Wednesday, November 4, 2009

26 Monkeys, also the Abyss by Kij Johnson

This is a short story, so neither Good Reads nor LibraryThing is an appropriate place for it.

I found 26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss online. It's available not only in print, but also audio. It appeared in Asimov's in July of 2008, and was a 2008 Hugo and Nebula award finalist. It won the 2008 Asimov's Reader's Award for best short story, as well as the 2009 World Fantasy Award for best short story.

Summary (contains spoilers, highlight to read, review below): The story tells of Aimee, her magic monkeys, and her boyfriend Geoff. Aimee bought the monkey show at a fair for $1, the price the man she bought it from paid for it. She needed to buy it, and the man understood. The monkeys do slight of hand (poorly), have an animal trainer act, and disappear from a claw foot bathtub. It's the last trick that perplexes Aimee. She has no idea how the monkeys disappear, though she suspects Zeb has something to do with it. She has no idea where the monkeys go. They return after a few hours, sometimes with treasures -- Moroccan slippers, foreign coins, cards, blocks. Sometimes one will come back pregnant or with another monkey. Eventually, an empty looking man comes up to her at a fair, saying he needs to buy the show. Aimee understands, and sells it to him for $1. A few months later, one of the monkeys turns up at Aimee and Geoff's apartment.

The story has 24 very short sections. It takes perhaps a half hour to read. It's a thoughtful, wondering kind of story. The language is mater-of-fact and descriptive. It's a telling story, rather than a showing story.

The monkeys-disappear-from-a-bathtub-onstage is never explained. It does, however, provide the base for philosophizing -- Where do the monkeys go? How do they go there? Why do they come back? Where did the come from? Which question is more important? What is "home"? Does everyone have one? How do so many monkeys of so many species get along so well? Why did Aimee need to buy the show? Why did someone else need to buy it? Why does anything happen, really? And does it matter?