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3.06 AVERAGE
3.06 AVERAGE
first novel by the woman responsible for my hypertext tattoo.
second act problems. aggressively strange/clever, but sometimes in great ways. even if i can't get behind all of it, i'm powerfully impressed by jackson's talent and fearlessness.
second act problems. aggressively strange/clever, but sometimes in great ways. even if i can't get behind all of it, i'm powerfully impressed by jackson's talent and fearlessness.
This was a very interesting book about identity and sharing. I liked how Blanche gradually woke up and how Nora learned the truth about their past.
I have to say, this is quite possibly the weirdest book that I have ever read, and that's not a light statement seeing as I have read a great many books in the 21 years I've been alive. That's not necessary a bad thing - I mean, I did finish the book after all - but sometimes it annoys me when you really have no idea what on earth is going on. I feel like I know what was happening for most of the book but by the time Nora was truly insane and writing stuff down, I lost the plot completely and as for the ending - well, I'm rather confused and if there is anyone out there who has any idea (however much a guess it is) as to what happened in the end, please do share it with me! Despite the weirdness though, this book really did compel me and I really did want to know what would happen next. I didn't like most of the characters, but somehow I still wanted to know what they would do by the end, especially Nora. This book is nothing like I thought it would be when I picked it up, and I'm not really sure how to rate it. I wanted to read on, I'm glad I read it, and yet I cannot really tell you whether I actually enjoyed it though.
I just couldn't get into the story. I know I didn't give it much time, but I could just tell it wasn't for me!
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have such complicated feelings after (finally) finishing Jackson’s novel this morning. I love a flawed protagonist, and Nora is about as flawed as they come— she’s neurotic, angsty, pretentious and prone to violence (or at least violent thoughts). The novel’s fractured structure and split (or perhaps not split?) narrative makes this one difficult to finish. I found the memoir segments about Blanche and Nora’s childhood to be the most readable. Unfortunately, reality frays to the point that the latter 100 pages of the novel are basically incomprehensible (at least to someone who does not want to spend hours outside of the novel deciphering its own philosophies). I wish that Jackson’s editor had been a bit more ruthless. The novel sits around 440 pages in my edition but only 200 were enjoyable to read. Still, I loved getting to know Nora and her neuroses and untangling her fractured self. It’s too bad that the novel’s structure was so illegible.
I'm not entirely sure what I thought of this book. A book about a Siamese twin (nuclear fallout, naturally) who wants to murder her twin, whom she hates. I enjoyed the beginning, was puzzled in the middle and was thoroughly confused/disturbed by the solution. This is a book about identity and it has a well-crafted unreliable narrator, unfortunately, the whole narration is fragmented and crazy. I found it hard to follow, and while I understand that was a part of the construction of the character, I didn't enjoy it as much as I might have if I had been able to follow the story better.
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Beautiful writing, but always fell short of greatness.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Dysphoria
Minor: Hate crime, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
Rarely do I read a book that starts out slow, turns into something totally mind-blowingly fabulous, and then about 50 pages before the end crumbles into complete nonsense. She had a great story flying right along, then decided to get 'experimental' and lost me. What a prick tease.