Review: WHITE CAT, BLACK DOG: STORIES

Recently I picked up a batch of library books which I had placed on hold. Among them was the short story collection by Kelly Link called White Cat, Black Dog. Looking over the summary I vaguely recalled being interested in the book because of this description of it:

Finding seeds of inspiration in the stories of the Brothers Grimm, seventeenth-century French lore, and Scottish ballads, Kelly Link spins classic fairy tales into utterly original stories of seekers -- characters on the hunt for love, connection, revenge, or their own sense of purpose Book Jacket).

Who doesn't love a well-told fairy tale and an utterly new one at that? 

So I checked out the book and carted it home. But the pile was high and the other books had more claims on my time and attention and soon I determined that White Cat, Black Dog was going to be returned to the library unread, that is until my daughter called me. She had seen the title of the book on my Sunday Salon post and wanted to do a read-along. She, of my two children, has always loved fairy tales and retellings of them. How could I refuse the request? I renewed the book and we resolved to read a story a day and discuss our thoughts before moving on. I wouldn't say that our discussions of the various stories were very deep. Both of us were flummoxed by most of them but we did enjoy our repartee 

Of the seven stories here are a few highlights --

1. "The White Cat's Divorce": The theme as we saw it was 'greedy people get their comeuppance in the end.' We both didn't understand the symbolism of the cats running a cannabis growing operation but thought it was funny.

2. "Prince Hat Underground": Neither of us have read Dante's Inferno but we imagine the story has something to do with hell or the underworld and how far someone will go for love.

3. "The White Road": The story is based on another story, "The Musicians of Bremen" by the Brothers Grimm, which we were not familiar with. There is a traveling group of people (Are they musicians?) who have to beware to stay away from the white road which carries dead people. The story is bizarre and unsettling. My daughter described it as Stations Eleven meet zombieland.

4. "The Girl Who Did Not Know Fear": This tale is based on a European fairy tale, "The Boy Who Did Not Know Fear", where a boy tries to find fear by waking a giant, rousing a bear, flying through the air, and sailing the sea. The protagonist of our story similarly tries to cope with her fears by doing modern equivalents. This story left both of us scratching our heads.

5. "The Game of Smash and Recovery": Another head-scratcher. Identified as a Hansel and Gretel story, there are indeed a brother and sister, but are they the same thing? And is the sister really artificial intelligence? And what is with all the stuff, the handmaids, and the vampires. We didn't get this one at all.

6. "The Lady and the Fox": Is a retelling of the Tam Lin fairy tale. My daughter, who is familiar with that tale, says of all the stories this one most closely follows the original. We both liked it and liked the lack of any violence.

7. "Skinder's Veil": This story had a lot going on but both of us enjoyed it very much. At one point Andy, who is going to house-sit for a friend, is told to let everyone who comes to the backdoor into the house. But don't let Skinder in the front door.  Odd characters do come to the back door, among them Snow-White and Rose-Red, a wild turkey, a bear, and a grey man. Skinder, as Rose-red explains, is death himself., which explains why you shouldn't let him in. He also has a black dog with him. So the collection is bookended with a white cat and a black dog. Like the warning given to Andy, "just go with it", I just went with it and enjoyed this story a lot.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, the chapter headings are each illustrated by Shaun Tan. They alone tell rich stories.

My rating for the book is 3.5 stars. Rita rated it with 3 stars. Both of us thought the writing was very good but often felt lost and not sure what the story was trying to tell us.

-Anne