Scan barcode
nomadreader's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 a bit inconsistent, (and that last essay was really underwhelming), but this collection is at times devastating and brilliant.
maybebil's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 - the narrative voice was quite distant and the writing was convoluted/overwritten, lacking in emotion which was probably intentional
petersonline's review against another edition
4.0
When Rachel Cusk published her memoir A Life's Work: On Becoming A Mother, it inspired a full-scale revolt from readers to the point where she had to go on Oprah in an attempt to explain herself. The memoir was honest about motherhood and its ills, and many mothers who read it felt that Rachel Cusk was unfit to be a mother. In an essay written for The Guardian after the fact, Cusk stated, "I was only being honest."
After the publication of Aftermath, her memoir on marriage and separation, Rachel Cusk claims that she headed into "creative death." Aftermath is an honest account of the dissolution of her marriage, and the lonely days that followed after her husband's departure. The memoir is written in a quietly angry tone, a sort of frustration that simmers below the surface of the memoir. A primal scream was probably let out after the writing of this book, but we are unable to hear it.
Many find Cusk's memoirs upsetting, ridiculous. Some believe she has a tendency to overshare. I, however, love when writers overshare - it makes me feel as if I'm sitting with them, hearing all about their life and their problems. Oversharing can cause career death, but for the readers who appreciate it, it brings us closer to the book and its author. In Aftermath, the story of the days that follow her marriage falling apart are spread out across eight chapters. Something Cusk does quite a lot throughout these chapters, and where she admittedly lost me, were when she tied in Greek plays and mythologies into her own experiences. I appreciate what she was trying to do here, attempting to show us the stories she connected to when she was doing poorly and didn't know where to turn, but as someone who doesn't know too much about Greek history, a lot of it went over my head, and ended up being slightly distracting.
The eight chapters that make up Aftermath hit on many aspects of relationships and loneliness. In one chapter entitled "Couples," Cusk begins to observe various people in couples around her after her husband leaves her. In the middle of this section, she writes, "An outcast from marriage, I look at other marriages with a different eye. Silently I congratulate the couples I pass in the street, while at the same time wondering why they are together and I am alone." Many passages from this book reminded me of Elena Ferrante, particularly her novel The Days of Abandonment. Ferrante's novel tells the story of Olga, how she behaves and how she feels in the days after her husband mysteriously leaves her. In Aftermath, the reason for Cusk and her husband's separation is also mysterious. The only thing we hear about their marriage is in the titular opening chapter, in which Cusk writes, "My husband believed that I had treated him monstrously."
Aftermath wouldn't be a Rachel Cusk book without incredible simile usage and descriptions of certain people that make the reader feel very lucky to not be the subject of Cusk's cutting observations. In the chapter titled "The Razor's Edge," Cusk takes her daughters on a trip to ride horses and stay at a vacation home. Their vacation is soon ruined when the owner of the property comes around and tells them that they have to move. When Cusk sees the property owner, she immediately starts tearing her to shreds, "She is so dishevelled it is hard to get a sense of her. Vaguely I apprehend a large mounded body, a shock of grey frizzy hair, a clutch of big yellow teeth, a red leathery face grotesquely made up." Ouch.
Aftermath is a slim volume, a couple day's commitment at most, but contains some of the most personal writing I've read from Cusk thus far. This is an honest account of divorce that doesn't feel sensationalized in the slightest - and makes Cusk, an author who often seems somewhat larger-than-life, feel a bit more human.
After the publication of Aftermath, her memoir on marriage and separation, Rachel Cusk claims that she headed into "creative death." Aftermath is an honest account of the dissolution of her marriage, and the lonely days that followed after her husband's departure. The memoir is written in a quietly angry tone, a sort of frustration that simmers below the surface of the memoir. A primal scream was probably let out after the writing of this book, but we are unable to hear it.
Many find Cusk's memoirs upsetting, ridiculous. Some believe she has a tendency to overshare. I, however, love when writers overshare - it makes me feel as if I'm sitting with them, hearing all about their life and their problems. Oversharing can cause career death, but for the readers who appreciate it, it brings us closer to the book and its author. In Aftermath, the story of the days that follow her marriage falling apart are spread out across eight chapters. Something Cusk does quite a lot throughout these chapters, and where she admittedly lost me, were when she tied in Greek plays and mythologies into her own experiences. I appreciate what she was trying to do here, attempting to show us the stories she connected to when she was doing poorly and didn't know where to turn, but as someone who doesn't know too much about Greek history, a lot of it went over my head, and ended up being slightly distracting.
The eight chapters that make up Aftermath hit on many aspects of relationships and loneliness. In one chapter entitled "Couples," Cusk begins to observe various people in couples around her after her husband leaves her. In the middle of this section, she writes, "An outcast from marriage, I look at other marriages with a different eye. Silently I congratulate the couples I pass in the street, while at the same time wondering why they are together and I am alone." Many passages from this book reminded me of Elena Ferrante, particularly her novel The Days of Abandonment. Ferrante's novel tells the story of Olga, how she behaves and how she feels in the days after her husband mysteriously leaves her. In Aftermath, the reason for Cusk and her husband's separation is also mysterious. The only thing we hear about their marriage is in the titular opening chapter, in which Cusk writes, "My husband believed that I had treated him monstrously."
Aftermath wouldn't be a Rachel Cusk book without incredible simile usage and descriptions of certain people that make the reader feel very lucky to not be the subject of Cusk's cutting observations. In the chapter titled "The Razor's Edge," Cusk takes her daughters on a trip to ride horses and stay at a vacation home. Their vacation is soon ruined when the owner of the property comes around and tells them that they have to move. When Cusk sees the property owner, she immediately starts tearing her to shreds, "She is so dishevelled it is hard to get a sense of her. Vaguely I apprehend a large mounded body, a shock of grey frizzy hair, a clutch of big yellow teeth, a red leathery face grotesquely made up." Ouch.
Aftermath is a slim volume, a couple day's commitment at most, but contains some of the most personal writing I've read from Cusk thus far. This is an honest account of divorce that doesn't feel sensationalized in the slightest - and makes Cusk, an author who often seems somewhat larger-than-life, feel a bit more human.
chloewood's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.75