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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Maudlin. Certainly not cheerful, though I don’t require that. I found the prose (poetry-like) odd. The transitions from first person the third were also jarring.
I see some potential for greatness here though that I can’t explain exactly so I’d definitely be willing to read more of her work.
I see some potential for greatness here though that I can’t explain exactly so I’d definitely be willing to read more of her work.
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Too lazy to find the quote rn but i’m obsessed with the line about becoming less judgmental with age, also the one about her boos hair loss and love not being weak
Honestly really good
art monster thing cringe
Honestly really good
art monster thing cringe
It's really rare that I read a book and immediately want to read it again. But, that's how I felt about Jenny Offill's "Dept. of Speculation." In 177 short pages, Offill tells the surprise of finding love, the joy of parenthood, and the depression and stress of trying to maintain an adulterous marriage. The novel reads like a journal with its wandering narration, three-sentence paragraphs, and almost complete focus on feeling (the reader never really gets a sense of who the narrator is (or anyone else in the book) outside of her emotions).
Offill is a very affecting and smart writer. She says so much in so little space--the book reads quickly, but it's dense. I read almost all of "Dept. of Speculation" during a 4.5-hour bus trip, but, while reading it, I felt like I should slow down and try and span my time with it over a week (I failed). Just a few paragraphs, of many, that I liked:
"If I had to sum up what he did to me, I'd say it was this: he made me sing along to all the bad songs on the radio. Both when he loved me and when he didn't." (9)
"A few nights later, I secretly hope that I might be a genius. Why else can no amount of sleeping pills fell my brain? But in the morning my daughter asks me what a cloud is and I cannot say." (55)
"Hard to believe I used to think love was such a fragile business. Once when he was still young, I saw a bit of his scalp showing through his hair and I was afraid. But it was just a cowlick. Now sometimes it shows through for real, but I feel only tenderness." (79)
"She falls in love with a friend. She falls in love with a student. She falls in love with the bodega man. He hands her back her change so gently." (111)
"The wife loses a twenty-dollar bill somewhere between the store and home, but she can't make herself go back to look for it. In the last store, the clerk was unkind to her or at least not kind." (116)
"She thinks before she acts. Or more properly, she thinks instead of acts. A character flaw, not a virtue." (140)
One Goodreads reviewer wrote that they underlined the whole book--I felt the same temptation. I also enjoyed the many esoteric facts the book discusses (e.g., Kummerspeck, Voyager 1 & 2, Jean-Paul Sartre seeing crabs everywhere after a bad drug trip). I learned some fun, weird things from "Dept. of Speculation." What a pleasant surprise of a book; I'm glad I have two more weeks on my library loan to read it again.
**Update - Oct. 2019**
I have a few books on hold at the library that haven't yet been delivered, so I decided to re-read this book, instead of starting something long that might be difficult to finish in the time before I finally get those on-hold books. I liked this book on re-read--not as much as on the initial read, but still enjoyed it. I don't know anyone who writes like Offill. The number of ideas and thoughts in this book, and the sentiments that she conveys through them, is incredible. And, yet, it all seems so digestible--like she's an interesting conversationalist, telling you the things she knows and the ways she feels.
The plot of the book didn't grab me as much as it did the first time. I think I wanted more from it. And, while I understand that the novel is about the struggle to maintain a relationship, I felt, at times, a little indifferent to its emotion. That said, it reads as honest and insightful; and, I liked its perspective on pain and uncertainty. I hope I'll remember the book better now, having read it a second time.
I wrote down quotes as I re-read the book; and, by and large, they're the same as those that I wrote above. I'm not sure what this says about me--that I'm drawn to the same ideas/sentences now as I as 4.5(!) years ago, or whether those ideas/sentences are just, objectively, the stronger ones in the books. I think probably some combination of the two.
Offill is a very affecting and smart writer. She says so much in so little space--the book reads quickly, but it's dense. I read almost all of "Dept. of Speculation" during a 4.5-hour bus trip, but, while reading it, I felt like I should slow down and try and span my time with it over a week (I failed). Just a few paragraphs, of many, that I liked:
"If I had to sum up what he did to me, I'd say it was this: he made me sing along to all the bad songs on the radio. Both when he loved me and when he didn't." (9)
"A few nights later, I secretly hope that I might be a genius. Why else can no amount of sleeping pills fell my brain? But in the morning my daughter asks me what a cloud is and I cannot say." (55)
"Hard to believe I used to think love was such a fragile business. Once when he was still young, I saw a bit of his scalp showing through his hair and I was afraid. But it was just a cowlick. Now sometimes it shows through for real, but I feel only tenderness." (79)
"She falls in love with a friend. She falls in love with a student. She falls in love with the bodega man. He hands her back her change so gently." (111)
"The wife loses a twenty-dollar bill somewhere between the store and home, but she can't make herself go back to look for it. In the last store, the clerk was unkind to her or at least not kind." (116)
"She thinks before she acts. Or more properly, she thinks instead of acts. A character flaw, not a virtue." (140)
One Goodreads reviewer wrote that they underlined the whole book--I felt the same temptation. I also enjoyed the many esoteric facts the book discusses (e.g., Kummerspeck, Voyager 1 & 2, Jean-Paul Sartre seeing crabs everywhere after a bad drug trip). I learned some fun, weird things from "Dept. of Speculation." What a pleasant surprise of a book; I'm glad I have two more weeks on my library loan to read it again.
**Update - Oct. 2019**
I have a few books on hold at the library that haven't yet been delivered, so I decided to re-read this book, instead of starting something long that might be difficult to finish in the time before I finally get those on-hold books. I liked this book on re-read--not as much as on the initial read, but still enjoyed it. I don't know anyone who writes like Offill. The number of ideas and thoughts in this book, and the sentiments that she conveys through them, is incredible. And, yet, it all seems so digestible--like she's an interesting conversationalist, telling you the things she knows and the ways she feels.
The plot of the book didn't grab me as much as it did the first time. I think I wanted more from it. And, while I understand that the novel is about the struggle to maintain a relationship, I felt, at times, a little indifferent to its emotion. That said, it reads as honest and insightful; and, I liked its perspective on pain and uncertainty. I hope I'll remember the book better now, having read it a second time.
I wrote down quotes as I re-read the book; and, by and large, they're the same as those that I wrote above. I'm not sure what this says about me--that I'm drawn to the same ideas/sentences now as I as 4.5(!) years ago, or whether those ideas/sentences are just, objectively, the stronger ones in the books. I think probably some combination of the two.
Even when it meanders wildly the prose and strange revelations coupled with wit and wisdom is more than enough to make it a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
This hit almost a little too close to home. Sheer perfection.