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savvylit's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Schweblin has written yet another book that expertly navigates the terror of the deepest and most unknowable parts of the human psyche. She imagines scenarios that are horrible due to their close proximity to reality. What if your parents lost their minds and you had to stand by and wonder if you ever really knew them? What if you thought that you'd met a kind stranger but then your encounter suddenly took on a sinister air?
Every story in this collection is unsettling and well-crafted. However, there is one that stands out above the rest and that is the longest story, "Breath from the Depths." In that story, the protagonist is a bitter, enfeebled old woman with a memory problem. Her forgetfulness makes her both obsessed with structure and totally paranoid. She no longer trusts her husband in any way, constantly implying his stupidity. In addition to her mind, her body doesn't function the way that she wants it to either. She frequently laments the fact that she can't even die despite feeling ready to go. In Breath from the Depths, Schweblin has so brilliantly hit on all of the very specific frustrations of memory loss and aging. As someone who has closely witnessed multiple elderly family members experience varying forms of dementia, I was blown away (and a bit terrified) by Schweblin's vivid and believable portrayal of memory loss in this story.
Overall, Seven Empty Houses as a collection is an excellent glimpse into Schweblin's skill at capturing dread and psychological horror. She remains one of my favorite contemporary authors and I cannot wait to see what she publishes next.
Every story in this collection is unsettling and well-crafted. However, there is one that stands out above the rest and that is the longest story, "Breath from the Depths." In that story, the protagonist is a bitter, enfeebled old woman with a memory problem. Her forgetfulness makes her both obsessed with structure and totally paranoid. She no longer trusts her husband in any way, constantly implying his stupidity. In addition to her mind, her body doesn't function the way that she wants it to either. She frequently laments the fact that she can't even die despite feeling ready to go. In Breath from the Depths, Schweblin has so brilliantly hit on all of the very specific frustrations of memory loss and aging. As someone who has closely witnessed multiple elderly family members experience varying forms of dementia, I was blown away (and a bit terrified) by Schweblin's vivid and believable portrayal of memory loss in this story.
Overall, Seven Empty Houses as a collection is an excellent glimpse into Schweblin's skill at capturing dread and psychological horror. She remains one of my favorite contemporary authors and I cannot wait to see what she publishes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Death, and Mental illness
brogan7's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
4.25
Strange, slightly surreal settings or situations in this book of short stories make for a quirky universe but somehow also a compelling read.
At times the fact that it's a translation leaks through the text, and the author's voice always has that monotone quality, consistent from story to story. But in some stories, in particular "Breath from the depths," the longest story, the dry, pedantic language really works with the creepy world and its situations. This story, about a woman with dementia, is the most moving of the collection, to me. Reminiscent of the film "The father," it gives a sense of the destabilizing nature of dementia, how you can't know what's real and everything gets twisted and you can't connect with other people.
I liked "None of that," also, the very first story, in which a girl and her mother go into strangers' houses and yards to rearrange things; in which the mother's mental illness make her motivations obscure, but lead to lines like: "She's not going to say much more. But that is exactly what we do. Go out to look at houses. We go out to look at other people's houses. Any attempt to figure out why could turn it into the straw that breaks the camel's back, confirmation of the fact that my mother has been throwing her own daughter's time in the garbage for as long as I can remember." (p.4-5)
It's not a pretty phrase, but it works because it is exactly what it feels like to be a teenager and irked with your parent. It's rougher than "wasted her daughter's time," and it's fresher, too. The girl's anger seethes.
I also liked, strangely, "An Unlucky Man," not because I liked where she took the story but because the situation itself was so wild and quirky. Opening line: "The day I turned eight, my sister--who absolutely always had to be the center of attention--swallowed an entire cup of bleach." (p.157). You read this story and you feel like an eight year old, you know that Schweblin has not forgotten what it was like to be eight years old, and it's fresh and funny and vulnerable to be eight years old.
An interesting collection, quick read.
At times the fact that it's a translation leaks through the text, and the author's voice always has that monotone quality, consistent from story to story. But in some stories, in particular "Breath from the depths," the longest story, the dry, pedantic language really works with the creepy world and its situations. This story, about a woman with dementia, is the most moving of the collection, to me. Reminiscent of the film "The father," it gives a sense of the destabilizing nature of dementia, how you can't know what's real and everything gets twisted and you can't connect with other people.
I liked "None of that," also, the very first story, in which a girl and her mother go into strangers' houses and yards to rearrange things; in which the mother's mental illness make her motivations obscure, but lead to lines like: "She's not going to say much more. But that is exactly what we do. Go out to look at houses. We go out to look at other people's houses. Any attempt to figure out why could turn it into the straw that breaks the camel's back, confirmation of the fact that my mother has been throwing her own daughter's time in the garbage for as long as I can remember." (p.4-5)
It's not a pretty phrase, but it works because it is exactly what it feels like to be a teenager and irked with your parent. It's rougher than "wasted her daughter's time," and it's fresher, too. The girl's anger seethes.
I also liked, strangely, "An Unlucky Man," not because I liked where she took the story but because the situation itself was so wild and quirky. Opening line: "The day I turned eight, my sister--who absolutely always had to be the center of attention--swallowed an entire cup of bleach." (p.157). You read this story and you feel like an eight year old, you know that Schweblin has not forgotten what it was like to be eight years old, and it's fresh and funny and vulnerable to be eight years old.
An interesting collection, quick read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia, Death, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Child death
mlewis's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Chronic illness, and Dementia
Moderate: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Child death
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