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james2529's review against another edition
3.0
Easily the weakest of her books that I've read.
I loved the autobiographical parts but there are only so many dream sequences you can read any still enjoy.
There is a lot of influence from asylum piece and other writers here.
I loved the autobiographical parts but there are only so many dream sequences you can read any still enjoy.
There is a lot of influence from asylum piece and other writers here.
sadiereadsagain's review against another edition
2.0
This wasn't an easy read. At times I got utterly lost as to what was happening in the dream sequences & often couldn't find their meaning. I think these sequences serve to illustrate her state of mind during various parts of her life, a biography of feelings rather than details. But, regardless of the fact that she was a very talented writer, I felt most of the time like I was wading through random prose which really amounted to nothing & made little sense. I don't suppose the fact she was a long term heroin addict helped translate her ideas to those of us not so illuminated, or maybe the fact I'm not a fan of fantasy just made it too hard for me to penetrate. As I said, she was very talented as a writer, & I did like the approach in theory. But I just felt I was reading purely to get to the end, & at times read whole chunks without digesting any of it. I preferred her more structured work.
serpentineraindodger's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Hey Anna. The tension between day and night would work better if you just wrote one thing that was both day and night simultaneously, not bracketing them off. Anyway, have a good holiday, hope the nightmares return.
literatureaesthetic's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 ☆
read for uni — it's a modernist book, so naturally it's very abstract and difficult to grasp. i'm not even entirely sure i understood majority of it (which is the entire point, tbf). there's so many layers to this novel, i feel like i could spend an entire year analysing it. but for now, it was fine, i guess??
virginia woolf and anaïs nin fans are probably the only people i'd recommend this to lmao. it's such a specific type of novel, extremely ambiguous, it definitely won't appeal to the masses.
read for uni — it's a modernist book, so naturally it's very abstract and difficult to grasp. i'm not even entirely sure i understood majority of it (which is the entire point, tbf). there's so many layers to this novel, i feel like i could spend an entire year analysing it. but for now, it was fine, i guess??
virginia woolf and anaïs nin fans are probably the only people i'd recommend this to lmao. it's such a specific type of novel, extremely ambiguous, it definitely won't appeal to the masses.
wetherspoonsgf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
In the seminar for this book there was a great moment where me and the girl next to me suddenly realised not everyone else had connected with it like we had, which is fair when you consider Anna Kavan is a woman who had a heroin-adjacent psychotic break that caused her to rename herself after one of her own characters.
SHHH (an ironically appropriate acronym) is 200 pages of the kind of panic attack-esque questioning you ask yourself falling asleep as a kid too inquisitive for the adults around them, rendered in some of the best constructed and theorised dream sequences I’ve ever read. When a book is so good it makes you consider the academic value of Surrealist Dream Theory that’s gotta be worth something.
SHHH (an ironically appropriate acronym) is 200 pages of the kind of panic attack-esque questioning you ask yourself falling asleep as a kid too inquisitive for the adults around them, rendered in some of the best constructed and theorised dream sequences I’ve ever read. When a book is so good it makes you consider the academic value of Surrealist Dream Theory that’s gotta be worth something.
juanluisgarciaa's review against another edition
3.0
DNF (Stopped around the 100 page mark)
My choice to not finish this book is simply because it is a bit repetitive. Kavan introduces a series of 'dream' sequences which are definitely as vivid and unpredictable as dreams can be. These are written beautifully and every page is packed with impactful lines that highlight her literary talent. However, as i kept reading i found that these dreams are usually the same concept but in a different setting.
Kavan usually starts the dream sequences with a setting that connotes a sense of normality and/or positivity. Sometimes it is a suburb where the grass is always green and perfectly trimmed, other times a friendly gathering in a mountain that is fragranced by white flowers and the humidity of nature, and other times it is heaven. After some vivid descriptions of the setting, she establishes some uncertainty, at times this felt like the feeling of confusion one gets when slowly snapping out of a dream, or the sense of vertigo that some people supposedly feel while lucid dreaming. Those are , at least, the feelings it evoked on me. After some time, you get a complete contrast as 'A' (Kavan's mother) walks into the scenery. She is sort of 'grim reaper-like' as once she enters the setting everything starts to darken and rot, reality becomes warped and the true randomness of dreams strikes. It basically turns into a nightmare, there is thunder, hurricanes... etc. I suppose it is an effect of the energy she carries, the mother is a representation of death and darkness, although not in an evil way. After that, we get an immense feeling of isolation. This is usually what happens in every dream sequence leading up to the 100 page mark, I can't say much for anything after that.
Kavan's mother was clearly a very troubled person, and it is suggested in the book that she might have committed suicide. It is a very sad book. I interpreted it as the attempts of a very lonely child to connect with her emotionally distant mother by finding a sense of comfort in the darkness her own mother invents within the household. In a way, 'B' (Kavan) also inherits her mother's mental illness, so that is another way in which they connect. Essentially, from what I have read this book is about way more than it says on the blurb. It is about the complicated relations of mother and child, mental illness and emotional inheritance.
It is very interesting concept, and the writing is great but unfortunately it is too repetitive for me to read at the moment, I hope I can come back to it one day though!
My choice to not finish this book is simply because it is a bit repetitive. Kavan introduces a series of 'dream' sequences which are definitely as vivid and unpredictable as dreams can be. These are written beautifully and every page is packed with impactful lines that highlight her literary talent. However, as i kept reading i found that these dreams are usually the same concept but in a different setting.
Kavan usually starts the dream sequences with a setting that connotes a sense of normality and/or positivity. Sometimes it is a suburb where the grass is always green and perfectly trimmed, other times a friendly gathering in a mountain that is fragranced by white flowers and the humidity of nature, and other times it is heaven. After some vivid descriptions of the setting, she establishes some uncertainty, at times this felt like the feeling of confusion one gets when slowly snapping out of a dream, or the sense of vertigo that some people supposedly feel while lucid dreaming. Those are , at least, the feelings it evoked on me. After some time, you get a complete contrast as 'A' (Kavan's mother) walks into the scenery. She is sort of 'grim reaper-like' as once she enters the setting everything starts to darken and rot, reality becomes warped and the true randomness of dreams strikes. It basically turns into a nightmare, there is thunder, hurricanes... etc. I suppose it is an effect of the energy she carries, the mother is a representation of death and darkness, although not in an evil way. After that, we get an immense feeling of isolation. This is usually what happens in every dream sequence leading up to the 100 page mark, I can't say much for anything after that.
Kavan's mother was clearly a very troubled person, and it is suggested in the book that she might have committed suicide. It is a very sad book. I interpreted it as the attempts of a very lonely child to connect with her emotionally distant mother by finding a sense of comfort in the darkness her own mother invents within the household. In a way, 'B' (Kavan) also inherits her mother's mental illness, so that is another way in which they connect. Essentially, from what I have read this book is about way more than it says on the blurb. It is about the complicated relations of mother and child, mental illness and emotional inheritance.
It is very interesting concept, and the writing is great but unfortunately it is too repetitive for me to read at the moment, I hope I can come back to it one day though!
robforteath's review against another edition
3.0
This book is mainly long ultra-descriptive dream sequences, separated by short explanatory prose that gives some context.
I soon became weary of plowing through the pages of detail that is often an entire chapter, and settled into speed-reading it, which meant I missed the point of some pieces. You are required to read the very detailed descriptions, imagine the dream in your head, then ponder it to see its meaning. This is asking a lot of the reader.
I think I would really enjoy this if it was in the form of dream sequence videos, with the autobiographical prose page between each left as text to read.
I soon became weary of plowing through the pages of detail that is often an entire chapter, and settled into speed-reading it, which meant I missed the point of some pieces. You are required to read the very detailed descriptions, imagine the dream in your head, then ponder it to see its meaning. This is asking a lot of the reader.
I think I would really enjoy this if it was in the form of dream sequence videos, with the autobiographical prose page between each left as text to read.