Looking for Jake: Experimental story collection by Miéville

Looking for Jake by China Miéville

Looking for Jake is a collection of short stories by China Miéville, who has emerged as one of the most highly acclaimed fantasy authors of the 21st century. In Looking for Jake, Miéville freely explores whatever ideas take his fancy, without the burden of smoothing everything into a sensible narrative.

Not surprisingly, many of the stories in Looking for Jake therefore have a sort of experimental flavor. For example, “Reports of Certain Events in London” is an account of sentient streets that phase in and out of existence. In it, narrator China Miéville attempts to learn about the conflicts and character of these streets. As a writer, how would you approach such an idea to fit it into a conventional short story? Perhaps “not easily” would be Miéville’s answer. Although “Reports” is unique and captivating in its premise, it ends somewhat awkwardly.

Fortunately, other stories are fantastically successful, and no doubt all readers will find their own favorites — certainly I did. “Details” tells the story of a woman who has begun to see “the devil in the details” of everything: lines in a wall or stripes in a sweater. She lives her life trying to escape from a demon that waits for her everywhere. And most fantasy readers will enjoy “Familiar,” the tale of a discarded familiar and its struggle to survive without a master.

In Looking for Jake, Miéville moves effortlessly from one genre to another, ranging from graphic stories to ghost stories to medical entries. As with the best short story collections, readers must be prepared to move from one idea to the next. Unfortunately, some readers may not prove equal to the restlessness of Miéville’s muse, and not a few readers will walk away from one or two of the stories in this collection. However, given the variety on display here, perhaps the misfires will only serve to make the favorites shine brighter.

Because Miéville has earned the reputation of a weird writer among weird writers, some readers may see Looking for Jake as a sort of sampler plate. If so, beware: Miéville does not reach the same heights here as he does in Perdido Street Station or in later successes like The City & The City. Then again, Miéville’s greatest strength as a writer may be his overwhelming originality, and the stories collected in Looking for Jake certainly stand witness to his versatility and potential.