Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Un libro en el que no pasa nada y pasan muchas cosas, lleno de frases para subrayar y de magia. Pero es que Nueva York es mágica y recorrerla en el espacio y en el tiempo con Vivian Gornick es una maravilla. Ella misma escribe sobre otra autora “Estas novelas son todo voz, en ellas no hay apenas trama. El lector está en la cabeza de una mujer durante un día (o unos pocos días) en Nueva York, que reflexiona, medita, recuerda, tratando de comprender su vida en una prosa que es un reflejo de su mundo interior”. Y esto mismo es lo que pasa con las dos novelas de Vivian Gornick que me he leído.
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
This lady is totally New York. Stop daydreaming. Worth buying to have on the shelf
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
reflective
slow-paced
I was charmed by this memoir at first. It started off well, and I liked the writing style and short, to-the-point sections. But about 90 pages in, I started to get bored. Gornick is a bit too existential and abstract for my taste. She doesn’t describe setting very well, and it was hard to feel myself situated in New York.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
There were some lovely quotes and musings, especially in the beginning. But after a while the author starts to come off as pretentious. She clearly has an extensive knowledge of fine art and literature, but, rather than attempting to introduce the reader to this knowledge, she seems to expect us to know about these things. It could just be that I wasn’t the intended audience, though.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The author also comes across as critical. She aims for an impartial point of view, but the facade falls apart quickly. For instance, she describes this one moment on the bus where she tells a man (she makes a point of saying he’s Black) to lower his voice as he speaks on the phone and he begins to yell at her, so she orders the driver to stop the bus and call the police. It was such a cringey moment, and she clearly expects us to sympathize with her. I had a hard time finding her likable from there on.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
There was also one moment that reeked of ableism. It was hard to read.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I only finished this because it was 175 pages long (and even then it felt overlong). I simply wasn’t enjoying myself by the end.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
There were some lovely quotes and musings, especially in the beginning. But after a while the author starts to come off as pretentious. She clearly has an extensive knowledge of fine art and literature, but, rather than attempting to introduce the reader to this knowledge, she seems to expect us to know about these things. It could just be that I wasn’t the intended audience, though.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The author also comes across as critical. She aims for an impartial point of view, but the facade falls apart quickly. For instance, she describes this one moment on the bus where she tells a man (she makes a point of saying he’s Black) to lower his voice as he speaks on the phone and he begins to yell at her, so she orders the driver to stop the bus and call the police. It was such a cringey moment, and she clearly expects us to sympathize with her. I had a hard time finding her likable from there on.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
There was also one moment that reeked of ableism. It was hard to read.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I only finished this because it was 175 pages long (and even then it felt overlong). I simply wasn’t enjoying myself by the end.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
Que puedo decir de Vivian Gornick mas que la amo. Me siento muy conectada con su escritura, lo que cuenta, su forma de ver el mundo y escribirlo es muy parecido a lo que pienso, lo que veo, y ella le pone palabras a las emociones, a todo lo que no me pasa pero que me hace sentirme cerca de ella aun así, aunque seamos muy diferentes, mujeres de distinto tiempo, me siento abrazada por su obra y quiero ver como ella ve, que me cuente todo.
dnf; started reading this with the wrong expectations. as i read the first 20 pages i just knew id find the author so annoying if i would know her irl, i already got annoyed just thinking about it. im sure it could be beautiful, hence the 2 stars, but just really not for me
