Thursday, January 10, 2019

The Small White, by Marian Coman

[Apex]
★★★☆☆ Average

(Magical Realism) On the eve of the 1989 revolution, a young school boy’s life is changed by mysterious paintings of butterflies that appear all over apartment buildings in his neighborhood. (4,167 words; Time: 13m)


"The Small White," by (translated by Sebastian Simon, edited by Jason Sizemore), appeared in issue 116, published on .

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Review: 2019.046 (A Word for Authors)

Pro: The window into the life of a kid in communist Romania was interesting.

Con: The ending is abrupt and senseless. “And then they all burned up in a fire.”

There are a few problems with the translation. It needed at least one more round of polishing.

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Marian Coman Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline

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2 comments (may contain spoilers):

  1. Enjoyed it up until that very abrupt and brutal end.

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    Replies
    1. Apex was famous for stories with great ideas but for which the authors usually couldn't find satisfactory endings.

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