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captainfez's review
challenging
dark
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
belindad's review against another edition
Although I hate boxing I decided to give this a go given all the good reviews. But to me the author was trying way too hard to be clever while also laying on the self deprecation just enough to make it seem like he really didn’t think he was that clever. I found the subject boring and the tone really self satisfied and annoying.
maree_k's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
So weird. I think Katherine Dunn, who wrote extensively about boxing, would have loved it. I know I did. In my opinion, although they are vastly different books in some ways, my guess is that if you loved Geek Love, you’ll appreciate Grimmish more than most.
teatales's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
This book is so weird. Very well written - some passages really struck me. Not sure if I'm smart enough to get it completely.
parkkeeper_percy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
curatoriallyyours's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
An odd little book about a man and his not-uncle that he calls an uncle, who are discussing the not-uncle’s memories of an Italian boxer named Joe Grim. My understanding is that Grim is a real boxer who came out to Australia during his boxing career. He was famous for being able to withstand insane amounts of pain and for being nearly impossible to knock out. This strange tale goes places you don’t expect and is an intriguing read. Alongside Grim’s tale, the man and his not-uncle talk about writing and words in an almost poetic way, and they explore the link between masculinity and violence. It’s weird and I feel like not everyone who picks this book up will like its quirks as much as I did. Well worth it for those who enjoy a strange tale well told.
archytas's review
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
3.75
There is clearly a massive fan base for this book, and you can see why. It is so very clever - and doesn't waste its cleverness, but rather deploys it in service of challenging the reader to think about big ideas. It is also an unambiguously masculine book which is becoming rarer in literary fiction. I didn't really expect to love it - for starters I find boxing very difficult to engage with - which was good, because that was a pretty accurate assessment . I did like it, but I found it flawed in ways that seem to be receiving less attention than its successes.
In part, I think it should be noted that Winkler deploys fourth-wall breaking techniques in ways that deliberately shape the attention of the viewer, but which also ensure the work is interrogated on Winkler's own terms. This is most noticeable when Winkler calls himself out - drawing attention to the lack of women in the text, or the absence of dealing with First Nations issues. On one level this invites interrogation of these issues, but on another level it also invites absolution., and mostly, it enables Grimmish to move on to the things it really wants to talk about.
It's not that these are not great techniques. But they are deployed repeatedly. The structure, dnesly woven and with unreliable narrators, time jumps and absurdity layered alongside it certainly isn't the only thing going on.
The book is more non-fiction than fiction, I think, although it certainly uses fictional techniques. But in the end, Winkler's comments on the writing process feel most significant here. His exploration of Grim is one largely of pain, of Grim as an avatar of endurance and suffering. This physical pain - and the descriptions are visceral of bones crunching and blood spurting - is always explored in a contrast/companion of psychological pain. I was acutely aware of my perspective here of living with a pain condition - which I think lessened my patience with this attempt to find meaning in pain, which for me is more tedium than drama. This is, however, a wonderful summary of the impact: ""What is the thing we call pain? It is something that captures the attention of the sufferer, but otherwise has no meaning. It makes no sound, has no colour or smell, occupies no physical space. And yet at its most extreme, pain becomes the only thing of which the sufferer is aware, bigger for the victim in that instant than any object in the universe."
But then, of course, the book is as much about why this matters to Winkler as it is about the topic itself. This takes us into a discussion about the act of writing itself, but also carries the feeling that the writer cannot escape his own head (One of the best quotes: "If you take up residence in your own head for long enough, you start to think you’re able to evict the landlord.")
As you can see, Winkler has that enviable ability to put words together in ways that feel both new and inevitable making writing a pleasure to read. This is perhaps truest when he is discussing mental health, and I found myself madly clipping. This writing also feels the time you get the closest to Winkler, and where the writing consequently hits (in the best way) the hardest (while always, of course, letting you get back up for another punch!).
In part, I think it should be noted that Winkler deploys fourth-wall breaking techniques in ways that deliberately shape the attention of the viewer, but which also ensure the work is interrogated on Winkler's own terms. This is most noticeable when Winkler calls himself out - drawing attention to the lack of women in the text, or the absence of dealing with First Nations issues. On one level this invites interrogation of these issues, but on another level it also invites absolution., and mostly, it enables Grimmish to move on to the things it really wants to talk about.
It's not that these are not great techniques. But they are deployed repeatedly. The structure, dnesly woven and with unreliable narrators, time jumps and absurdity layered alongside it certainly isn't the only thing going on.
The book is more non-fiction than fiction, I think, although it certainly uses fictional techniques. But in the end, Winkler's comments on the writing process feel most significant here. His exploration of Grim is one largely of pain, of Grim as an avatar of endurance and suffering. This physical pain - and the descriptions are visceral of bones crunching and blood spurting - is always explored in a contrast/companion of psychological pain. I was acutely aware of my perspective here of living with a pain condition - which I think lessened my patience with this attempt to find meaning in pain, which for me is more tedium than drama. This is, however, a wonderful summary of the impact: ""What is the thing we call pain? It is something that captures the attention of the sufferer, but otherwise has no meaning. It makes no sound, has no colour or smell, occupies no physical space. And yet at its most extreme, pain becomes the only thing of which the sufferer is aware, bigger for the victim in that instant than any object in the universe."
But then, of course, the book is as much about why this matters to Winkler as it is about the topic itself. This takes us into a discussion about the act of writing itself, but also carries the feeling that the writer cannot escape his own head (One of the best quotes: "If you take up residence in your own head for long enough, you start to think you’re able to evict the landlord.")
As you can see, Winkler has that enviable ability to put words together in ways that feel both new and inevitable making writing a pleasure to read. This is perhaps truest when he is discussing mental health, and I found myself madly clipping. This writing also feels the time you get the closest to Winkler, and where the writing consequently hits (in the best way) the hardest (while always, of course, letting you get back up for another punch!).
kingtoad's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
katspectre67's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
informative
reflective
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
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