Reviews

Reinheit by Garth Greenwell

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zgg22's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

2.25

Ok, this wasn’t too terrible but it’s one of those reads that left no mark on me. It contains a lot of descriptions of what is supposed to be highly intimate moments and spaces, but I felt like it could’ve gone deeper. I kept catching my attention drifting away as I was trudging through the pages. I’m not entirely sure if it’s because of the way it’s written or because I didn’t emphatize/relate to the narrator or the characters.

Also, I have no respect whatsoever to anything to do with unprotected s*x with strangers and this book has plenty of that so there is that as well.

a_little_teacup's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

steepinginstories's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

storyorc's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The prose is the standout here - not to say that the look into the narrator's relationship with love and sex isn't interesting but enveloping it in touching, earnest, beautiful prose furnishes it with a contemplative edge that elevates it from a nosy peek or a straightforward write-up of an American expat's experiences in Bulgaria. The audiobook, narrated by the author, colours it in a way I doubt I would have thought of in text form too; an honest, but resigned acknowledgement of when these experiences don't mean enough or mean too much, like one long, heartfelt sigh.

In a Macmillan interview, Greenwell states he wanted to write "something that was 100% pornographic and 100% high art". This characterises the three explicit scenes pretty aptly. They are a strong challenge to anyone who disparages sex scenes as pure titillation. They point toward things the narrator is looking while still admitting the ugly parts.

The only part of the book that left me truly uncomfortable is also the part I can't find anyone else discussing - the narrator's final night out in Bulgaria at the end of the book with two of his ex-students. Artistically, it was an interesting mix of tense dread and youthful joy, but this is the only part of the book wherein I felt the author let his narrator off the hook a little. Not entirely -

Z's reactions still make the pit of your stomach drop and the narrator blanches with us at times, once wondering whether sexually assaulting his ex-student was being a 'caricature' of himself or himself 'without impediment'

- but I was looking forward to seeing how his sober self would process the night. Furthermore,

the dog scene read to me like smoothing over the violation, acting as a metaphor for allowing yourself some spots of moral dirt. But not all dirt is equal. It seemed to soon to make peace with predation, especially when it the only other instance of predation in the novel for our minds to go to is the abuse that so dogs his beloved R's footsteps. I'm not arguing against the inclusion of the narrator taking advantage of his ex-student, I just feel it was comparatively unexplored (interestingly, the only other part I felt similarly about was the longer-term effects of the narrator's own rape)

. The ending note sounded a little false to my ears after being trained on chapters of relentless honesty and self-reckoning.

Content Warnings

ashleysweitz's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

polkadotkat's review against another edition

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challenging 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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

My favorite quote was

There was joy in being a fool. Why had I spent my whole life avoiding it?

Content Warnings

hvancetx's review against another edition

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3.0

This book follows the same narrator as his first novel, What Belongs To You. Greenwell's writing reminds me of Andre Aciman, but with less idealism, or Rachel Cusk, but with more extremely explicit sex scenes. His themes definitely overlap with both writers.

leserdtke's review

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challenging emotional reflective

Brillant geschrieben und hervorragend übersetzt. Hat mich einerseits verstört und gleichzeitig fasziniert und berührt.

markcastaneda's review against another edition

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3.0

redacted

rootedinreading's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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