Encountering
Kij Johnson’s short fiction as it pops up in a year’s best or in the random
anthology, here in a magazine and there on Clarkesworld, one never knows which
face will appear. One sharply literary,
the associated works have abstract poetic dimensions that dissolve into images
and ideas connecting in the mind even if they seem to defy comprehension on
paper. The other face is one more
traditional and charming; a classic storyteller cognizant of tone resides
within Johnson. Poetic and charming a
vibrant pair of ideas in themselves, her 2012 collection At the Mouth of the River of Bees (2012) exemplifies these
qualities, and as I was to discover, additional faces.
Johnson’s
poetic face is best captured in the story opening the collection, “26 Monkeys,
and the Abyss.” Lurking behind an obtuse
little tale of a woman who buys into a traveling monkey show are the personal issues
she is dealing with in real life, just visible off-screen. Showcasing the fact genre authors can indeed
produce quality, literary material, spec fic at short length hasn’t come much
better. “Story Kit” adheres more literally
to the title than one might expect.
Opening with Damon Knight’s six story types, Johnson examines, in
prosaic fashion, the elements that go into writing via references to Greek
tragedy and contemporary, though unnamed, fiction. Seeming to evolve into a narrative more
personal than universal, the (meta-) story can also be read as a feminist text
for Johnson’s goals and struggles with pen in hand. A post-modern, abstract gem, it will not be
enjoyed by all precisely for those reasons.
The usage of the present tense propelling the story
to its conclusion, “Names for Water” is one of the lightest pieces in Bees.
A brief, innocent, fragmented bit of coming of age, it tells of a
teenage girl who wants more from life.
But it is perhaps “Spar”
which finds Johnson at her most poetic.
A relevant take on gender and sex, an alien analog is used symbolically
to great effect by referencing the animality of intercourse and
relationships. A harsh, seemingly
unforgiving piece, peering through the forest to find the trees is rewarding.
The resonant storyteller in Johnson is perhaps best
represented by the longest piece in the collection. “The Man Who Bridged the Mist” proves
itself to be a layered, developed romance in an interesting setting. The symbolism of the bridge a touch
pretentious, Johnson nevertheless endows it with detail and atmosphere to the
point it emerges as a critical touchpoint spanning the characters’
stories. (Longer review here.) Perhaps more traditional than
charming, “Fox Magic” brings to the foreground Johnson’s obvious love of
Oriental culture. The story of a Japanese
home and the lord who is lured by one of the foxes living under his storehouse
disguised as a woman, it takes full advantage of the Japanese fable, and is as
elegant as can be.
The
strongest additional face in Johnson I discovered was purposeful and touching
stories involving animals. In “The Cat
Who Walked a Thousand Miles” Johnson tells the amiable story of a cat who makes
the most amazing overland trek. Highly
reminiscent of yesteryear storytelling, Johnson nevertheless makes it stick with
a modern sentimentality. A tale that is
more thought-provoking than would seem at the outset, “The Evolution of
Trickster Stories among the Dogs of North Park after the Change” is on the
surface about dog sentience.
Interspersing trickster stories dogs tell one another in the aftermath of
dogdom’s fate post-Change, you don’t need to own a dog or be a dog lover to
appreciate this tale of something that all animals want, including us.
Another
face discovered is of empathy within broken homes. “26 Monkeys, also the Abyss” dealing with a
woman whose family situation is less than stable, so too does the short,
poignant story “The Bitey Cat.” About
little Sarah, her cat who is not a cat, and witnessing her parents get a
divorce, domestic problems are the root of her troubled young life, and Johnson
portrays this in poignant yet relevant terms.
“At the Mouth of the River of Bees” has the strong feel of being
inspired by real events. About a woman
taking a cross-country drive with her near-death German Shepherd, she has the
most extraordinary experience encountering a river of bees in the middle of
Montana. “Ponies” got a lot of
attention from awards for its view to young girls’ focus on beauty and social
acceptance, but it’s a story that has a lot of issues. Playing off the classic traditional cool vs.
uncool kids on the playground, the characters are stereotypes and the symbolism
overt almost to the point of being maudlin.
My Little Pony and little princesses the targets in the cross-hairs, it
alienates one while comforting the non-princess—plenty of whom in the real
world turn out normal without getting caught up in the melodrama Johnson
describes. A touch manipulative, there
are better ways to pass along the importance of independence.
There
is likewise a quality face of Orientalism to Johnson’s short fiction. Along with the aforementioned “Fox Magic,” “The
Horse Raiders” thankfully has more depth than the average mini-epic fantasy it would
seem to be on the surface. About a tribe
of horsemen on the grasslands, they are met one day by a group of raiders claiming
to be sent from the emperor. Having a
very Mongolian/Chinese feel, Johnson produces an engaging story that likewise
deals with issues surrounding power and choice between the sexes. Literally only four-pages, “Chenting, in the
Land of the Dead” nevertheless has some punch.
About a Chinese scholar faced with a major career choice, it gives him
what he wants but has an undesired effect on those he loves. “The Empress Jingu Fishes”—and she also sees
the future. Part samurai and prescient, she
remains a salient character in how Johnson portrays her crouching by a stream,
with hook and bait…
The
final ‘face’ is perhaps less a face and more an undercurrent to nearly all the
stories: women’s issues and gender in general.
Though dedicated to fellow sf writer Chris McKitterick, “Dia Chjerman's
Tale” has a much stronger James Tiptree Jr. feel. About the harsh trials of generations of
women stranded on a planet, the only difference to Tiptree Jr. is the
ending. Important to know “solitaire” is
a type of bird, “My Wife Reincarnated as a Solitaire—Exposition on the Flaws in
my Spouse's Character—The Nature of the Bird—The Possible Causes—Her Final
Disposition” describes a Kafkian metamorphosis.
Written in a style of yesteryear English, the title (like a Victorian
chapter title) captures the transition, whereas the story captures the emotion
and pain of a house-bound woman. Having
a little fun with physics, “Schrödinger's Cathouse” transfers the uncertainty
of a particle inside the famous box to the uncertainty of gender. A whorehouse whose employees’ gender is continually
in flux, its latest client is Bob, and he’s not sure if he’ll sleep with her,
him, or it. An extremely tense story,
“Wolf Trapping” tells of a zoologist studying wolves in a winter region. Encountering a woman who has just freed a
she-wolf from a trap, things only get stranger as he agrees to give shelter to
the provision-less woman.
In
the end, At the Mouth of the River of
Bees is a very good, sometimes great, collection of short stories. Wonderfully arranged, one element of a story
passes the baton to the next, the range of ideas continually expanding in the
transfer. Though symbolism/metaphor,
classicism, animals, qualities of east Asian culture, and feminism/women’s
issues weave in and out of the collection, none are presented in the same way
twice, adding to the variety. Highly,
highly recommended.
Published
between 1989 and 2011, the following are the eighteen stories collected in At the Mouth of the River of Bees:
26
Monkeys, Also the Abyss
Fox
Magic
Names
for Water
The
Bitey Cat
The
Horse Raiders
Dia
Chjerman's Tale
My
Wife Reincarnated as a Solitaire—Exposition on the Flaws in my Spouse's
Character—The Nature of the Bird—The Possible Causes—Her Final Disposition
Schrödinger's
Cathouse
Chenting,
in the Land of the Dead
The
Empress Jingu Fishes
At
the Mouth of the River of Bees
Story
Kit
Wolf
Trapping
Ponies
The
Cat Who Walked a Thousand Miles
Spar
The
Man Who Bridged the Mist
The
Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change
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