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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
slow-paced
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really didn’t think I would enjoy this book but i was so hooked from the start, it was so easy to read and I really enjoyed the side plots going on
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was not sure if I was going to like this novel but I really did in the end. Deborah Levy constructed a plethora of characters who are strange and idiosyncratic and our narrator is enthralling. I feel as though I will carry Sofia in my mind for a long time. The way the novel is written and because of Sofia being an anthropologist, I wondered if the style was influenced by ethnographic or field study write ups. At times I found the dialogue and action had to follow in terms of how it was written up, so moments of tension or anger felt a bit slow and confusing. But I also felt as though that was because of our narrator who is often lost in her thoughts, her delusions, her daydreams, her desires, her fears. I also found the blending of present and past tense at times confusing but somehow it worked. I wonder if anyone else noticed that? What was the purpose?
I loved reading from the perspective of a character coming into her body, her allure, and being not quite feminine nor performing. When I was younger I often felt that I was fulfilling a fantasy rather than owning my desire or body. So it was magical, monstrous, exciting to read Sofia in her knotted matted hair, her curvy round, short body, being desired and desiring. It also was fun bisexual mayhem. And elegantly showed Ingrid as a complicated and "dangerous to love" person. Someone who thrives on attention and desire from men and others.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the motif of jellyfish as one of my obsessions is about jellyfish and how as our oceans acidify and warm, they will dominate. There were several other allusions to politics, environment etc that were deftly woven in that subtly challenged Conservative POVs.
What a strange and beautiful little novel.
On a side note, I'm not sure I'll watch the film because I love that Sofia isn't a thin queen and has big curly hair and "brown" skin (although brown on white people doesn't mean much) so the casting seems a bit off for me. I want more films with women who aren't tiny and thin so I think I'll be heartbroken to see Sofia conformed to the film industry's standards.
I loved reading from the perspective of a character coming into her body, her allure, and being not quite feminine nor performing. When I was younger I often felt that I was fulfilling a fantasy rather than owning my desire or body. So it was magical, monstrous, exciting to read Sofia in her knotted matted hair, her curvy round, short body, being desired and desiring. It also was fun bisexual mayhem. And elegantly showed Ingrid as a complicated and "dangerous to love" person. Someone who thrives on attention and desire from men and others.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the motif of jellyfish as one of my obsessions is about jellyfish and how as our oceans acidify and warm, they will dominate. There were several other allusions to politics, environment etc that were deftly woven in that subtly challenged Conservative POVs.
What a strange and beautiful little novel.
On a side note, I'm not sure I'll watch the film because I love that Sofia isn't a thin queen and has big curly hair and "brown" skin (although brown on white people doesn't mean much) so the casting seems a bit off for me. I want more films with women who aren't tiny and thin so I think I'll be heartbroken to see Sofia conformed to the film industry's standards.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Will need a moment to process this book.
It takes a while to get into the narrator's flow since it's from Sophia's point of view and it feels removed, very anthropological. At times it felt like a slog but then Levy offers a moment of prose or a nugget of wisdom that stops my eyes mid-sentence. For that reason I can't say I'd recommend or that I enjoyed it, but I'm grateful to have read it. Will give this novel some time for the seeds it planted in my soul to sprout.
"I can't deny that her symptoms are of cultural interest to me, even though they drag me down with her. Her symptoms do all the talking for her. They chatter all the time. Even I know that. [...] Sometimes, I find myself limping. It's as if my body remembers the way I walk with my mother. Memory is not always reliable. It is not the whole truth. Even I know that." (pg 26)
"I kept on walking in a daze, I had made something happen. I was shaking and I knew that I had held myself in for too long, in my body, in my skin..." (pg 39)
"Did I want to be bold like her? What shade of bold was I after?" (pg 77)
"The Kiss. We don't talk about it but it's there in the coconut ice cream we are making together. It's there in the space between us as Ingrid scrapes the seeds from a vanilla pod with her penknife. It's lurking in her long eyelids and in the egg yolks and cream and it's written in blue silken thread with the needle that is Ingrid's mind. I don't know what I want from Ingrid or why she enjoys humiliating me or why I put up with it." (pg 101)
"I am not sure how much desire I am entitled to possess." (pg 141)
"Am I self-destructive, or pathetically passive, or reckless, or just experimental, or am I a rigorous cultural anthropologist, or am I in love?" (pg 175)
It takes a while to get into the narrator's flow since it's from Sophia's point of view and it feels removed, very anthropological. At times it felt like a slog but then Levy offers a moment of prose or a nugget of wisdom that stops my eyes mid-sentence. For that reason I can't say I'd recommend or that I enjoyed it, but I'm grateful to have read it. Will give this novel some time for the seeds it planted in my soul to sprout.
"I can't deny that her symptoms are of cultural interest to me, even though they drag me down with her. Her symptoms do all the talking for her. They chatter all the time. Even I know that. [...] Sometimes, I find myself limping. It's as if my body remembers the way I walk with my mother. Memory is not always reliable. It is not the whole truth. Even I know that." (pg 26)
"I kept on walking in a daze, I had made something happen. I was shaking and I knew that I had held myself in for too long, in my body, in my skin..." (pg 39)
"Did I want to be bold like her? What shade of bold was I after?" (pg 77)
"The Kiss. We don't talk about it but it's there in the coconut ice cream we are making together. It's there in the space between us as Ingrid scrapes the seeds from a vanilla pod with her penknife. It's lurking in her long eyelids and in the egg yolks and cream and it's written in blue silken thread with the needle that is Ingrid's mind. I don't know what I want from Ingrid or why she enjoys humiliating me or why I put up with it." (pg 101)
"I am not sure how much desire I am entitled to possess." (pg 141)
"Am I self-destructive, or pathetically passive, or reckless, or just experimental, or am I a rigorous cultural anthropologist, or am I in love?" (pg 175)
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes