If you could put your inner thoughts onto paper in glorious fashion, would you? Author Luca Zani did in anthology Songs of Speech, writing about emotions and experiences that are often left in the dark corners of our minds, sitting silently by themselves. Some are sweet, some are worrisome, but all have an interesting quality that somehow connects us to the minds of others.
Songs of Speech is a collection of short stories about the mysteries and triumphs of language, about how we talk to one another, and what we do as a result.
Songs of Speech, Luca Zani
Songs of Speech is a short read with easily-digestible language that is still thought provoking and more than enough to make you sit and wonder about your own life. Broken up into six stories, this anthology sweeps through tales of bewilderment, love, shame, deathly fascination, and unseen horrors. Beautiful Ceilings moves a family into a room that immediately puts one member at odds with the rest. Unfeeling Waves drowns a creature out of fear, but makes its tormentor overly remorseful. Johnny Plebus is a Twilight Zone reference where one boy’s death unsettles his neighbors more than his life ever did. The Canon is an AI stand-in, putting its issues onto paper as plainly as we can see. Eschatology pursues the finality of a forgone relationship. And Night-talks is where the true horrors reside when a nightly visitor is questioned about its motives.
What struck me first about Songs of Speech was that every story began with an extremely jolting sentence or two dictating the feel for the rest of the story. For example, the narrator of Beautiful Ceilings explains how striking a particular ceiling was and how they prayed that the light fixture would fall and impale them. That is a hell of a way to start a story. With beginnings like this, each story in Songs of Speech grabs your attention and doesn’t let go.
And even when you’re lulled into softness when the story lets up from that initial jolt, you continue because the words written throughout paint such lovely pictures in your mind. Songs of Speech reminded me of books from half a century ago; they’re written in such a matter-or-fact way that — how can I put this — relaxes you with talk of horrid things like murder, loss, or guilt. Songs of Speech felt like that piece of your brain that is neither the angel or devil sitting on your shoulder, but the faceless, soulless being telling you to feel but having no feelings itself.
Which is wild to say, considering Songs of Speech is the definition of feeling. With each story, I felt more and more at ease, yet more and more uneasy. Such stories would normally put a damper on your day; but here, they had a more paralyzing effect where I just wanted to sit and think. But even I couldn’t do that, because the stories were short and begged for me to start again with the next chapter.
If you like stories that are somewhat provocative, ones that edge themselves up against cliffsides, or that are written in the style of horror greats like Shirley Jackson, Harlan Ellison, or Rod Serling, Songs of Speech will get you there in 50 pages.
Songs of Speech is available to purchase on Amazon.
