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3.16 AVERAGE
3.16 AVERAGE
My kingdom for the paper copy, to flip to the end and just be able to get the story out of my life. Can't rate it; had to turn it off in the middle of the Julia sidestepping YET AGAIN the opportunity to ASK a stranger apparition who begged Julia to listen to her for more details.
I like:
- that the world is just psychic friendly, and has always been, and that's present organically and not described to the reader as an alien thing (because, to the characters, it isn't);
- that the psychic school is a hippie New England commune type place BUT ALSO the worst insularity and egoism of academia.
I dislike:
- having to stew in the worst insularity and egoism of academia, especially when the discipline in question allows those insular egoists to cause others medically quantifiable physical and psychic harm. Interesting as a storytelling device, but leaves me cold and shuddering as a reader (and not in a compelling way);
- having a main character so utterly disinterested in solving her own effing life WHEN EVERYONE IS GIVING HER OPENINGS TO DO SO. Again, that's the character, okay, and well-written for being so, but. My life is short. I don't need to read about Julia ruining hers.
Audio performance wise, I liked it, save for Alwen's breathy, consta-drugged detachment. Sometimes that seemed appropriate, other times (namely, when she was arguing complex academic concepts), it was distracting and made Alwen seem lacking in appropriate commitment to her own arguments. Which, again sometimes might have been true…just not always.
I like:
- that the world is just psychic friendly, and has always been, and that's present organically and not described to the reader as an alien thing (because, to the characters, it isn't);
- that the psychic school is a hippie New England commune type place BUT ALSO the worst insularity and egoism of academia.
I dislike:
- having to stew in the worst insularity and egoism of academia, especially when the discipline in question allows those insular egoists to cause others medically quantifiable physical and psychic harm. Interesting as a storytelling device, but leaves me cold and shuddering as a reader (and not in a compelling way);
- having a main character so utterly disinterested in solving her own effing life WHEN EVERYONE IS GIVING HER OPENINGS TO DO SO. Again, that's the character, okay, and well-written for being so, but. My life is short. I don't need to read about Julia ruining hers.
Audio performance wise, I liked it, save for Alwen's breathy, consta-drugged detachment. Sometimes that seemed appropriate, other times (namely, when she was arguing complex academic concepts), it was distracting and made Alwen seem lacking in appropriate commitment to her own arguments. Which, again sometimes might have been true…just not always.
This should have been a great book; I loved the first part set at the Workshop and the writing is full of perfect, pithy turns of phrase. But once Julia started looking for Dominique, it started to feel like a slog through a web of bizarre coincidences and relationships, with no worthwhile motivation to figure it out. Too much psychological weirdness for me, all power struggles and obsession and jealousy, but so far removed from the realm of normal human behavior that I didn't relate to it or recognize it as an an allegory/satire or similar.
I read this 1 1/2 times. I just didn't feel done with it after I finished it. Without spoiling it: Julia is an unreliable narrator. Question what she tells you. The information is all there, you just have to pay attention to it.
3.5 out of 5
The first 50 or so pages are exceptional - some of Heidi's best writing and a smashing entry into a strange and spooky world. And then the book just deflates. There are enough half-formed plots and ideas here to power three books (the psychic academy, the vanishings tapes, the people surgically taking on dead/vanished people's faces) and the overall story gets far too diffuse by the end in favor of psychological musings about the relationship between mothers/mother-figures and daughters. Which is not a bad thing. I don't mind authors experimenting with genre - in fact, I encourage it - but Heidi either doesn't care about or doesn't understand the rules she set up for herself in this world, and that makes the book fall flat. I'll always remember those first 50 or so pages, though.
The first 50 or so pages are exceptional - some of Heidi's best writing and a smashing entry into a strange and spooky world. And then the book just deflates. There are enough half-formed plots and ideas here to power three books (the psychic academy, the vanishings tapes, the people surgically taking on dead/vanished people's faces) and the overall story gets far too diffuse by the end in favor of psychological musings about the relationship between mothers/mother-figures and daughters. Which is not a bad thing. I don't mind authors experimenting with genre - in fact, I encourage it - but Heidi either doesn't care about or doesn't understand the rules she set up for herself in this world, and that makes the book fall flat. I'll always remember those first 50 or so pages, though.
I thought this would be a 5-star for me, after reading the first 2 parts of the book. I did enjoy it overall---it was so readable (intelligent, evocative, funny writing) if a bit overwrought at times---but the plot steadily became more and more convoluted until, although I was still enjoying it I was also thinking "Really?" And the ending was a bit unsatisfying. That said, I will definitely read her other work.
Imagine a world where psychic behavior is not only believed but admired and encouraged. There is formal training for those who show the aptitude, and those with the most talent are considered the rock stars of the industry. This is the world in which the curtains first open on to Julia Severn's life in Heidi Julavits' The Vanishers. Readers must quickly adapt to a story where everything is not as it appears on the surface. It can be confusing, difficult, horrifying, and at the same time intriguing.
Julia struggles to find her place in this world of psychics. She is a student of immense talent but afraid to let her talents outshine those of her mentor, Madame Ackermann. Once Madame Ackermann discovers the truth, the psychic attacks begin, and they are not pretty. Ms. Julavits spares no description of the physical ailments from which Julia suffers. It can be a bit much for the more squeamish readers.
The physical afflictions are an interesting counterpart to the mental investigations Julia eventually undertakes. Much of the novel occurs in Julia's mind, as she attempts to uncover the truth about her mother and what lead to her suicide as well as the mystery behind Dominique Varga. It is just as convoluted as one would imagine. Ghosts, astral clues, and other mystical mind games become a bit too much at times, as a reader searches for answers among the abstract. The truth, when it is finally uncovered, requires a reader's patience and a better part of one's imagination to understand and accept.
The Vanishers is a book that most readers will not enjoy, and through which even the most advanced readers will struggle to fully comprehend. It is not the cheeriest of novels and definitely redefines the traditional mother/daughter relationship. At the same time, there is something about it that keeps a reader's interest in spite of the need to suspend belief. Ms. Julavits must be commended for taking a chance on her subject matter, even if it will not be appreciated by popular culture.
Julia struggles to find her place in this world of psychics. She is a student of immense talent but afraid to let her talents outshine those of her mentor, Madame Ackermann. Once Madame Ackermann discovers the truth, the psychic attacks begin, and they are not pretty. Ms. Julavits spares no description of the physical ailments from which Julia suffers. It can be a bit much for the more squeamish readers.
The physical afflictions are an interesting counterpart to the mental investigations Julia eventually undertakes. Much of the novel occurs in Julia's mind, as she attempts to uncover the truth about her mother and what lead to her suicide as well as the mystery behind Dominique Varga. It is just as convoluted as one would imagine. Ghosts, astral clues, and other mystical mind games become a bit too much at times, as a reader searches for answers among the abstract. The truth, when it is finally uncovered, requires a reader's patience and a better part of one's imagination to understand and accept.
The Vanishers is a book that most readers will not enjoy, and through which even the most advanced readers will struggle to fully comprehend. It is not the cheeriest of novels and definitely redefines the traditional mother/daughter relationship. At the same time, there is something about it that keeps a reader's interest in spite of the need to suspend belief. Ms. Julavits must be commended for taking a chance on her subject matter, even if it will not be appreciated by popular culture.