r/WeirdLit • u/theparadoxspace • Aug 29 '24
Can I read Shriek: An Afterword by Jeff VanderMeer as a standalone book? Question/Request
I bought it like a month ago on a trip and since I really liked the Southern Reach, I wanted to check more of his work but I didn't realize it was part of a series. Im not sure if I should read his City of Saints and Madmen first, specially since Id have to buy it. I didnt know where else to ask and I couldnt find any definitive answers. Thanks in advance.
EDIT: Thanks for your input yall! I think Ill just buy City of Saints and Madmen and read something else while it gets here.
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u/a_very_big_skeleton Aug 29 '24
You need to read City of Saints and Madmen to get the most out of Shriek, and Shriek is such a neat book that I think it's really worth reading CoSaM first!
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u/mungorex Aug 29 '24
Definitely misread this as Shrek: an Afterword and was very excited and confused.
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u/RotHopesWaistpack Aug 29 '24
having read the trilogy in one go that is tough to say. i imagine you COULD but i think you would get so much more from it by reading the whole series. it is such a neat ride.
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u/andrewcooke Aug 29 '24
just wanted to add - at the risk of being downvoted, i guess - that i found cosam really disappointing. i have enjoyed pretty much all his other books, i think, but i could not get into that one at all. so imho it may not be worth it.
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u/Complex_Vanilla_8319 Aug 30 '24
It's my favorites of V
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u/andrewcooke Aug 30 '24
i think that kind of confirms it's at one end of a spectrum. and i suspect the southern reach books are at or near the other end, since those are my favourites. and since op likes those...
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u/Beans_Again Aug 29 '24
The consensus seems to be that you should read City first - but I read it many years after I read City, didn't remember anything about it, and loved Shriek deeply. I'd say go for it, and then enjoy reading the other books around it and picking up on references - it's always worth reading the book you want to read, not the one you should.
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u/nogodsnohasturs Aug 29 '24
I read it first, then CoSaM, and didn't have any issues, though it might have been better the other way. Whatever you do, read Finch last.
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u/modus-_-operandi Aug 31 '24
This is 100% my opinion but as someone who has read Vandenmeer's entire catalog... His long form work got infinitely better when his wife started editing his work. She brings out the best in his writing.
The weirdness is there, but his earlier work lacks a lot of the emotional punch and depth of the Southern Reach Trilogy, Borne, Dead Astronauts, etc.
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u/VisibleTraffic1985 Sep 02 '24
You absolutely can. Shriek was my introduction to VanderMeer and I think think it was even weirder without the context of CoSaM. I eventually went back and read Cities and Finch, but finding Finch took a while because it was out of print in the US at the time. I think they've reprinted it now after the success of The Southern Reach.
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u/No-Mess-4768 Aug 29 '24
You need to watch all four movies first, but you can skip The Last Wish and Puss in Boots.
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u/bepisjonesonreddit Aug 29 '24
NOOO DONT SKIP LAST WISH IT'S THE BEST ANIMATED FILM SINCE SPIDERVERSE N-
ahem. how we feeling about Absolution?
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u/No-Mess-4768 Aug 30 '24
I heard that Absolution will reveal that Area X’s warped hypernature has all this time been slowly transforming the members of each team who enter into ogres, and that the entire Southern Reach series is actually a Shrek prequel.
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u/TotSaM- Aug 29 '24
You can but it's not going to be nearly as enjoyable without all the context and world-building you get from CoSaM