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søndag 19. august 2012

Stephanie Rose Walsh - Tragic Stories And Tall Tales

Tragic stories and tall tales - 
A journey inside a beautifully disturbed mind.

This book is a journey through Stephanie Rose Walsh’s mind. She started her page sbribblesandshortstories.com, and was shortly found by a publisher, Amazon. One can only wonder what goes on in her mind after reading her stories. (Interview will be published later, with a peek inside Stephanie’s mind). 
 

As I started to read the book I felt skeptical by the thought of an author being able to write stories only in rhymes. I was afraid of finding rhymes containing clichés or a certain lack in the author’s vocabulary that would make her stories stagnate, which would ruin a certain flow that is important using such a difficult writing style, to remain able to show enough artistic freedom to write original stories without being stuck in a loop, repeating oneself.
It seems I was terrible mistaken.  I’m amazed by her stories. I’m amazed by how one simple mind can show us the complexity of the self contradictions in human feelings and the way we act. Where we live in a society where horrible things happens hour by hour. Almost every day we read about wars or murder in the news paper. We all sometimes feel discomfort in the way we live. Where we are not happy about what the universe has given us. But do we ever think about why these things happen or how it must feel for other people living in a world filled with pain and agony?
 

The author reminds me of a mix between Edgar Allen Poe’s darker sides and Tim Burton’s way of creating creatures you are bound to love for their gruesome yet beautiful, vulnerable and loving way, being trapped in the most tragic realities.
Her story “The soldier and the girl” is a powerful story showing us different sides in an incident about rape. It shows us strength in the people around us, the descriptions are horrible, but still she leaves us feeling pity for everyone in the situation, even the rapist. She shows the beauty of childbirth and the certain kind of innocence a child contains, which brought tears to my eye (yes I am a softy but this story is pretty powerful). The story shows us the horrors in war and what we are able to do to each other. It shows us how we in pushed situations act against our own principals. This story leaves us with the horrible truth about what we as human beings are able to do to one another. Being left with a new form of insight, dealing with the horror of what monsters we can be. If an author is able to do that, it can be described as a success.
 

Her story “Burn the witch” is heartbreaking. Her way of showing how the love of a mother is sent her to death (to save her sons), being forced to kill her daughter to spare her from pain, as they are being burnt alive. This could have happened in the 18th century, still some of the issues described as power abuse in religions and poverty is highly relevant today. People being forced to death for their kids are highly relevant today.
While her stories are pushed beyond the borders, they always contain a certain kind of truth, leaving us drawing lines between real life and her fantasy world.

I recommend this beautiful, yet gruesome journey through Stephanie’s stories, a book containing murder, rape, a zombie, Witch burning, and a little bird trading places with a man. Read her beautiful descriptions and let her tenderly and brutal paint pictures in your mind.

-Gerdi Olsgaard (Frøya Montezino)-


Here are links to check out & buy her works :

http://www.amazon.com/Stephanie-Rose-Walsh/e/B0089AWHI6

http://stephanierosewalsh.blogspot.no/

http://www.facebook.com/authorstephanierosewalsh

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