Review - Chastisement By the Lambs

Chastisement By the Lambs
by Fernando Sorrentino
Date: 2003
Publisher: East of the Web
Reading level: A
Book type: short story
Pages: 6
Format: e-book
Source: http://www.eastoftheweb.com/

A man investigates an increasingly common phenomenon involving carnivorous lambs with a highly developed sense of justice.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This was absolutely dreadful. If you've got packs of carnivorous lambs suddenly tearing through the world eating humans, you'd expect there to be a reason. Like, maybe, the humans they targeted were great lovers of mutton. That would've made sense, and it could've been an interesting story.

Instead, as far as I can tell, these lambs just go after people who like money. The main person we see getting eaten is the narrator's editor, whose biggest crime is not paying his employees on time. The narrator even admits that he did a shitty job, so I don't know why he felt he was so entitled to that money or why non-payment should result in the guy being stripped to the bone and devoured by a pack of angry ovines. (Does the author have a beef... er... lamb with his editor?)

The bit about Dr. P.R.V. is never again mentioned, though it was supposed to be (the narrator says "but I will come to that"... and yet never does). It makes me wonder if something got left out. The translation is abysmal, and I wouldn't be surprised if large chunks of text are missing.

This is one of those stories that makes you go, "WTF?!" There's ultimately no reason for the lambs' behaviour, even though we're promised one. What a waste of time and pixels.

Plot: 1/5
Characters: 1/5
Pace: 2/5
Writing & Editing: 0/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 0/5

Overall Rating: 0.86 out of 5 ladybugs