In the Forest of Forgetting

by Theodora Goss

Book Overview

Theodora Goss' first major short story collection showcases such stories as"The Rose in Twelve Petals," "The Rapid Advance of Sorrow," "Lily, With Clouds,""In the Forest of Forgetting," "Sleeping With Bears" and many more. Alsoincludes an introduction by Terri Windling and cover by VirginiaLee.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080955691X
• ISBN13: 9780809556915
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Wildside Press
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Varied, original, and unforgetable

Highly original, fantastic, unconventional, and often provocative stories. They range from mystical to humorous. Not all of the stories are top quality but I will never forget the best ones. The story about the woman marrying a bear, one of my favorites, recalls Terry Bison's "Bears discover fire." Other stories suggest fairy tales, especially the retelling of sleeping beauty from multiple points of view.

Fascinating!

This was a captivating read. The opening by Terri Windling also features a section where Theodora Goss talks of her lifestyle of living and moving around. I related a lot to the multiple sense of identities, yet sometimes the lost sense of identity she talked about. Most of these stories are disparate, though there are three stories with a witch, Miss Emily Gray, in them, and two stories (one with Miss Gray) that are set in the same town. Others are scattered across time and space. The stories with Miss Ellen Gray are particularly eye-opening regarding careful wishes and harming others who haven't harmed you. Goss opens with a split perspective of Sleeping Beauty from the king, witch/mistress, wife, daughter and prince. It is very intriguing how it is split among petals. There are other stories set in a Communist regime (such as the story "Letters from Budapest" which demonstrates how passion for art can go awry) or center around people who have fled the Communist Regime, such as "A Statement in the Case." Death seems to be a common theme, as two stories appear to end with a character's acceptance of death after travels either trying to find/remember her name while encountering people in a natural landscape (such as "Wife" or "Daughter") or traveling through a ballet dancer's memories while lying in a bed. One story that particularly touched me with "The Belt" which had such a wonderful moral at its end, I decided to quote it here in my review. "I will tell you, too, that every fairy tale has a moral. The moral of my story may be that love is a constraint, as strong as any belt. And this is certainly true, which makes it a good moral. Or it may be that we are all constrained in some way, either in our bodies, or in our hearts or minds, an Empress as well as the woman who does her laundry. [...] Perhaps it is that a shoemaker's daughter can bear restraint less easily than an aristocrat, that what he can bear for three years she can endure only for three days. [...] Or perhaps my moral is that our desire for freedom is stronger than love or pity. That is a wicked moral, or so the Church has taught us. But I do not know which moral is the correct one. And that is also the way of a fairy tale. (pp. 195-96 "The Belt") Overall this was a provoking read.

Superior Fantastic Fiction

An excellent collection of stories, all of them little masterpieces of fantastic fiction in the tradition of European storytellers. Most stories belong to a deep tradition of which Kafka was a potent precursor. Atmosphere is certainly Goss's strong point, and utterly well-drawn characters. I'm looking for more of her fiction.

A superb collection

This is one of the most delightful short-story collections I've ever read. Goss's prose is immaculate; there are hints of Angela Carter here, but also of Virgina Woolf. She handles very old themes (Gothic, yes, but also older) with a very rare combination of control and freshness. It's an astonishing collection, and I can't wait to see more from her. Novels are my true love, but I'm happy to make an exception -- and a permanent place on my bookshelf -- for this book.

Postmodern gothic fairytales

These delicately crafted, literary fantasies draw from Victorian morality stories and fairytales. The language is spare and considered, the tone dry spiked with mordant humor. Goss discreetly and elegantly updates the gothic tale for postmodern times. Her "Emily Gray" stories concern a governess who grants children's deepest wishes, at a terrible price. Three of the Emily Gray tales are here. The title story turns a breast cancer patient's life into a magical fable. Other stories take place in Budapest, and have a flavor of Central European magical realism ("The Rapid Advance of Sorrow"), while "A Rose in Twelve Petals" fractures Sleeping Beauty into twelve different view points, including that of the spinning wheel that pricks the princess. Goss's stories have dark themes, but she is too graceful a writer to be considered gothic in the classic sense. Her painterly, humorous characters come alive, and her fantastical ideas are grounded in her character's pysches.