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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
[b:Girl|43565316|Girl|Edna O'Brien|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573421240l/43565316._SY75_.jpg|67780576] is a novel which should have been an essay. I think Edna O'Brien's conviction and passion for the Nigerian women abducted by Boko Haram does shine through - that was the main thing I was worried about when approaching this book. I still remain unconvinced that Edna O'Brien (a white Irish woman) was the right person to tell this story, but I'm somewhat mollified by the fact that she demonstrably did her homework and put quite a lot of research into this endeavor. However, the result, to me, was something that would have worked better as a long-form essay than a fictional book; it felt like the novel's central conceit was to show the horrors that these girls went through, which did not translate to particularly believable characters or compelling storytelling - I just kept asking myself why I wasn't seeing a different version of this project as an essay in the New York Times.
One struggle I was not expecting to have with this book was with O'Brien's prose, but that actually ended up being one of the main issues for me. Structurally it left a lot to be desired; every time a new character was introduced, Maryam's first-person narration would be interrupted, and we would switch to an italicized segment, also first-person, where the character would narrate their life story for several pages. It felt like the linguistic equivalent of flashbacks - a storytelling convention that I always find lazy.
What was even odder was the disjointed fusion of past and present tense. As a veteran author I want to credit O'Brien with the benefit of the doubt here and say she was trying to achieve something with this, but to me it just felt like the book hadn't been proofread. Example:
There's a lot more that didn't work for me: the pace of the first half of the novel hurtled by at breakneck speed as if it were running through a checklist of every horror imaginable, and the second half slowed to such a standstill all momentum was lost. I felt emotionally numb reading this, which is particularly noteworthy given how graphic it is (trigger warnings for everything imaginable apply). The exploration of trauma only ever felt surface-level; all I ever really learned about Maryam was about her identity as a mother; the more I read the less I understood O'Brien's aims with this book.
Ultimately well-intentioned but too unfocused to make a huge impact.
One struggle I was not expecting to have with this book was with O'Brien's prose, but that actually ended up being one of the main issues for me. Structurally it left a lot to be desired; every time a new character was introduced, Maryam's first-person narration would be interrupted, and we would switch to an italicized segment, also first-person, where the character would narrate their life story for several pages. It felt like the linguistic equivalent of flashbacks - a storytelling convention that I always find lazy.
What was even odder was the disjointed fusion of past and present tense. As a veteran author I want to credit O'Brien with the benefit of the doubt here and say she was trying to achieve something with this, but to me it just felt like the book hadn't been proofread. Example:
'They don't. They can't.' She was trembling so badly she had to hold on to a pillar. She refuses a drink of water.
'I want to be normal,' she says, the voice urgent.
'You are normal,' I say, although I too am jangled.
'Maybe we can meet up,' she said and for the first time, she smiled.
'I am going home, Rebeka.' I blurted it out, I had to.
'They will reject you... They will turn you out,' her voice ugly and spiteful.
'I have a baby,' I said, thinking it wiser to tell her.
'A baby!' She was aghast. It was all she wanted.
There's a lot more that didn't work for me: the pace of the first half of the novel hurtled by at breakneck speed as if it were running through a checklist of every horror imaginable, and the second half slowed to such a standstill all momentum was lost. I felt emotionally numb reading this, which is particularly noteworthy given how graphic it is (trigger warnings for everything imaginable apply). The exploration of trauma only ever felt surface-level; all I ever really learned about Maryam was about her identity as a mother; the more I read the less I understood O'Brien's aims with this book.
Ultimately well-intentioned but too unfocused to make a huge impact.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
I learnt so so much from this book, so as heartbreaking and challenging it was, I am glad I finished it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence
Girl tells the story of a girl in Nigeria who is kidnapped from her school by Boko Haram and her subsequent journey back to safety.
I didn’t really get along with this one, I’m not sure what it was in the writing but it was almost as if the chapters were so short and condensed that there wasn’t much build or a pace to anything. Terrible things continue to happen but I didn’t get the emotional punch that I wanted to feel, I think because there wasn’t enough time to explore the trauma and emotion of what is happening. The dialogue also had a strange and stilted quality to me.
There are some really interesting techniques in here, the dread that permeates through the whole book is really well done, the atmosphere feels almost post-apocalyptic in its desolation. Places of safety are transient and there are threats everywhere.
Maryam’s status as a so-called ‘bush-wife’ makes her reviled and feared, a dangerous liability as her captors might come back to get her at any time. There is a separation between her and her child, a resentment festering as they struggle to survive together.
I had some reservations about this book not being ‘Own Voice’ but it seems like the author has done a lot of research and injected that experience into the book, that being said I think she is still at a distance from Maryam and it didn’t feel like she was claiming to speak for her. I thought this was an interesting read but not my favourite from the long-list so-far.
I didn’t really get along with this one, I’m not sure what it was in the writing but it was almost as if the chapters were so short and condensed that there wasn’t much build or a pace to anything. Terrible things continue to happen but I didn’t get the emotional punch that I wanted to feel, I think because there wasn’t enough time to explore the trauma and emotion of what is happening. The dialogue also had a strange and stilted quality to me.
There are some really interesting techniques in here, the dread that permeates through the whole book is really well done, the atmosphere feels almost post-apocalyptic in its desolation. Places of safety are transient and there are threats everywhere.
Maryam’s status as a so-called ‘bush-wife’ makes her reviled and feared, a dangerous liability as her captors might come back to get her at any time. There is a separation between her and her child, a resentment festering as they struggle to survive together.
I had some reservations about this book not being ‘Own Voice’ but it seems like the author has done a lot of research and injected that experience into the book, that being said I think she is still at a distance from Maryam and it didn’t feel like she was claiming to speak for her. I thought this was an interesting read but not my favourite from the long-list so-far.
dark
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.5 stars! It was a very fast paced novel, with sparse prose that yet seemed to evoke the world of the story very clearly. It had very difficult images and events in it, which did make for uncomfortable reading at times, although that is part and parcel of what these girls go through. I also found the “Irishness” of the book slightly jarring, as I felt it was a bit more centred in a story about Nigeria than it should be. Overall though, well worth the read, and I can’t believe this was my first Edna O’Brien!
Tiene momentos durísimos pero, en general, le falta alma.
GIRL by EDNA O’BRIEN
Women’s Prize #6
So this is a tricky one to review in light of the own voices controversy. O’Brien is a white, Irish woman and this book is a first person account of a young Nigerian girl who is kidnapped by a terrorist group...
Women’s Prize #6
So this is a tricky one to review in light of the own voices controversy. O’Brien is a white, Irish woman and this book is a first person account of a young Nigerian girl who is kidnapped by a terrorist group...
For a book with such absolutely brutal subject matter I found Girl incredibly flat and disengaging. I just didn't get any of the things out of this reading experience that I was hoping to, sadly.
‘Girl’ is a fictional account of Maryam, who is kidnapped from her school by Boko Haram, taken to a remote camp in the jungle along with her school friends, and subjected to all the horrors you can imagine. O’Brien undertook research trips to Nigeria, spoke to trauma experts, UN workers, and girls who had themselves been captured by Boko Haram and had managed to escape. But what O’Brien learned was that even when the schoolgirls managed to escape from their kidnappers, they could never truly be free. If they returned to their families pregnant or with a child, there was a glaring reminder of how the child was conceived. The shame of what had happened to them was so great in many cases that soon after their homecoming, words and threats would be chalked on the outside walls of their home. They were called infidels, were viewed with suspicion and mistrust, and were cast out from their villages, away from their families.
~~~~.~~~~.~~~~
So far, so harrowing, right? Well, while it sounds pretty bleak - and I was fully expecting it to be - I was actually surprised by how hopeful this novel is. Throughout there are characters who in various ways showed small but stunning acts of kindness to Maryam and her baby. Their journey is not easy, but it wasn’t the pure horrorfest I was expecting given the subject.
~~~~.~~~~.~~~~
O’Brien’s writing here is stunning. There are sentences which I thought were so perfectly and beautifully written I had to copy them down - at times I was even reminded of Toni Morrison’s writing in ‘The Bluest Eye.’
‘Girl’ is likely to be Edna O’Brien’s final novel - she is nearly 89 - and I think it’s a great one to finish on.
Instagram ~ @podsticles
~~~~.~~~~.~~~~
So far, so harrowing, right? Well, while it sounds pretty bleak - and I was fully expecting it to be - I was actually surprised by how hopeful this novel is. Throughout there are characters who in various ways showed small but stunning acts of kindness to Maryam and her baby. Their journey is not easy, but it wasn’t the pure horrorfest I was expecting given the subject.
~~~~.~~~~.~~~~
O’Brien’s writing here is stunning. There are sentences which I thought were so perfectly and beautifully written I had to copy them down - at times I was even reminded of Toni Morrison’s writing in ‘The Bluest Eye.’
‘Girl’ is likely to be Edna O’Brien’s final novel - she is nearly 89 - and I think it’s a great one to finish on.
Instagram ~ @podsticles