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findingmontauk1 's review for:
The Houseplant: A Short Story
by Jeremy Ray
What a treat! Who knew a short story from the perspective of a fern could be so touching? Before I even get into the review just know that I am highly recommending this beautifully written, heartwarming, and smart short story! 5 stars!
I have always been somewhat a victim to anthropomorphism - the attribution of human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things. Marie Kondo would despise me. I hold on to things way too long just because of memories associated with them. I imagine everything is like the Brave Little Toaster or toys from Toy Story... what happens when I throw them out or they are just rotting alone at the dump? Things like this keep me up!
The Houseplant is a short story that focuses on the life of one little fern... as he sits in the Garden Palace (NOT) waiting to be purchased by a human and through its ups and downs of tolerating this new lonely life being the only plant in the house with a man-human and two offspring-humans. We see the world through George, which is the name Brenda gives him. There is a struggle as the relationship blossoms between the two... and it's quite interesting and entertaining.
Then author Jeremy Ray grabs our heartstrings and tugs SO hard... and a story that was already unique and quirky becomes something that is full of life, heart, and humanity. I am not an author or a valid critic, so it is not easy for me to put into the best words how this story made me feel. But I hope I am semi-capturing it with this review... because I think this story will surprise you!
And now I will walk around and talk to all of my house plants today (I do that from time to time) and give them a little more water. Many of our plants are symbols of a loved one or a precious moment in our lives. We both still have plants from our fathers' funerals... and one of the plants in our house my husband has had for just around 25 years - it was a housewarming gift to a home years before the one we are in now. And it is still thriving here in our house. We love our house plants and I loved this story so much!
I have always been somewhat a victim to anthropomorphism - the attribution of human characteristics, emotions, and behaviors to animals or other non-human things. Marie Kondo would despise me. I hold on to things way too long just because of memories associated with them. I imagine everything is like the Brave Little Toaster or toys from Toy Story... what happens when I throw them out or they are just rotting alone at the dump? Things like this keep me up!
The Houseplant is a short story that focuses on the life of one little fern... as he sits in the Garden Palace (NOT) waiting to be purchased by a human and through its ups and downs of tolerating this new lonely life being the only plant in the house with a man-human and two offspring-humans. We see the world through George, which is the name Brenda gives him. There is a struggle as the relationship blossoms between the two... and it's quite interesting and entertaining.
Then author Jeremy Ray grabs our heartstrings and tugs SO hard... and a story that was already unique and quirky becomes something that is full of life, heart, and humanity. I am not an author or a valid critic, so it is not easy for me to put into the best words how this story made me feel. But I hope I am semi-capturing it with this review... because I think this story will surprise you!
And now I will walk around and talk to all of my house plants today (I do that from time to time) and give them a little more water. Many of our plants are symbols of a loved one or a precious moment in our lives. We both still have plants from our fathers' funerals... and one of the plants in our house my husband has had for just around 25 years - it was a housewarming gift to a home years before the one we are in now. And it is still thriving here in our house. We love our house plants and I loved this story so much!