A Cage for Every Child by S.D. Chrostowska

A Cage for Every Child 

by S.D. Chrostowska 

Published by Sublunary Editions in 2021

Here is a collection of over twenty stories so complete in their style, message, and observations that they immediately impress, carving out little pits in the psyche that make you question how much of life you are letting slip by. Almost poems, almost, at times, koans, they are almost always beautiful, unsettling, and full of longing. Many layered, tightly-wound pleasures, we are allowed to roam inside these phrases and constructions to experience their  feeling(s) and world(s): scenes of a future and past similar to our own but pushed to enigmatic corners, impassive reports of strange sights.

I want you to experience these stories, to see language and its tacit relationship to itself – the push/pull of our constructed groupings of meaning – as we search for new meaning, made possible through this kind of writing. That said, some familiarity with literary theory certainly helps, e.g, “Such attention eventually resulted in the development of an arcane hermeneutic system, whose signs were only so legible, whose meanings were notoriously fugitive, ungraspable and uncommunicable in any language, detracting from the the clarity of the written word, but whose perniciousness was readily apparent.” (23) Though I don’t think having an understanding of hermeneutics is strictly necessary or greatly impacts the enjoyment of the experience of the text, in fact I’d argue the opposite, I think it’s worth a mention to give you an idea of what’s in store. 

For me “His Road Lies” is the centerpiece of the book and perfectly captures the despair and humor of existential dread that comes to live within us, changing, evolving, continuing as the years pile up. For a flavor of this story, the narrator states “If I’ve grown listless, it’s not out of discontent with myself but disaffection at being led in this way. Little by little, restrained even in these times of rest, I am losing my sense of purpose, and with it my sense of fulfillment. The more I think of the road endlessly ahead of us, the less clearly I see it, until it becomes simply “the road”, rutted into nothingness by other, more capable traffic.” (82) Here we’re given a prosaic reckoning of the absurdity of existence, one inherently without purpose as we struggle to place ourselves in the world in some way, failing, and realizing how easily we dissolve into nothingness. And on it goes, grappling with these ideas and more such that I’d rather you experience them directly rather than read a summary of them here.  

There are a few stories that are less good than others, but the overall quality is spectacular (that goes for the editing and printing as well). Chrostowaska’s writing is a small marvel, so well crafted or hewn that I found myself rereading entire sections just to take them in again, more slowly. I haven’t enjoyed a collection of stories this much in years. Rarely have I truly been unable to put a book down, but it was true with A Cage for Every Child. That is the best recommendation that I can give to you. You absolutely should read this.

Heavy Lit rating: Highly Recommended