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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
I really enjoy Vivian Gornick. This is not your typical memoir, as in it does not contain a sustained narrative. It's more essay-memoir covering a host of issues, with lovely glimmers of Gornick's relationship with her friend Leonard and her love of New York.
podobała mi się jeszcze bardziej niż „przywiązania”. więcej nowego jorku, więcej przemyśleń i mnóstwo ciekawych spojrzeń na świat!!!!
Like Charles Dickens with London, Gornick walks the streets of New York City and knows them intimately. She walks for the same reasons I believe Dickens did: to ward off restlessness and depression; and to immerse herself in the characters she encounters, because hearing their voices, their “expressiveness” as she calls it (a word which recalls for me Dos Passos’ [b:Manhattan Transfer|126587|Manhattan Transfer|John Dos Passos|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1406085394s/126587.jpg|1168729]) is like breathing.
It’s written as “a series of vignettes,” as Anne's review says, which can tell you more about the book than I can. Gornick moves as quickly, and as elegantly, in her writing, as she likely does the streets of New York.
Though I was enjoying this work the whole time, I wasn’t fully engaged until I spotted the name [a:Constance Fenimore Woolson|182611|Constance Fenimore Woolson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1383608610p2/182611.jpg]. Then I became excited, as if seeing an old friend, much in the same way Gornick enjoys seeing old friends and acquaintances as she makes her way around the city. After relating the story of Woolson and Henry James’ friendship, Gornick writes, The night after I’d read about Woolson and James, I became a literary groupie. She doesn’t explain that sentence but immediately relates a dream about herself and her best friend, a gay man, that’s obviously rooted in the friendship of the two 19th-century writers.
I’d figured the ‘odd woman’ of the title was a nod to Gissing’s novel [b:The Odd Women|675037|The Odd Women|George Gissing|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1177017769s/675037.jpg|661046] and Gornick’s longest section explains why it's important to her. After reading and loving his [b:New Grub Street|782519|New Grub Street|George Gissing|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1414700331s/782519.jpg|768534] many years ago, I’ve been meaning to read [b:The Odd Women|675037|The Odd Women|George Gissing|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1177017769s/675037.jpg|661046] for years. I now have a new impetus to do so.
It’s written as “a series of vignettes,” as Anne's review says, which can tell you more about the book than I can. Gornick moves as quickly, and as elegantly, in her writing, as she likely does the streets of New York.
Though I was enjoying this work the whole time, I wasn’t fully engaged until I spotted the name [a:Constance Fenimore Woolson|182611|Constance Fenimore Woolson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1383608610p2/182611.jpg]. Then I became excited, as if seeing an old friend, much in the same way Gornick enjoys seeing old friends and acquaintances as she makes her way around the city. After relating the story of Woolson and Henry James’ friendship, Gornick writes, The night after I’d read about Woolson and James, I became a literary groupie. She doesn’t explain that sentence but immediately relates a dream about herself and her best friend, a gay man, that’s obviously rooted in the friendship of the two 19th-century writers.
I’d figured the ‘odd woman’ of the title was a nod to Gissing’s novel [b:The Odd Women|675037|The Odd Women|George Gissing|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1177017769s/675037.jpg|661046] and Gornick’s longest section explains why it's important to her. After reading and loving his [b:New Grub Street|782519|New Grub Street|George Gissing|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1414700331s/782519.jpg|768534] many years ago, I’ve been meaning to read [b:The Odd Women|675037|The Odd Women|George Gissing|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1177017769s/675037.jpg|661046] for years. I now have a new impetus to do so.
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
More a collection of loosely connected thoughts ranging from cringeworthy to brilliant than an integrated conversation with Leonard, who only appears from time to time. Knowing NYC made me appreciate the book more. And she's a wonderful writer.
I really hated this at first, but her voice grew on me, then ended up charming me.
reflective
medium-paced
I received a copy of this book as a goodreads giveaway. I also received a reading copy through work. I came across it when I was looking for books about New York. I loved the idea of the "odd woman" as flaneur; a feminist reflecting on Life. I wasn't familiar with Gornick's previous work but the reviews were outstanding so I came to it with some fairly high expectations. Okay, so you know what comes next ... I was a tad underwhelmed by it. Sure, it has some wonderful insights and observations and the writing is often poetic ... But I just didn't connect with it. Perhaps it's a New York thing. Perhaps there are too many knowing nods to what has gone before that I'm just not aware of. Perhaps if I'd read Fierce Attachments I'd feel differently. It's obviously resonated with many a reader but I came away from it thinking, this book is not for me.
This is an odd book - little tidbits of life... I kinda wonder if in 6 months I'm gonna have an a-ha moment and love this book...