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aphatius's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.5
kylefwill's review
5.0
"People are bothered by all of this, and I admit I am both irritated and amused by it. I think I like the bother, the trouble. It makes us ask — what is a novel? What is not a novel? I like those questions. I don’t want to have one answer for it."
From my interview with Kate Zambreno on Full Stop: https://www.full-stop.net/2021/06/10/interviews/kyle-williams/kate-zambreno-2/
From my interview with Kate Zambreno on Full Stop: https://www.full-stop.net/2021/06/10/interviews/kyle-williams/kate-zambreno-2/
abby_writes's review
5.0
A novella of the loss of self, both intentional and not, and the struggle to write through the realization of one's own mortality. Zambreno's weaving in of her own daily ephemera, Guibert, Foucault, the AIDs epidemic, and our more recent plague is masterful. However, it was the first thing I've read about the pandemic, and I am not sure I was ready for it, to read all of our mistakes so soon.
gcviolin's review
5.0
Kate Zambreno's new book beautifully weaves together many interrelated threads into a prismatic and often poetically charged narrative that explores the body, womanhood/motherhood, illnesses both individual and societal, and what it means to "write" and/or "write through" the body.
She covers a lot of ground here, centrally focusing on Herve Guibert and his writing of the body, particularly his own body living with AIDS. She interleaves this with a diaristic chronicling of her difficult second pregnancy, which overlaps with the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and New York's lockdown in March/April 2020.
I found Zambreno's discussions of "autofiction" (both via Guibert and via her own work) particularly interesting - the ways our fictionalized selves can both resemble us and become our avatars, taking on characteristics beyond the scope of our off-the-page lives.
Thanks to Columbia University Press and NetGalley for the ARC!
She covers a lot of ground here, centrally focusing on Herve Guibert and his writing of the body, particularly his own body living with AIDS. She interleaves this with a diaristic chronicling of her difficult second pregnancy, which overlaps with the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and New York's lockdown in March/April 2020.
I found Zambreno's discussions of "autofiction" (both via Guibert and via her own work) particularly interesting - the ways our fictionalized selves can both resemble us and become our avatars, taking on characteristics beyond the scope of our off-the-page lives.
Thanks to Columbia University Press and NetGalley for the ARC!
nadiadeb's review
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
joanaprneves's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I was completely blown away by Drift, by the same author and therefore jumped on the occasion to read her latest publication.
It is still very much an essay in the first person with a mix of auto-fiction but this one separates more clearly the essay/reading of Hervé Guibert’s last books (from whom the amazing title is borrowed) and the biographic amplifications. Let’s say that Drift is more magical and TWAIAD is more poignant. Both books are an incredible endeavor of organizing the chaos and of writing as if from bellow the genres, or behind them.
One of the things I liked best was the precariousness of an academic life exposed and how the author addresses money issues combined with parenting and health insurance.
It’s like a desperate character of Jane Austen whose mum died and therefore there is no one to push her to do “the right thing”. And therefore, the author sacrifices the potential of a steadier and financially stable life in order to be able to write.
This is a love letter to writing, because (essay) writing is always done beyond death, in a dimension of pain, discomfort and occasional joy.
It is still very much an essay in the first person with a mix of auto-fiction but this one separates more clearly the essay/reading of Hervé Guibert’s last books (from whom the amazing title is borrowed) and the biographic amplifications. Let’s say that Drift is more magical and TWAIAD is more poignant. Both books are an incredible endeavor of organizing the chaos and of writing as if from bellow the genres, or behind them.
One of the things I liked best was the precariousness of an academic life exposed and how the author addresses money issues combined with parenting and health insurance.
It’s like a desperate character of Jane Austen whose mum died and therefore there is no one to push her to do “the right thing”. And therefore, the author sacrifices the potential of a steadier and financially stable life in order to be able to write.
This is a love letter to writing, because (essay) writing is always done beyond death, in a dimension of pain, discomfort and occasional joy.
dadoodoflow's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
elikoch's review
3.0
I am conflicted. Just as the author is conflicted about the unacknowledged privilege that the object of her literary analysis, Hervé Guibert, expresses in his writings or his questionable takes, I am conflicted about the character of the author and her takes.
While I was able to find some points of resonance in the first part of the book, I would have wished she would have explored the topic of friendships more taking Guibert more as a starting point than a figure to compare her own life too.
This way of writing, of course, exemplifies the eerie feeling one gets when reading works that in part seem to resemble one's own situation. Resonance.
Maybe I didn't enjoy the second part as much for the simple reason that I have not much in common with the author right now. On the other hand, for talking so much (was it much? I can't tell in hindsight) about unacknowledged privilege, I wonder if it was a conscious choice to not acknowledge her own (or did she do that and I just missed it entirely?)
And with this I am at the final conflict: Zambreno's book made me think, but I can't really remember what she said due to the stream of consciousness style of writing that jumped rapidly between various layers of inquiry.
Overall, I couldn't take my eyes off the pages, so a 3-star rating seems to reflect my experience best.
While I was able to find some points of resonance in the first part of the book, I would have wished she would have explored the topic of friendships more taking Guibert more as a starting point than a figure to compare her own life too.
This way of writing, of course, exemplifies the eerie feeling one gets when reading works that in part seem to resemble one's own situation. Resonance.
Maybe I didn't enjoy the second part as much for the simple reason that I have not much in common with the author right now. On the other hand, for talking so much (was it much? I can't tell in hindsight) about unacknowledged privilege, I wonder if it was a conscious choice to not acknowledge her own (or did she do that and I just missed it entirely?)
And with this I am at the final conflict: Zambreno's book made me think, but I can't really remember what she said due to the stream of consciousness style of writing that jumped rapidly between various layers of inquiry.
Overall, I couldn't take my eyes off the pages, so a 3-star rating seems to reflect my experience best.