Kimberley Ann Duray Is In Print

[leahbobet]

Short story in print! "Kimberley Ann Duray Is Not Afraid" is live this week at Strange Horizons.

You guys know the drill by now. Panties to the left! Tomatoes to the right! Hard-hitting discussion in the comments!

Comments

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

Oh. Well.

I'm going to have to think about this.

Thank you.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

This makes me glad. It is for thinking about.

Thank you right back.

[hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com]

Oh. Nice.

Thank you.

[pnew8.livejournal.com]

A story about perception; perception of one's self and perception given by others upon members of their social environment. And with that perception, the acceptance of the individual.

I have no problem with the story construction, in fact, I loved the way the end unified the whole story, creating an emotional intensity for protagonist and the choices she makes.

I'm not exactly positive of where my discomfort with the work comes from. I would say the emphasis both in time and place for the racial conflict, but I'm not sure that is fair. Although it feels a bit heavy-handed to me, it is not overplayed in regard to its necessity for story purposes. The setup and the events are written evenly and fairly for the purposes of the character. This is something I cannot help but admire.

I believe a segment of my discomfort comes from personal history. I was raised with stories about the race riots of the late sixties and the seventies. I am still surrounded, in social situations, of the division between black and white, even when my personal preference is to reduce, or eliminate, that separation. My challenge seems to be to accept the writer's authority.

I'm not saying that this is a bad story. It is one of the most complex, yet best written sf stories, I've read this year. I'm just saying, for me, the story created an internal tension and confusion. If that makes sense.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

It does. That's...a really thoughtful, awesome reaction, and thanks for it.