that I know I'll keep revisiting. -
This book is pure magic!
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This broke my heart in the best way possible. Enchanting, lyrical and gritty. A perfect mix of magic realism and the almost unbearably real.
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What a curious, magic-filled collection. There is some degree of magical realism lurking under the surface of each of Valente’s stories and for the most part it works really well as a symbol of something more realistic (usually to do with loss or grief or trauma) going on – a woman struggling with her identity after the death of her father, a girl coming to terms with her mother’s leaving etc.
Valente uses plenty of similes and metaphors in her writing, and she sometimes seems a little too intent on writing poetic sentences for my taste. It becomes a little too much about describing, e.g., the northern lights in the sky in a certain way rather than focusing on the story itself – and she is apparently fond of the word ‘illumine’, which I noticed in at least four or five stories. I usually prefer writing to be simpler, more direct (using ’light up’ doesn’t take anything from the narrative, but I would’ve settled for just a little more variety than using ’illumine’ every time). But she still managed to hook me with several of the stories in this collection, in particular Latchkey, Terrible Angels, A Taste of Tea, If Everything Fell Silent, Even Sirens, Not for Ghosts or Daffodils and Mollusk, Membrane, Human Heart. As you can see, that’s actually quite a bunch, so even I wasn’t put off too much by the more flowery writing in some places. It felt overdone in some of the stories (the title story was close to being the worst, in my opinion), but it worked very well when used more sparingly in some of the others, and I furthermore loved how often the natural world played a part in the narrative.
It’s a very coherent collection and absolutely perfect for lovers of magical realism. None of the stories were five-star ones for me, but quite a handful were worthy of four. I'd say the collection as a whole is a 3.5.
/NK -
Latchkey (4/5)
Dear Amelia (4/5)
To a Place Were We Take Flight (5/5)
Terrible Angels (3/5)
A Taste of Tea (2/5)
Everything that was Ours (2/5)
By Light We Knew Our Names (2/5)
If Everything Fell Silent, Even Sirens (4/5)
A Very Compassionate Baby (4/5)
Minivan (2/5)
Not for Ghosts or Daffodils (5/5)
Until Our Shadows Claim Us (4/5)
Mollusk, Membrane, Human Heart (5/5)
By Light We Knew Our Names is a collection of 13 short stories that explore the line between magic and grief. These stories are not for the faint of heart, they are sad and depict the world in a dark light. However, except for the chunk of stories residing in the middle I absolutely enjoyed this! Magical realism has always been something I love to read. I love how the fantastical can explain the ordinary in such a beautiful way and often times leads to great discussions on the authors intent.
I was a little worried when I reached the halfway point because the stories were just falling flat and becoming more contemporary than magical realism. Thank goodness the last half picked up and was very good!
My favorite story was probably, “Not for Ghosts or Daffodils”, with a close second being the last story in the collection, “Mollusk, Membrane, Human Heart”. These two were written with gorgeous prose and very unique storytelling. They both would make Oscar worthy short films.
I’m looking for more short story collections to get my hands on so if you have any recommendations leave them in the comments section! -
I don't know why or how I stumbled across this book, but thank goodness I did.
"From ghosts to pink dolphins to a fight club of young women who practice beneath the Alaskan aurora borealis, By Light We Knew Our Names examines the beauty and heartbreak of the world we live in. Across thirteen stories, this collection explores the thin border between magic and grief."
What a stellar collection! The dominant theme of which is grief and dealing with loss: of loved ones, of innocence, of freedom.
Highly recommended to readers who prefer short stories with a little dab of magic to mute their stark reality.
4 stars
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"Latchkey" - 4/5; Seven-year-old Sasha doesn't want to open her birthday present. What does her gift say/reveal about her? LOVED!
"Dear Amelia" - 3/5; Written as an open letter to Amelia Earhart. A clan of shapeshifters, black bears in Maine, on the verge of World War II.
"Our mothers, as heartbroken as us. Their empty gaze, their listless silence. We knew then that they'd watched for you too, that somewhere beneath what we'd feared in them had burned a radiating hope for a different world. We knew there was no answer, beyond our mothers, and our mother's mothers and their mothers. That this was what had always been, what they knew to do for us with the world as it was, and the undeniable threads of our blood...But we knew at last that they didn't know...We knew at last what they would have wanted to tell us. We knew at last that they dreamed."
"To a Place Where We Take Flight" - 4/5; A teenage son whose mom is in the hospital with terminal cancer hopes to heal her with his music. His dad is in denial. The boy's favorite bedtime story, "The Ship in the Sea of Sadness," told to him by his mom as he was growing up, inspired his hope.
"Terrible Angels" - 4.5/5; Francie sees her dead grandparents. They help her through her grief by leaving reminders of her childhood. The last item she finds isn't from her grandparents.
"A Taste of Tea" - 3/5; A husband leaves his wife for another woman. The wife retaliates by buying tea in bulk, a huge pile delivered by dump truck. She also throws his belongings in the garbage and vandalizes his car. All of this is observed by their teenage son who is only just venturing into the world of love. Symbolism: Bitterness of the dry tea leaves; once steeped in water taste altogether different? 3/5
"Love isn't much more than a fencing match, Kevin." She reached over to her pile of tea, touched it again. "It's just a matter of who stabs who first."
"Everything That Was Ours" - 3/5; A senior in high school is facing the draft. Set during the World's Fair in Queens, NY. He and his mother are alone after first the death of the father then the death of the older brother.
"By Light We Knew Our Names" - 5/5; Set in Willow, north of Anchorage, where girls are openly abused by the local men. Fathers, boyfriends, classmates, strangers. While fictitious, a heartbreaking reality for young girls and women everywhere.
"We loved and hated Willow then, how ignorance made us safe inside moonlight, unsafe beneath sun."
"If Everything Fell Silent, Even Sirens" - 4/5; Another story about the unexpected loss of a parent. A pregnant wife punches her husband. She's not actually dealing with her father's death, the dismantling of his life's work (his lab of dolphins). Then she starts hearing a howling noise like the wind but not. Is it her father? She's not who she wants to be.
"A Very Compassionate Baby" - 5/5; A baby cries at the sadness in all things from a broken toy to a dilapidated stop sign. His only consolation a flower in the backyard. The baby loves being outside and stays there for hours. Is there something living on the flower? The dad thinks he sees the two "beings," on reflex rips the flower up. Is the baby "touched"?
"Minivan" - 4/5; In the aftermath of his girlfriend's rape a young boyfriend (they're both in their late 20s or early 30s) he tries to do his best to do, say, be the "right" way, but...
"Not for Ghosts or Daffodils" - 4/5; A father and daughter are abandoned by wife/mother. The little girl catches a ghost in a jar. The ghost is called Harriet and she's a bright yellow daffodil. Ghosts of flowers.
"He felt the wish inside him then, just for a moment, for his own jar to keep. Not for ghosts, not daffodils, but for the sound alone--to hold his daughter's laughter in a Mason jar, to bottle and store, to set on his nightstand like fireflies, to hold light to the black."
"Until Our Shadows Claim Us" - 3/5; Set in the 80s. Second graders fear they've unleashed something from a mirror. Urban legend used to explain the unfathomable to kids: one of their own taken from his bed at night.
"Mollusk, Membrane, Human Heart" - 5/5; A researcher grows attached to his specimens.
"But within the anonymity of night, Dr. Carver had caught an octopus himself, had pulled Sedna from the wild-dark sea beyond the reaches of the labs and had locked her beneath the ground for Walter to oversee, for Walter to ignore the experimental regulations on octopuses, the laws mandating that no surgery be performed without anesthesia for their nearly infinite nerves."
"Rosaline rubbed his back and headed inside, and Walter watched the trees swallow the last of the sun, a death stained in streaks across the marbled, darkening sky." -
A heartbreakingly gentle way of writing. The stories I loved (five and four stars) blew me away. It was worth reading just for those. Did enjoy the magical realism stories more than the realist ones.
***** - Latchkey, Dear Amelia, Not For Ghosts or Daffodils.
**** - Terrible Angels, Minivan, Until Our Shadow's Claim Us, Mollusk, Membrane, Human Heart.
*** - By Light We Knew Our Names.
** - To A Place Where We Take Flight, A Taste of Tea, If Everything Fell Silent, Even Sirens.
* - Everything That Was Ours, A Very Compassionate Baby. -
DNF 50%
2.5 stars
I don't care about any of the stories and have no reason to think that'll change in the next half. -
So many emotions! This was quite a roller coaster of short stories..great read highly recommend!
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Every story was about grief so you know I’m all about it.
“They were long days full of spilling light, so much light it shadowed every hurt.” -
One of the best collection of short stories I have ever read. The intensity of the book is massive and the writing is so incredible !!
Content and Trigger Warning : Abuse -
The synopsis lured me to read to this book and Anne Valente's writing made me overwhelm with the sheer rawness and profound intensity. There's a line in the blurb that these stories have a thin line between magic and grief and that sums up this book which has collection of short stories which will make you uncomfortable and plunge you into that well of despair, from where the light is not visible. But that's not a negative thing, because that's the intent of the author. Do pick this up !!
Content and Trigger Warning : Abuse -
so bleak, so good
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Original review here.
When I found this collection of magical realism vignettes, I was certain that I would love it like I did Like Water for Chocolate and The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender. Instead, the thirteen short stories left me wanting – though for exactly what, I cannot articulate. Coming of age, parental relationships, death and feeling trapped were recurring themes, and Anne Valente explores them with an abundance of symbolism. But I was often left wondering what it is that she actually wants to evoke with the sometimes bizarre supernatural elements.
We have girls turning into bears in Dear Amelia, and while I appreciated the ideas of indignant hope, of shame and loneliness, of fighting against the inevitable, the final message of burrowing into dens and ignoring it all failed to strike any emotional chord. On the other hand, To a Place Where We Take Flight and Terrible Angels had poignant passages, but were otherwise unremarkable. The plot developments were not particularly original, nor were the perspectives presented by the protagonists. In fact, much of the book was similarly unmemorable, beyond the persistent irritation half the characters seemed to ignite in me. Kate in If Everything Fell Silent, Even Sirens was especially maddening – I felt no empathy for her inability to be self-aware and consequent violence or her petty attempts at rebelliousness, regardless of whether her father’s death precipitated them. I am by no means suggesting that characters must be likeable for a book to be good. Perfect characters are just as bland as critically flawed ones are infuriating. But it is the delicate science of identifying relatable vices and insecurities that enables readers to become invested.
I enjoyed Minivan and Latchkey the most, and while the former was a heartrendingly raw account of abuse and recovery, the writing in the latter felt laboured at times. Sasha’s predisposition to sighing and suggesting such absurd contents of her unopened gift as “maybe it’s an army … a tiny army of lop-eared rabbits” bordered on pretentiously profound. Of course, it is precisely the matter-of-fact inclusion of magical elements that puts a work on the ‘magical realism’ shelf. But it was evident that the character herself did not believe in the possibility of her own statements. In fact, the label ‘magical realism’ is misleading – most of the stories were incredibly realistic, but without any magic at all. This would not have mattered much if By Light We Knew Our Names was marketed properly. But as it were, I felt confused and slightly cheated.
I decided to give this book a try only long after the hype had died down. I still do not find the lush lyricism or idiosyncratic voice. If I were looking for exquisite prose, I would personally turn to another
Valente instead. But that is not to say that By Light We Knew Our Names was a completely uninteresting read. Many rated it a five-star book, after all. It was sometimes frustrating and other times throwaway, but the short stories were mostly solid works with clear potential. I just wish Anne Valente fleshed out her explorations of these universally emotive themes more completely.
Rating: 3/5 -
This is spectacular, I really like short story collections - I know they are not for everyone but I love them.
This is the perfect example as to why I don't like anthologies, you need the body of work from the author to make the collection complete.
I think this would be a nice place to start if they are not your thing.
