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dolores153's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Xenophobia
blacksallyrooney's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
2.5 / 5 stars
Existence is futile, Sarah Bernstein’s Giller Prize-winning second novel offers flat-out, from its first to its last page. The possibility of a peaceful, or peaceable, life is outright denied, and this conclusion is decisive in the novel’s respective study (or, even, a fable) of Jewish life and diaspora, of power among intimacy, of land, and of the shroud of the Holocaust that Europe willfully wound around itself yet writhes against.
Existence is futile, Sarah Bernstein’s Giller Prize-winning second novel offers flat-out, from its first to its last page. The possibility of a peaceful, or peaceable, life is outright denied, and this conclusion is decisive in the novel’s respective study (or, even, a fable) of Jewish life and diaspora, of power among intimacy, of land, and of the shroud of the Holocaust that Europe willfully wound around itself yet writhes against.
I appreciate Bernstein’s attempt to ‘unspool’ (a word she loves—perhaps too much) this immersive insight into social degradation and power’s effects on the psyche, as well as the powerful mundanity of cruelty, exclusion, and genocide.
However, I was continually unconvinced by the narrator’s placidity, which goes beyond the bounds of stylistic preference and felt like a fundamental rift between myself and Bernstein in what this book’s philosophy is. At times the novel worked in examining ‘how much’ the unnamed narrator could take, psychically—I felt these worked best in more surreal scenes, like the diner scene, which is probably among the best writing. Yet the shakiest parts were these repeating, droning flashbacks that recounted in minute detail the slights and terrors that the narrator had experienced from girlhood onward, so similar in its restrained tone, so fatalistic and deferential to the world’s inevitable cruelty, it wasn’t devastating—it was annoying.
Now, this may be intentional on Bernstein’s part, to evoke a guilt in the reader for becoming so fed-up with a woman staying down after being knocked down. Even, maybe, to implicate the reader in the narrator’s subjection. If it’s the case that it’s intended, it’s even more grating.
I’m not sure if we can both—if a character so totally isolated her entire life from a crumb of fairness and self-determination can also be so articulate about the conditions of her own suffering, without, 1) uttering the word “antisemitism” (which is not erased by any means, but is designed to be the invisible, throttling force—I’m still thinking-through this, but how might this book have been more productive if blatantly voiced?); and 2) uttering a howl?
Here’s my idealism bubbling up—my fault—I believe, like the arc of the moral universe, the human heart bends toward justice. Bernstein’s narrator and I won’t see eye-to-eye on this. But I’m not sure if she’s designed to be able to see into very much, including her own agonies, and that might be a bug, not a feature.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Emotional abuse and Antisemitism
figsofpeach's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia and Animal death
annagerman's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Way too much and also not enough.
An interesting portrayal of xenophobia, particularly antisemitism. There were some interesting observations about how cultural and familial roles are ingrained into our personally, as well as our history and community.
The book did manage to create a very charged atmosphere, reminiscent of witch trials.
And there were some though-provoking observations strewed in between the meandering, occasionally unintelligible, constant internal dialogue.
However, the writing was way too dense, bogged down by 10$ and 100$ words. I don't particularly enjoy train-of-thought writing, and though I did see the purpose it served in this instance, it was tiresome. It felt almost a chore to read at times, especially when the MC went on the more abstract tangents.
The character (since there is essentially only one in this book, on a prolonged internal self-psychoanalytical journey) was almost an allegory and not an actual human. Since there was no dialogue at all, and all interactions were limited in both duration and description, the story felt very isolated and impersonal.
Overall this book is tolerable only because of it's short length. There's no way I could have survived more than 200 pages of this.
verdict - 2/5 dead pigs
Great vibes and some interesting observation, but they get lost in the relentless over-written bombardment of text.
Edit - I originally have it 2 stars, then 2.5, now I give it 3.5 - this book just grows inside my mind like a fungus and come back to me at unexpected moments
An interesting portrayal of xenophobia, particularly antisemitism. There were some interesting observations about how cultural and familial roles are ingrained into our personally, as well as our history and community.
The book did manage to create a very charged atmosphere, reminiscent of witch trials.
And there were some though-provoking observations strewed in between the meandering, occasionally unintelligible, constant internal dialogue.
However, the writing was way too dense, bogged down by 10$ and 100$ words. I don't particularly enjoy train-of-thought writing, and though I did see the purpose it served in this instance, it was tiresome. It felt almost a chore to read at times, especially when the MC went on the more abstract tangents.
The character (since there is essentially only one in this book, on a prolonged internal self-psychoanalytical journey) was almost an allegory and not an actual human. Since there was no dialogue at all, and all interactions were limited in both duration and description, the story felt very isolated and impersonal.
Overall this book is tolerable only because of it's short length. There's no way I could have survived more than 200 pages of this.
verdict - 2/5 dead pigs
Great vibes and some interesting observation, but they get lost in the relentless over-written bombardment of text.
Edit - I originally have it 2 stars, then 2.5, now I give it 3.5 - this book just grows inside my mind like a fungus and come back to me at unexpected moments
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism and Xenophobia
othersociologist's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, and War
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