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cremefracas's review against another edition
5.0
You don't have to idolize your narrator. This was great. You see the male version of this narrator all the time. Why is a female version still so fresh/controversial/anger-inducing? Laugh riot?
e333mily's review against another edition
4.0
“In all of this, there was one overarching question that never left my side, an ongoing task that could never be called complete, though I hoped one day it would be: What was the right way to react to people? Who was I to talk to at parties? How was I to be?”
“For so long I had been looking hard into every person I met, hoping I might discover in them all the thoughts and feelings I hoped life would give me but hadn't.”
“They must work — without escaping into fantasies about being the person who worked. And I don't mean work for its own sake; but they must choose work that begins and ends in a passion, a question that is gnawing at their guts, which is not to be avoided but must be realized and lived through hard work and the suffering that inevitably comes with the process.”
“My panic increased as I thought of ways I could take my decision back, trying to remind myself meanwhile that the point of life was not to avoid suffering — that any choice involved suffering — and that in choosing to leave the salon, I was choosing one kind of suffering, while choosing to stay would involve another, whereas going back and forth as I was doing now was the worst kind of suffering of all, as it was an attempt to avoid life, which would leave me finally with nothing.”
“For so long I had been looking hard into every person I met, hoping I might discover in them all the thoughts and feelings I hoped life would give me but hadn't.”
“They must work — without escaping into fantasies about being the person who worked. And I don't mean work for its own sake; but they must choose work that begins and ends in a passion, a question that is gnawing at their guts, which is not to be avoided but must be realized and lived through hard work and the suffering that inevitably comes with the process.”
“My panic increased as I thought of ways I could take my decision back, trying to remind myself meanwhile that the point of life was not to avoid suffering — that any choice involved suffering — and that in choosing to leave the salon, I was choosing one kind of suffering, while choosing to stay would involve another, whereas going back and forth as I was doing now was the worst kind of suffering of all, as it was an attempt to avoid life, which would leave me finally with nothing.”
colleenxm's review against another edition
4.0
Sheila is such a fcking genius it makes me sad that I can’t have constant access to her daily musings
skrrtvonnegut's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I really did not enjoy this book. The narrator was deeply unlikeable and I really didn't care what direction her life was going or if she would actually write a play.
keight's review against another edition
4.0
I might have skipped this semi-autobiographical novel entirely if I’d only read James Wood’s rather negative opinion in his New Yorker review. Luckily a friend pointed me toward Johanna Fateman’s Bookforum review, and I reconsidered. It’s a strangely tricky book, as I suspect readers will either relate or entirely not-relate to the character Sheila’s ambition to be the best person she can be. But those who do relate may enjoy how she explores this conceit, while others may be disgusted by the ugliness of it and what that, indirectly, says about them. Read more on my booklog
hannahmadeline's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
kathrynhmm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ficklefever's review against another edition
4.0
sheila heti is incredible and i can't believe i'm taking a craft seminar with her this month!!!