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This book felt like watching a medieval play; the fiefdom is nothing more than a backdrop to watch our characters act out their darkest desires. It worked really well as a vehicle to tell the story of the human condition of trying to find meaning in life and how people's perspectives shape the way they experience the world and make sense of the things that happen to them and the choices they make. The story is told with an omniscient narrator that jumps from character to character, which does make for some telling-not-showing issues here and there. But overall the writing was well done, and Moshfegh is very intentional about each and every word she chooses to really dial up the grotesque imagery that fills every page. In Lapvona, babies are not birthed, they are plunked out.
The characters we follow are like caricatures of the worst people you have ever met. You have the perpetual victim Jude, who sees it as his manly duty to beat his child and rape women; the pitiful Marek who makes excuses for his own actions but judges the actions of others; the pious holier-than-thou servant Lispeth, who denies herself all mortal desires except a single piece of cabbage every day; the imbecile lord Villiam that can't be alone with his thoughts for more than 2 minutes
The characters are exasperatingly self-serving. They don't think about others except to judge them. Their interactions with each other are always transactional, full of projections that each casts onto the other.
"You're too kind, young sir," Villiam said. "It is all a testament to God's glory, not mine." He looked at the priest to say something further, but Barnabas was picking the bones out of his fish stew. He'd been ornery and distracted lately. Perhaps the priest suffered from envy--Villiam would soon be a father to the son of God; Barnabas would never attain such glory.
Each character spends all their time in their own head, constantly feigning moral superiority over arbitrary rules, lacking empathy and self-reflection. At the same time, the reader can see bits of themselves in each character too which causes a bit of ironic self-reflection. I, too, cannot eat my dinner without watching a silly little guy dance for me on a screen.
The idiocy of the characters and the disgusting plot that ensues opens up a commentary on things like religion, moral piety, putting certain ideas or people on pedestals, all that jazz. It explores the idea of perspective and uses a lot of (disgusting) imagery about eyeballs.
I don't want to say this book was funny because of its horrifying content, but the whole book was filled with a sardonic tone that worked really well for me. Characters had sarcastic, dry one-liners that did make me chuckle:
"Why do I feel unhappy?" he asked Lispeth.
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Don't you have any wisdom?"
"No."
The witchy character, Ina, adds a bit of dark fairytale imagery that lends itself well to the setting and overall themes of religion and perspective. Don't get me wrong, she is also a terrible person that abuses everyone she comes across for her own benefit, but her storyline in particular is super interesting and its fairytale-esque quality adds a bit of supernatural mystery and causes reflection on things like higher powers and idols.
This was a good introduction into horror, even though this book doesn't really get classified as horror. I definitely think it leans more on the literary side, but it reads like a depressing gothic fairytale and calls upon some of the imagery that is often used in horror such as religion and inner turmoil, but with a sarcastic, ironic twist. Yeah I liked this a lot despite (or in part, because of?) its gratuitous depravity. I really liked how Moshfegh used horror elements to an absolutely absurd degree. I read a lot of reviews saying that the horrific scenes served no purpose except cheap shock value, which I definitely can see, but to me it felt like that was exactly what she was going for. They are needlessly graphic to the point that they veer into absurdity which only amplifies the characters' issues with moral superiority and lack of self-reflection.
If you like horror or want to try to get into horror I think this would be a good read for you.
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, Classism
Zu Ostern waren die Räuber wieder da...
- Lapvona, 1%
🎧 gehört als Hörbuch
Als erstes: dieses Buch braucht alle Trigger-Warnungen, die es gibt.
Sehr beklemmende Stimmung mit einem Cast von Charakteren die verstörend, pervers und interessant sind. Ihre absurden Handlungen machen in ihrem abstrusen Weltbild Sinn.
Ehrliche Zitate wie dieses sind in dieser Welt, in der Armut und Verwahrlosung herrscht, erfrischend:
... das Produkt einer Vergewaltigung war nicht mehr als das BeweisstĂĽck eines Verbrechens...
Die Allegorie zu unserer Welt, wo die Reichen in Luxus schwelgen und die Ressourcen für sich beanspruchen, während der 'Pöbel' von früh bis spät schuftet und trotzdem verhungert und verdurstet, geht zu 100% auf.
Villiam und Barnabas erinnern mich an den BĂĽrgermeister der Seestadt + seinen Gehilfen im Hobbit 2+3 (Film).
Menschen, wie Grigori, die das ganze durchschauen, sind die Ausnahme und trauen sich nichts zu sagen, da sie von der Dorfgemeinschaft sonst nur als verrĂĽckte abgestempelt werden.
... Wer nichts besaĂź, dem konnte nichts gestohlen werden...
Warum nur 3 Sterne?
Ich finde ab der zweiten Hälfte ist die Geschichte nur mehr dahin geplätschert, um zum Ende (ab 90%) nochmal spannend zu werden.
Es wurden noch einige neue Charaktere gegen Ende eingeführt (zB Grigori + Familie), während andere einfach ignoriert wurden und nur mehr wenig oder gar nicht mehr behandelt wurden (zB Jude, Agatha).
Dadurch ergab sich fĂĽr mich irgendwie ein unrundes Bild.
Wenn man ĂĽber so etwas hinweg sehen kann, ist das s ein empfehlenswertes Buch fĂĽr jemanden mit starken Magen.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
it really is a weird lit fic read for the weird girlies.
now i need to find someone to talk about this one with. otherwise i might go crazy.
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Vomit, Cannibalism
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Excrement, Grief, Pregnancy, Alcohol
Minor: Incest, Miscarriage
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism