Books: Umm and Ah and the Problem with Chlorine: AN ANTHOLOGY FOR FISH

Heidi Polk replied in What about this fishy little number?

I’d have to say that I think I like ‘Umm and Ah’ the best of all four stories (no worries, no spoilers here!)

I loved that Dickinson seems to really draw upon the mutable nature of water within her stories – it gives life and knowledge, it contains mysteries, it silences and conceals, it magnifies and distorts. I found it interesting to see how such a basic element of nature could be manifested and utilized in such a large variety of ways, especially when being in water and underwater seemed to contribute to that dreamy overall feeling behind the stories…

The same goes for her use of light and reflective surfaces (i.e. mirrors, windows, the water). The images of what (and who) can see and be seen are almost overwhelming (especially in ‘Ummm and Ah’), and led me to further thoughts dancing around the themes of barriers, the separation of physical objects, sight vs. sound, etc…