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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Darkly interesting; pacing reveals the events from three different points on the timeline, all converging
I enjoy this type of British novel (similar to things I've read by Ali Smith, Tessa Hadley, Meg Rosoff) and this one was well-done. Man Booker longlist is right for it. Also an extremely good cover.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Johnson's first story collection is populated by characters and settings that owe a big deal to magic realism, but they are more than anything an excuse -Johnson's excuse- to talk about issues such as domestic violence, abuse, identity, gender.
And now she goes and publishes this wonderful monster, this beautiful reinterpretation of Sophocle's Oedipus Rex only here the clairvoyant who brings the prophecy is a transgender woman, the hunter is a young woman who works as a lexicographer as a way to find her place in language, and the kid who tries to escape his fate -only to find it later- is someone unable to express his truth, until it's too late. In Johnson's appropriation of this tale, the king has a boat and the queen is a demential being who loses and gets lost.
This is a novel that hides one too many monsters. This is a novel about finding and losing your family while losing and finding yourself. It is about how society pushes you constantly to the verge of a canal you are afraid to cross.
And now she goes and publishes this wonderful monster, this beautiful reinterpretation of Sophocle's Oedipus Rex only here the clairvoyant who brings the prophecy is a transgender woman, the hunter is a young woman who works as a lexicographer as a way to find her place in language, and the kid who tries to escape his fate -only to find it later- is someone unable to express his truth, until it's too late. In Johnson's appropriation of this tale, the king has a boat and the queen is a demential being who loses and gets lost.
This is a novel that hides one too many monsters. This is a novel about finding and losing your family while losing and finding yourself. It is about how society pushes you constantly to the verge of a canal you are afraid to cross.
This book was bizarre for me to read. Certainly depths to it for analysis and unpacking dynamics of family, gender fluidity, and parenting. Kept reading because I wanted to figure out what the heck was it coming to, but it left me just saying "Huh?"
I just think it wasn't the right time for me to encounter this book. The mother/daughter themes are triggering.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Perfect perfect perfect book for early autumn English river obsession with shades of menace and mythology.