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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Detta är en en väldigt speciell bok som nog inte är för alla. Boken utspelar sig på Irland under 60-talet och handlar om Patrick Braden. Han är barnet till en ung kvinna som blivit våldtagen av byns präst och därefter lämnar på barnhem. Man följer hans livshändelser och personutveckling till att bli kvinnan ”Pussy” som jobbar som prostituerad men samtidigt letar efter sin älskade mamma och drömprins. Irland har haft en komplicerad politik och boken berör även händelser involverande IRA. Han berättar om sitt liv i brev eller dagbok format till sin gamla psykolog/läkare. De korta kapitlen är olika brev som berör olika händelser. Ordningen på dessa är därefter i tematiskt ordning. Detta var något som jag hade lite svårt för i början av boken men det blev lättare allteftersom man inte försökte hitta en kronologi i berättandet utan istället försöka förstå det mer övergripande betydelsen i det han skrev. Allt knöts samman efter hand. Detta är definitivt en bok som blir mer förståelig ett tag efter att du har läst den, fått reflektera, och inte under tiden. Därför är det nog en väldigt bra bokcirkel bok då det finns mycket att diskutera i och om den. Hans liv var mycket komplicerat, opålitligt och han saknade en person att luta sig på och kunna förlita sig på. Författarens disposition var bra på detta viset eftersom det kändes impulsivt och lite oplanerat. Så sättet den är skriven på är också en stor del av berättelsen. Med dispositionen samt att det är en karaktär breven skrivs till. Men som sagt… det finns mycket att säga och diskutera om denna boken och jag hade kunnat skriva flera sidor till. Nu kanske man ska se filmen!
Reads like the memoirs of Patrick "Pussy" Braden -- a northern Irish transvestite prostitute. Chapters are letters/essays Pussy wrote for his therapist. Sometimes hard to tell if events are made-up or actual until then end of each chapter as Pussy would lie to his therapist.
Pussy has an obsession with finding his (her) natural birth mother and punishing his birth father, the latter a Catholic priest who, it is related, raped Pussy's mother. This is assumed by Pussy, the reader never hears the point of view of the priest or mother. Was it an affair? Pussy sanctifies the mother, vilifies the father.
The story (set in the 1970s) is peppered with IRA violence, often graphic and gruesome. In spite of this backdrop, McCabe is able to insert a great deal of humour. I found the work similar to McCabe's Butcher Boy. Both have main characters with mental illness. Both obsessed -- looking/hoping/wanting something. However, the Butcher Boy finds what he always wanted, albeit in an institution, whereas Pussy will never get that which he seeks.
Pussy has an obsession with finding his (her) natural birth mother and punishing his birth father, the latter a Catholic priest who, it is related, raped Pussy's mother. This is assumed by Pussy, the reader never hears the point of view of the priest or mother. Was it an affair? Pussy sanctifies the mother, vilifies the father.
The story (set in the 1970s) is peppered with IRA violence, often graphic and gruesome. In spite of this backdrop, McCabe is able to insert a great deal of humour. I found the work similar to McCabe's Butcher Boy. Both have main characters with mental illness. Both obsessed -- looking/hoping/wanting something. However, the Butcher Boy finds what he always wanted, albeit in an institution, whereas Pussy will never get that which he seeks.
Loveable characters:
Yes
this is the most enfp book ever
they tricked me into thinking this was crazy goofy chaotic fun times but i'm fucking devastated
they tricked me into thinking this was crazy goofy chaotic fun times but i'm fucking devastated
This book is definitely not for everyone. The narrative doesnt go in sequential order, but it does make emotional sense. The at times unreliable narrator avoids subjects that are painful, glossing over the especially traumatic moments. If you can make it to the end, it does make sense and all the out-of-order stuff sorts itself, leading to a last chapter that’s remarkably grounded and introspective given the rest of the story. Not gonna lie, there’s a point more than halfway through where i truly lost track of what was and was not actually happening— which turned out to be valid because none of it was real and i could not tell because of the effectiveness of McCabe’s unreliable narrator. Slot Breakfast on Pluto next to A Clockwork Orange and Slaughterhouse Five for the Weird and Definitely Not For Everyone category. But if you can get behind an eccentric trans woman sex worker with an at best tenuous grip on reality as she seeks fulfilment through various means, give this book a shot.
quite a bit darker than the film, the screenplay of which was written by McCabe as well. I actually liked the film better.
A quick read that shouldn't be read quickly. Every sentence moves the plot along, and the chapters are awesomely short. This was a perfect follow-up to Murakami, because it was nothing like it and I enjoyed it so much more. This is how you sustain a narrative voice!
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think this will be one of those rare books that you can - and want to - read again, and again, and it will still bring you something new. Not only because it will help you understand it more, but because it really does have so many layers.
It is startlingly difficult to read - but I didn't mind that one bit, it's not making the reading experience unpleasant. You have to work for it - for the meaning. It's not handed to you on a silver platter like so many contemporary books do, which I appreaciate.
It is brilliantly written. Throughout the book, there is a slight sense of sarcasm, subtle enough that almost everything is open to interpretation - are those bitter memories peaking out? Is it whining? I'd say that I lack a certain level of cultural context to understand some of the plot properly, especially the whole bit about the Irish Independence.
Either way, it is a very, very clever book. There is sadness gushing from beneath each naive and optimistic thought put down. And sometimes, the resolute decision to remain optimistic is simply heartbreaking. It is an unmerciful book, harsh. Even in the very beginnging. The contrast between nature and beauty and the harshness of industry and technology. And the end? Where you can feel Pussy spiralling, and you spiral with her.
A masterpiece.
It is startlingly difficult to read - but I didn't mind that one bit, it's not making the reading experience unpleasant. You have to work for it - for the meaning. It's not handed to you on a silver platter like so many contemporary books do, which I appreaciate.
It is brilliantly written. Throughout the book, there is a slight sense of sarcasm, subtle enough that almost everything is open to interpretation - are those bitter memories peaking out? Is it whining? I'd say that I lack a certain level of cultural context to understand some of the plot properly, especially the whole bit about the Irish Independence.
Either way, it is a very, very clever book. There is sadness gushing from beneath each naive and optimistic thought put down. And sometimes, the resolute decision to remain optimistic is simply heartbreaking. It is an unmerciful book, harsh. Even in the very beginnging. The contrast between nature and beauty and the harshness of industry and technology. And the end? Where you can feel Pussy spiralling, and you spiral with her.
A masterpiece.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
emotional
funny
The Ruined Maid
"O 'Melia, my dear, this does everything crown!
Who could have supposed I should meet you in Town?
And whence such fair garments, such prosperi-ty?" —
"O didn't you know I'd been ruined?" said she.
— "You left us in tatters, without shoes or socks,
Tired of digging potatoes, and spudding up docks;
And now you've gay bracelets and bright feathers three!" —
"Yes: that's how we dress when we're ruined," said she.
— "At home in the barton you said thee' and thou,'
And thik oon,' and theäs oon,' and t'other'; but now
Your talking quite fits 'ee for high compa-ny!" —
"Some polish is gained with one's ruin," said she.
— "Your hands were like paws then, your face blue and bleak
But now I'm bewitched by your delicate cheek,
And your little gloves fit as on any la-dy!" —
"We never do work when we're ruined," said she.
— "You used to call home-life a hag-ridden dream,
And you'd sigh, and you'd sock; but at present you seem
To know not of megrims or melancho-ly!" —
"True. One's pretty lively when ruined," said she.
— "I wish I had feathers, a fine sweeping gown,
And a delicate face, and could strut about Town!" —
"My dear — a raw country girl, such as you be,
Cannot quite expect that. You ain't ruined," said she.
- Thomas Hardy
"O 'Melia, my dear, this does everything crown!
Who could have supposed I should meet you in Town?
And whence such fair garments, such prosperi-ty?" —
"O didn't you know I'd been ruined?" said she.
— "You left us in tatters, without shoes or socks,
Tired of digging potatoes, and spudding up docks;
And now you've gay bracelets and bright feathers three!" —
"Yes: that's how we dress when we're ruined," said she.
— "At home in the barton you said thee' and thou,'
And thik oon,' and theäs oon,' and t'other'; but now
Your talking quite fits 'ee for high compa-ny!" —
"Some polish is gained with one's ruin," said she.
— "Your hands were like paws then, your face blue and bleak
But now I'm bewitched by your delicate cheek,
And your little gloves fit as on any la-dy!" —
"We never do work when we're ruined," said she.
— "You used to call home-life a hag-ridden dream,
And you'd sigh, and you'd sock; but at present you seem
To know not of megrims or melancho-ly!" —
"True. One's pretty lively when ruined," said she.
— "I wish I had feathers, a fine sweeping gown,
And a delicate face, and could strut about Town!" —
"My dear — a raw country girl, such as you be,
Cannot quite expect that. You ain't ruined," said she.
- Thomas Hardy
mysterious
medium-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