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3.16 AVERAGE
3.16 AVERAGE
CW: mention of suicide
One of my favorite jokes in the final season of the tv show 30 Rock was Liz Lemon's revelation that she did a one-person play in college of which her student newspaper reviewed as "too confusing to be offensive." Switching the word "offensive" to "appreciate" and you'd have my feelings on this book.
There's a lot to like about this one. Heidi Julavits has a healthy understanding of relationships, maternal-child bonds and how difficult they are to sunder. I appreciated the ambiguity she allows for Julia, her main character, to feel about her mom, who (maybe?) committed suicide not long after Julia was born. Julia's seeking after surrogate mothers was relatable and it made me feel deeply for her character even as I barely understood what was going on.
And perhaps that's intentional because Julavits uses Julia to delve into the world of parapsychology, never making it clear if all of this is really happening or not. It's unclear if even Julia believes it, as evidenced through her tumultuous relationship with her mentor Madame Ackermann, as well as the encounters she has with others in this weird world.
Julavits writes some interesting, well-described scenes, especially dream sequences and introspection. But the broader story is just impossible to connect with. This book was almost like reading smoke: every time I thought I had it figured out, it disappeared, only to reappear moments later. It made for an engaging but frustrating reading experience. It's not a bad book, at least I don't regret reading it. I just have no idea who I'd recommend it to.
One of my favorite jokes in the final season of the tv show 30 Rock was Liz Lemon's revelation that she did a one-person play in college of which her student newspaper reviewed as "too confusing to be offensive." Switching the word "offensive" to "appreciate" and you'd have my feelings on this book.
There's a lot to like about this one. Heidi Julavits has a healthy understanding of relationships, maternal-child bonds and how difficult they are to sunder. I appreciated the ambiguity she allows for Julia, her main character, to feel about her mom, who (maybe?) committed suicide not long after Julia was born. Julia's seeking after surrogate mothers was relatable and it made me feel deeply for her character even as I barely understood what was going on.
And perhaps that's intentional because Julavits uses Julia to delve into the world of parapsychology, never making it clear if all of this is really happening or not. It's unclear if even Julia believes it, as evidenced through her tumultuous relationship with her mentor Madame Ackermann, as well as the encounters she has with others in this weird world.
Julavits writes some interesting, well-described scenes, especially dream sequences and introspection. But the broader story is just impossible to connect with. This book was almost like reading smoke: every time I thought I had it figured out, it disappeared, only to reappear moments later. It made for an engaging but frustrating reading experience. It's not a bad book, at least I don't regret reading it. I just have no idea who I'd recommend it to.
This week I read The Vanishers by Heidi Julavits . I almost wish I hadn't. {almost} This book has received rave reviews and was recommended to me by several sources. If you decide to read it, please be forewarned that the synopses I read beforehand are misleading. This deception is almost understandable because the plot is very convoluted and unnecessarily complicated.
Basically, the story is about a twenty-something Julia Severn, a student at an exclusive New England institute for psychics. Julia is one of the most talented in her class, and she is soon chosen to be Madame Ackermann's intern. Ackermann becomes jealous of Julia because Julia completes a complicated regression to solve a mystery for one of Ackermann's clients. Julia is violently attacked psychically, and the assumed attacker is Ackermann.
But what this book is really about is rivalry between women, and believe me it is exhausting to read. There is conflict between basically all of the female characters. With women treating each other so poorly, who needs men to challenge or oppress? Women can destroy each other all on their own without help from men. Oh, joy! Unfortunately, Julia is a very unlikable character, and I really do not care what happens to her because she behaves so badly. Karma is a....female, too, Julia! There is no rest for the wicked in this story, and if you are dead, that is no excuse NOT to cause mayhem. Ghosts as well as psychic vampires mean to harm Julia, too.
There is too much psychobabble in the book. I appreciate T.S. Eliot as well as other modernists, but a novel full of numbed, Prufrock-like zombies is too much for me. I do not want to write a spoiler about what the title means, but I will tell you that it reflects a selfishness that makes me sad. I am tired of entitled, whiny victims who never take responsibility for their own misery.
The prose in The Vanishers is quirky and filled with surprises. I only wish that Julavits could channel her genius in a much kinder, gentler direction. Maybe next time she can at least write a book with one likable female character who is not a destructive force against other women. A simpler plot would be nice, too.
Basically, the story is about a twenty-something Julia Severn, a student at an exclusive New England institute for psychics. Julia is one of the most talented in her class, and she is soon chosen to be Madame Ackermann's intern. Ackermann becomes jealous of Julia because Julia completes a complicated regression to solve a mystery for one of Ackermann's clients. Julia is violently attacked psychically, and the assumed attacker is Ackermann.
But what this book is really about is rivalry between women, and believe me it is exhausting to read. There is conflict between basically all of the female characters. With women treating each other so poorly, who needs men to challenge or oppress? Women can destroy each other all on their own without help from men. Oh, joy! Unfortunately, Julia is a very unlikable character, and I really do not care what happens to her because she behaves so badly. Karma is a....female, too, Julia! There is no rest for the wicked in this story, and if you are dead, that is no excuse NOT to cause mayhem. Ghosts as well as psychic vampires mean to harm Julia, too.
There is too much psychobabble in the book. I appreciate T.S. Eliot as well as other modernists, but a novel full of numbed, Prufrock-like zombies is too much for me. I do not want to write a spoiler about what the title means, but I will tell you that it reflects a selfishness that makes me sad. I am tired of entitled, whiny victims who never take responsibility for their own misery.
The prose in The Vanishers is quirky and filled with surprises. I only wish that Julavits could channel her genius in a much kinder, gentler direction. Maybe next time she can at least write a book with one likable female character who is not a destructive force against other women. A simpler plot would be nice, too.
I love Julavits, but this web of center-less grief wasn't my favorite and got a little murky ~halfway through.
That said, I will now think of the phrase "eyes starfished by mascara" every time I put makeup on.
A few other lines I enjoyed:
— "Clarity, it turns out, is a death sentence."
— "Because disambiguation recurs, after a time. Your life becomes your life and you need to leave it again."
— "I touched my cheek, always an alienating sensation. The anti-seizure meds numbed my skin; to touch my face was to enter a failed romance between body parts."
— "My poor father acted around me like a guy expecting to be dumped."
—"I ate the cold dinner Sun delivered while Borka flipped through her paper with the rage of old people in charge of television remotes."
— "She'd had a duty to be interested in me; that alone should have kept her alive, at least until my first Christmas, or until my first day of school, or until my first heartbreak, or until my first bad haircut, or until..."
That said, I will now think of the phrase "eyes starfished by mascara" every time I put makeup on.
A few other lines I enjoyed:
— "Clarity, it turns out, is a death sentence."
— "Because disambiguation recurs, after a time. Your life becomes your life and you need to leave it again."
— "I touched my cheek, always an alienating sensation. The anti-seizure meds numbed my skin; to touch my face was to enter a failed romance between body parts."
— "My poor father acted around me like a guy expecting to be dumped."
—"I ate the cold dinner Sun delivered while Borka flipped through her paper with the rage of old people in charge of television remotes."
— "She'd had a duty to be interested in me; that alone should have kept her alive, at least until my first Christmas, or until my first day of school, or until my first heartbreak, or until my first bad haircut, or until..."
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
there was a lot that i rly liked and a lot that was confusing as hell, especially bc it looked so promising and then only partially fulfilled that promise
it's weird when a book could have been ur new favorite book if it was just a little bit different, but it's definitely still an interesting read
it's weird when a book could have been ur new favorite book if it was just a little bit different, but it's definitely still an interesting read
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s a good book. But sometimes it gets too messy and confuse. There are good plot twists and unexpected events. However, I think it extends more than it should sometimes. And some things stay mysterious.
This was just an all around strange book. I gave it an extra star just because it had such an original plot. I'm still not really sure what was going on, with all the psychic attacking and stealing faces of the deceased. It had it's moments, for sure, and I liked the protagonist, and I liked the emotional story line that went along with the suicide of her mother. But overall, I felt like this one had too much going on to be a truly great read.
I'm rather torn about this book. I feel like it had a lot of potential, that was explored, but somehow ended up a bit convoluted. The point was deep but not really strong or, considering all that happened and all the characters that were brought in, very important to the overall.
To be fair I read the bound galley, an early "edition" and curious to know if any changes were made to the final print.
The ending dragged. It could have easily quit several times but instead dragged it out until it was lifeless. Altho the last page was good. It just should have been 30
Pages earlier and done.
To be fair I read the bound galley, an early "edition" and curious to know if any changes were made to the final print.
The ending dragged. It could have easily quit several times but instead dragged it out until it was lifeless. Altho the last page was good. It just should have been 30
Pages earlier and done.
Literally a mess of a book. About psychics but then jk it’s just about how her mom is haunting her? Idek man. I finished it just to see it through but like idk why. It started terrible and didn’t get any better. The writing made no sense and it’s like the writer had this amazing idea and I could kinda envision what it was but then the writer just like threw words on to a page and got published?
Abandoning. Too weird, too eccentric, too eye-brow furrowing. A constant "huh?" hung in my head with each turn of the page. I made it to page 50 but knew that to read the next 250 would be akin to bleeding out slowly. At the book's end I would have only wondered where the last 4 hours of my life had gone. Bye Felicia.