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meganmilks's review
gaitskill sifts through characters' memories in ways that at first seem a tad cliche, "i-know-where-this-is-going", but invariably veer elsewhere. heartbreaking, gutwrenching, etc. (whatever happened to those toddlers???) these stories tell me to cut off my tongue whenever i feel the urge to diss narrative realism.
marcys_books9's review against another edition
DNF at 25%
I picked this book because the synopsis sounded great. An exploration of human relationships and complex tales really grabbed my interest, so I really wanted to love this, but this was not up my alley.
Gaitskill is definitely a great writer. She writes sentences that pack a punch and are beautiful, so she is definitely skill in that. Some of her narrative is wonderful, how she can write complex people and create interesting insights. However...
There’s something hollow about it. For some reason it kind of reminded me about my feelings of Normal People, where all the characters have dark pasts to make them look cool, and ‘in’, but it feels like a cheap trick to make them look deep. Because They Wanted To felt the same, but this was saved by Gaitskill’s superior writing talents.
It just wasn’t for me. I felt more bored, because apparently writing unlikeable people is ‘literary’ and indicative of ‘great writing’, and I am tired of this. Just because it doesn’t work for me, it doesn’t mean it won’t work for others, because I can see the merit in this.
I picked this book because the synopsis sounded great. An exploration of human relationships and complex tales really grabbed my interest, so I really wanted to love this, but this was not up my alley.
Gaitskill is definitely a great writer. She writes sentences that pack a punch and are beautiful, so she is definitely skill in that. Some of her narrative is wonderful, how she can write complex people and create interesting insights. However...
There’s something hollow about it. For some reason it kind of reminded me about my feelings of Normal People, where all the characters have dark pasts to make them look cool, and ‘in’, but it feels like a cheap trick to make them look deep. Because They Wanted To felt the same, but this was saved by Gaitskill’s superior writing talents.
It just wasn’t for me. I felt more bored, because apparently writing unlikeable people is ‘literary’ and indicative of ‘great writing’, and I am tired of this. Just because it doesn’t work for me, it doesn’t mean it won’t work for others, because I can see the merit in this.
carlyque's review
4.0
Really love her voice and subject matter--smart, women doing good and bad in the world, sometimes confused.
corvidquest's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.25
hannargh's review against another edition
3.0
This set of short stories started out feeling poignant, sharp, observant and melancholy but, by the time you've read 5 or 6 of them, they began to feel like the same voice and same observations over and over again ...
These aren't those kind of short stories that fill you with despair and end on a hopeful note. They are insightful, painful and that's where they leave you and perhaps for the first few, you read them and find them really intriguing and inspiring. But then the next one comes and it's the same and there's no fixed end point, you just reach the end of the story.
And that was one of the hardest things about reading these stories, was that they kind of trailed off at the end. Nothing was resolved, we were just done listening in on that character.
But they are good. They really reminded me of the kind of sharp observational dark humour that comes with Anais Nin's short erotic stories, and Mary Gaitskill's short stories have a very similar vibe, and content, except that they're a little less 'smutty' and a lot more real-life.
They do indeed explore sexual 'otherness' and people are in some way disconnected with the world in that frighteningly empty Albert Camus way. To have the characters' level of self-narration and self-reflection they need to be disconnected from themselves. But when you've read a few stories like that, of people on the outside looking in, but not actually making any life-changing decisions, they become hard to read.
I wouldn't normally say this, as I often can't get enough of short stories, especially when they're good, but I could have done with about 75% of the ones in this book. And that is purely because the more I read, the less comfortable I became reading them.
Which is why I'm giving them 3.5 for excellent content, but 3 stars for overwhelming me.
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
These aren't those kind of short stories that fill you with despair and end on a hopeful note. They are insightful, painful and that's where they leave you and perhaps for the first few, you read them and find them really intriguing and inspiring. But then the next one comes and it's the same and there's no fixed end point, you just reach the end of the story.
And that was one of the hardest things about reading these stories, was that they kind of trailed off at the end. Nothing was resolved, we were just done listening in on that character.
But they are good. They really reminded me of the kind of sharp observational dark humour that comes with Anais Nin's short erotic stories, and Mary Gaitskill's short stories have a very similar vibe, and content, except that they're a little less 'smutty' and a lot more real-life.
They do indeed explore sexual 'otherness' and people are in some way disconnected with the world in that frighteningly empty Albert Camus way. To have the characters' level of self-narration and self-reflection they need to be disconnected from themselves. But when you've read a few stories like that, of people on the outside looking in, but not actually making any life-changing decisions, they become hard to read.
I wouldn't normally say this, as I often can't get enough of short stories, especially when they're good, but I could have done with about 75% of the ones in this book. And that is purely because the more I read, the less comfortable I became reading them.
Which is why I'm giving them 3.5 for excellent content, but 3 stars for overwhelming me.
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
dilan11's review
4.0
One of the persistent themes in these stories is the frustrated search for intimacy among lovers usually in young adulthood. Interesting that she is able to do both female and male points of view with equal believability.
One of the characters in one of these stories says, "Why are you always talking about sex?" I felt the same way after several of these stories - there is not a single one of them that is not predominantly about sex, which after a while feels repetitive. So perhaps these stories are to be taken in smaller doses.
That said almost every story is incredibly compelling with misfortunate, lonely, obsessed but very believable characters.
One of the characters in one of these stories says, "Why are you always talking about sex?" I felt the same way after several of these stories - there is not a single one of them that is not predominantly about sex, which after a while feels repetitive. So perhaps these stories are to be taken in smaller doses.
That said almost every story is incredibly compelling with misfortunate, lonely, obsessed but very believable characters.
doxiemama's review
5.0
Delightful prose. Masterful characterization. I didn’t expect to get sucked into this collection so much, but I did.
helmagnusdottir's review
5.0
This was delightful at times, and disturbing at others. Many stories sported horrible male protagonists, and the crafting of these terrible men far outstripped their worth. Later, the story shifts to a singular protagonist, looking for love, but unable to love. It’s beautifully written, and I plan to make this the first of many Gaitskill books.
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