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kate_cunningham's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
jbenz1213's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
Rachel Cusk’s Outline trilogy comes to a conclusion—if such a plotless series can be said to have one—with Kudos. Like Outline and Transit before it, Kudos lets its secondary characters speak for themselves, leaving it up to the reader to interpret the meaning of each conversation.
Kudos takes place while the main character, Faye, attends two literary events for work. In terms of subject matter, this brings Kudos back in line with the themes of Outline, but the setting—split between what I gather are Germany and Portugal—is portrayed in a much gloomier fashion than Outline’s Greece, and is closer to Transit’s more muted tone.
I was foolish to think that Faye might find a happy ending after Transit. While she is wed to a new man off-page, it is clear that she is grappling with the same existential questions that she was in the previous two installments, and I came away from Kudos with the impression that she is more unmoored than ever.
Given the setting, it is unsurprising that most of Cusk’s side characters are authors or otherwise involved in the literature industry. The topics of these conversations follow logically—how narrative shapes peoples’ lives and perception of themselves, especially among professional storytellers, is a major theme. How much are our lives affected by the stories we are telling ourselves about personal progress, or suffering, or justice?
This adds an extremely interesting layer to the Outline trilogy as a whole. In the first two installments, I found myself attacking each chapter like a puzzle box—what is the secret meaning behind each of these conversations? After reading Kudos, I find myself second-guessing my interpretations, and instead asking: How much of this was a rorschach test? How much of it is meaningless? Faye ends the series floating amidst a churning sea while a strange man defiles her—a bit of a dark image to leave us with. I don’t think Cusk wants us to think that we have “solved” these novels, or that they should even be thought of as puzzles. They are more like real life: We must decide what has meaning for ourselves.
I am by no means the first one to say this, but Cusk has really pulled something off here. The Outline trilogy defies analysis, and is maybe the first series that I’ve wanted to revisit right after finishing. I suspect that my feelings on each conversation will change on reread. There is a wealth of treasure here for those willing to dig.
Kudos takes place while the main character, Faye, attends two literary events for work. In terms of subject matter, this brings Kudos back in line with the themes of Outline, but the setting—split between what I gather are Germany and Portugal—is portrayed in a much gloomier fashion than Outline’s Greece, and is closer to Transit’s more muted tone.
I was foolish to think that Faye might find a happy ending after Transit. While she is wed to a new man off-page, it is clear that she is grappling with the same existential questions that she was in the previous two installments, and I came away from Kudos with the impression that she is more unmoored than ever.
Given the setting, it is unsurprising that most of Cusk’s side characters are authors or otherwise involved in the literature industry. The topics of these conversations follow logically—how narrative shapes peoples’ lives and perception of themselves, especially among professional storytellers, is a major theme. How much are our lives affected by the stories we are telling ourselves about personal progress, or suffering, or justice?
This adds an extremely interesting layer to the Outline trilogy as a whole. In the first two installments, I found myself attacking each chapter like a puzzle box—what is the secret meaning behind each of these conversations? After reading Kudos, I find myself second-guessing my interpretations, and instead asking: How much of this was a rorschach test? How much of it is meaningless? Faye ends the series floating amidst a churning sea while a strange man defiles her—a bit of a dark image to leave us with. I don’t think Cusk wants us to think that we have “solved” these novels, or that they should even be thought of as puzzles. They are more like real life: We must decide what has meaning for ourselves.
I am by no means the first one to say this, but Cusk has really pulled something off here. The Outline trilogy defies analysis, and is maybe the first series that I’ve wanted to revisit right after finishing. I suspect that my feelings on each conversation will change on reread. There is a wealth of treasure here for those willing to dig.
tobiasbroucke's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
clarawasiak's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
The first story was really interesting and then I just lost all interest. It got boring.
nicole_bookmarked's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
tararoi_'s review against another edition
3.0
I don't think this trilogy was very convincing. This is because I've never read this genre before.
Faye comes off as an interviewer, a collector of conversations, and ultimately, a collector of personal lives. She is a fly on the wall, as she sits and listens to people talk about themselves. The last book has triggered a lot of feelings about this trilogy.
How DO you convince people, complete strangers, to talk about their most personal issues, ie their family and relationships? Faye somehow gets these people to serve up their lives on a plate (in some cases, they are conveniently drunk). She barely talkes about herself. Is it an observation of how people love to talk about themselves?
She interviews these people, and sometimes she asks questions. Otherwise it is just a chain of monologues just flowing seamlessly.
The lives of the people she meets are so glamorous, and dare I say, very cliché. But c'est la vie.
Finally, towards the end, the interviewer becomes the interviewee. Aha! She talks about her son (and her son only).
Then her son calls. There has been a problem and he has no one else to confide in. And this is the only time when her name is mentioned in this book.
" 'Faye,' he said fractiously, 'will you just listen?' "
He is remarkably human- irritated, and scared even, compared to the rest of the characters
As always, she is the listener, but she consoles him. This time it feels real. It is her son. However, I still don't have a clue about this particular mother and son dynamic.
This exchange of words triggers something in her.
We see her observing things in complete silence now. Faye is on the beach. There are no words spoken. She confronts a problem. But she does is passively- she waits for the problem to stop.
A thought provoking series.
It would be interesting to read the series again in the near future and see what i feel about it.
Faye comes off as an interviewer, a collector of conversations, and ultimately, a collector of personal lives. She is a fly on the wall, as she sits and listens to people talk about themselves. The last book has triggered a lot of feelings about this trilogy.
How DO you convince people, complete strangers, to talk about their most personal issues, ie their family and relationships? Faye somehow gets these people to serve up their lives on a plate (in some cases, they are conveniently drunk). She barely talkes about herself. Is it an observation of how people love to talk about themselves?
She interviews these people, and sometimes she asks questions. Otherwise it is just a chain of monologues just flowing seamlessly.
The lives of the people she meets are so glamorous, and dare I say, very cliché. But c'est la vie.
Finally, towards the end, the interviewer becomes the interviewee. Aha! She talks about her son (and her son only).
Then her son calls. There has been a problem and he has no one else to confide in. And this is the only time when her name is mentioned in this book.
" 'Faye,' he said fractiously, 'will you just listen?' "
He is remarkably human- irritated, and scared even, compared to the rest of the characters
As always, she is the listener, but she consoles him. This time it feels real. It is her son. However, I still don't have a clue about this particular mother and son dynamic.
This exchange of words triggers something in her.
We see her observing things in complete silence now. Faye is on the beach. There are no words spoken. She confronts a problem. But she does is passively- she waits for the problem to stop.
A thought provoking series.
It would be interesting to read the series again in the near future and see what i feel about it.
elmo_isnotmyname's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
dostoevskys's review against another edition
reflective
slow-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
4.0
enjoyed as much as the first! that makes the second one a fluke for me, but overall i loved cusk's ruminations on the self, life, relationships and literature and publishing