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nickscoby's review
2.0
This was short and I still didn't finish. It was simply a slog with very few redeeming characters.
goodem9199's review
3.0
Writing is incredible, but this felt so disjointed that I wasn't able to connect.
momwrex's review
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
Initially interesting...and then seemed repetitive and depressing.
zebac's review
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? It's complicated
2.0
For a short book it took a long time to read because it is so detached and mannered. I found it pretentious and portentous. Underwhelming.
rynicolereads's review against another edition
Not a fan of the audiobook narration
boyish's review
tense
medium-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
2.5
sam_bizar_wilcox's review
4.0
Manguso's prose reminds me of Shirley Jackson. There is a Gothic undercurrent in this novel as the book focuses on decay and austere violence. This novel, however, unlike Jackson's, trades symbolism for realism: the crushing truth of financial insecurity is more distressing than the phantoms that symbolize it. Yet, phantoms abound here, too; perhaps as mere projections or flights of fancy from our young protagonist, Ruthie, or perhaps these phantoms allude to this book's genre leanings. Other Northeastern Gothic-inflected works, such as the oeuvre of Edith Wharton, use snow, wintry landscapes, and stillness to a chilling, horrific effect (think Ethan Frome, a novella underloved because of its frequent appearance on mandatory school reading lists). Where I'm reminded of Shirley Jackson, however, is equally in the way Manguso inhabits a youthful consciousness, and develops the novel from that perspective. We Have Always Lived in the Castle and especially Hangsaman inhabit similar minds, with the latter also an exploration of identity that feels so inherent to the coming-of-age form (as is the case with Very Cold People). There's something to be said, too, about the lustrous grotesqueries that haunt Manguso's novel, from the old house that the family moves into in the latter half of the novel, to the eerie sexual and physical violence that sort of seeps into the novel's ending.
Very Cold People took me time to get into. But once the rhythm of the novel had been established, and once it became clear what sorts of genre tropes the novel aimed to perfect or to subtly infuse, I was taken aback. There's far more going on beneath the surface here than the book lets on.
Very Cold People took me time to get into. But once the rhythm of the novel had been established, and once it became clear what sorts of genre tropes the novel aimed to perfect or to subtly infuse, I was taken aback. There's far more going on beneath the surface here than the book lets on.
gukguk's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75