Reviews

Outline by Rachel Cusk

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tildahlia's review against another edition

3.0

Cusk is a good writer and I’d heard good things but couldn’t quite get into this book. Perhaps I read it too close to Hot Milk and I was done with weird interactions in Greece. Will try some of her other books.

chobo's review against another edition

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challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.75

fbroom's review against another edition

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5.0

Different than what you usually expect from a novel yet it I couldn't put it down. The conversations felt real and perhaps autobiographical (I'm not sure) and I kept wanting to know more.

I felt that the following review summed up the book for me:
Reviewing Cusk's novel Outline in the New York Times, Heidi Julavits writes: "While the narrator is rarely alone, reading Outline mimics the sensation of being underwater, of being separated from other people by a substance denser than air. But there is nothing blurry or muted about Cusk’s literary vision or her prose: Spend much time with this novel and you’ll become convinced she is one of the smartest writers alive."

michellechien930's review against another edition

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3.0

Just all over the place. I read a few scholarly articles about Outline for class, and Cusk explicitly states in an interview that Outline was written to be put down. It was written in an intentionally diverting, mind-numbing way that made you want to stop reading. And while critics compare her to the likes of Virginia Woolf's "stream of consciousness," I can only be the plebeian who does not really get it, sadly.