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jenmarta's review against another edition
4.0
The ending was beautiful, but it's a really rough ride to get there-- a lot of unapologetic violence against women. I will probably like this book more in retrospect, once the horrible images are out of my head.
jhd016's review against another edition
3.0
Not going to lie, this is a book that largely went over my head in meaning. I understood going in that it was supposed to be some re-imagining on the fairytale of Bluebeard, about a man who murders wives when they violate his trust by looking in a room that he explicitly tells them not to enter. That influence is evident enough as Mr. Fox is some sort of jumbled tale about an author who keeps killing his own female characters (who you meet in short story form throughout the book) and struggles with delusions of one of his characters becoming real and competing with his wife for his attentions.
Honestly, the PoV, timeline, and setting keep flipping so fast that it is hard to keep track of the who, what, where, and when of the story. My guess is that you aren't really supposed to worry about that as a reader, which feels counter-intuitive and had me constantly on edge, worried that I was not understanding. Even more frustrating, I'm not sure I grasped the wider point Oyeyemi was trying to make while I was reading if there was one at all. I had to resort to reading other reviews after I finished to even piece together meaning. Overall, I felt disoriented.
With all that said, I truly do love the style of Oyeyemi's writing. She has very fluid, natural prose and dialogue that feels light and deceptively simple to read with everything put into place. If I had to place an aesthetic to it, I would compare her writing to a Wes Anderson narrator.
I don't know, decide for yourself on this one.
Honestly, the PoV, timeline, and setting keep flipping so fast that it is hard to keep track of the who, what, where, and when of the story. My guess is that you aren't really supposed to worry about that as a reader, which feels counter-intuitive and had me constantly on edge, worried that I was not understanding. Even more frustrating, I'm not sure I grasped the wider point Oyeyemi was trying to make while I was reading if there was one at all. I had to resort to reading other reviews after I finished to even piece together meaning. Overall, I felt disoriented.
With all that said, I truly do love the style of Oyeyemi's writing. She has very fluid, natural prose and dialogue that feels light and deceptively simple to read with everything put into place. If I had to place an aesthetic to it, I would compare her writing to a Wes Anderson narrator.
I don't know, decide for yourself on this one.
lrc52's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Just fyi--I wouldn't consider this magical realism.
As usual, man falls in love with the idea of perfection-in this case of his own creation. Mr. Fox is a writer of fiction in which the women come to violent ends. (This is mentioned and occasionally there are a few details, but the book is not gory.) He has created a muse--Mary--with whom he falls in love. Not only is she a perfect woman, but he also controls her--though the writing is a bit messy about this because sometimes he controls her (scene where he renders her mute because she is annoying him) and other times she is completely on her own like when she visits his wife and goes to dinner.
Mr. Fox also has a flesh and blood wife--Daphne--that he mostly ignores until he is jealous of another man's attentions to her.
Mary objects to his violent treatment of his female characters and challenges him to a game. They write back and forth. As he writes she answers with her own story with him as the subject. Thus beginning a conversation exploring the casual violence against women so prevalent in the real world. Their stories begin to invade reality--in layered ways. Mary begins to recognize Mr. Fox's same casual (emotional) violence toward his wife and reaches out to her. They turn to each other--each defiant but understanding the other's desperate for the love of Mr. Fox.
What happens next? Not much. Except ultimately there is no refute of violence against women--only a trope of women learning to love the violence.
As usual, man falls in love with the idea of perfection-in this case of his own creation. Mr. Fox is a writer of fiction in which the women come to violent ends. (This is mentioned and occasionally there are a few details, but the book is not gory.) He has created a muse--Mary--with whom he falls in love. Not only is she a perfect woman, but he also controls her--though the writing is a bit messy about this because sometimes he controls her (scene where he renders her mute because she is annoying him) and other times she is completely on her own like when she visits his wife and goes to dinner.
Mr. Fox also has a flesh and blood wife--Daphne--that he mostly ignores until he is jealous of another man's attentions to her.
Mary objects to his violent treatment of his female characters and challenges him to a game. They write back and forth. As he writes she answers with her own story with him as the subject. Thus beginning a conversation exploring the casual violence against women so prevalent in the real world. Their stories begin to invade reality--in layered ways. Mary begins to recognize Mr. Fox's same casual (emotional) violence toward his wife and reaches out to her. They turn to each other--each defiant but understanding the other's desperate for the love of Mr. Fox.
What happens next? Not much. Except ultimately there is no refute of violence against women--only a trope of women learning to love the violence.
meghan111's review against another edition
4.0
Slips back and forth between pretty straightforward stories of fictional characters and interludes with the author, Mr. Fox, his muse, and his wife. Fairy tale inspirations and beautiful writing. If you're a male writer, what does it mean when your female characters meet violent, unhappy ends?
Two fragments:
1. A fox steals a dictionary.
2. "How can I be a better husband?" a character asks, and his wife gives him a mask to wear:
This book would be an excellent pairing with [b:Tender Morsels|2662169|Tender Morsels|Margo Lanagan|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320416424s/2662169.jpg|2687395] by Margo Lanagan.
Two fragments:
1. A fox steals a dictionary.
2. "How can I be a better husband?" a character asks, and his wife gives him a mask to wear:
"A white mask. Not flat white; rather, a colour suggestive of earth, brilliant but faintly fibrous, as it is beneath the skin of a pear. The mask's expression was neither happy nor sad."
This book would be an excellent pairing with [b:Tender Morsels|2662169|Tender Morsels|Margo Lanagan|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320416424s/2662169.jpg|2687395] by Margo Lanagan.
rickyapendley's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
scheu's review against another edition
5.0
What this book will say to you about love will depend largely on your perspective going in. It has many things to say and all of them are beautifully crafted. A novel that bears reflection.
audaciaray's review against another edition
1.0
I really liked the idea of this book. I understood the general direction and purpose of the killing of all the women - the book highlights that male authors repetitively killing female characters is problematic - but I just couldn't take it. I'm probably not at a place in my life where I should be reading books on which men kill their female partners, even in a twice removed fictional conceit.
sararahjane's review against another edition
3.0
I absolutely love Helen Oyeyemi, and her writing is just as gorgeous and layered here as in Gingerbread and Boy, Snow, Bird. That said, I truly had no idea what was going on for 90% of the book and I might not have read the whole thing if I didn’t implicitly trust her as an author. Many of the lovely vignettes stuck with me as stand-alone stories, but this won’t be my fave of her books.
aleffert's review against another edition
5.0
Anything I said about this book would not really convey it. There are characters writing each other stories, only one of them is imaginary, and the characters themselves weave in and out of the stories and there is a lot of lust and death.
It is beautifully and disorienting, a whirlpool of a novel.
It is beautifully and disorienting, a whirlpool of a novel.