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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
A quick and interesting read that also felt like a mismatch. Lilli’s section made me anxious and emotional, but slowly and in a powerful way. Maybe Lyle’s section in the near-future is just too raw for me given I’m still living in the recent past it describes, or maybe that half is too heavy-handed - though in the end I suspect it’s both.
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
a genius novel, i loved the premise of two interwinning stories, one set in the past and one set in the future. my sister wrote an essay for her uni english class, so i know all about the themes of the stories. really impactful for something so short.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
#NetGalley
The scary monsters in this novel are the terrifying ways that racism, misogyny, and ageism play a role in two different time frames in Australia.
One part follows Lili in the early 80s and the other is about Lyle who lives in a near-future Australia. The parts exist independently and can be read in any order.
The writing was good, but I would have liked more connection between both stories.
The scary monsters in this novel are the terrifying ways that racism, misogyny, and ageism play a role in two different time frames in Australia.
One part follows Lili in the early 80s and the other is about Lyle who lives in a near-future Australia. The parts exist independently and can be read in any order.
The writing was good, but I would have liked more connection between both stories.
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
adventurous
challenging
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I liked this a lot. I started with the "Lyle" half of the book and was immediately plunged into the near-future world of Lyle and his family. De Kretser has a lot of fun with the near future - a nightmarish vision in which anyone with a grandparent born overseas can be deported on a whim, Muslims are forcibly converted and anti-Boomer sentiment fuels an offensive against the costs of aged care. One of the issues I have had enjoying de Kretser in the past is how unlikeable I find most of her characters, but here I felt that Lyle's self-delusion - he and his wife are literally turning white with the desperation to shed any remnant of themselves which is not "Aussie" - is so strongly shown it countered that. Lyle is gamely pretending to be okay when he is anything but. He is pretending that this rat race life is just peachy when underneath, he is consumed constantly by fear. De Kretser pulls this off with such skill that she revels both in milking the vileness for laughs (via some pretty spectacular one-liners), and in making us see that this mess is not their fault, but a trap they, like all of us, are caught in. The monsters here are not just individual prejudices, but systemic forces using fear to achieve compliance.
The tone of Lili's half is quite different: quieter and Lili is drawn in subtle shades contrasting with the bold lines of Lyle's half. But Lili is also consumed by fear, and far more self-aware of it. Lili's independence is threatened by a constant lurking possibility of racial and sexual violence, of poverty induced by discrimination and of microaggressions that disrupt her place in the world. Her determination to live on her own terms, to define herself, also manage to celebrate the best of migration amid the worst of it. Her empathy and consideration of the North African migrants facing steep persecution also set the context to her own experiences.
The two halves invite you to consider the difference between times and the differences between our choices. I was glad I chose the future first - I suspect it allowed a more hopeful take on the whole.
The tone of Lili's half is quite different: quieter and Lili is drawn in subtle shades contrasting with the bold lines of Lyle's half. But Lili is also consumed by fear, and far more self-aware of it. Lili's independence is threatened by a constant lurking possibility of racial and sexual violence, of poverty induced by discrimination and of microaggressions that disrupt her place in the world. Her determination to live on her own terms, to define herself, also manage to celebrate the best of migration amid the worst of it. Her empathy and consideration of the North African migrants facing steep persecution also set the context to her own experiences.
The two halves invite you to consider the difference between times and the differences between our choices. I was glad I chose the future first - I suspect it allowed a more hopeful take on the whole.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
A reread (2023) of what has now become one of my all time favourite novels. I'll be presenting at an academic conference on this book and so to be fully prepared for it, I reread this brilliant novel and loved it all over again.
Rereading this through, Lyle's story hits so much more emotionally than the first time round. First time round it felt like a dystopian horror story and it definitely still is, but the way in which he has to break himself and become a person "with missing pieces" hurt more. He killed the only connection he had left to his home, to his true self, Ivy is like the dog they put down at the beginning of the novel, he's all about the future and yet he cannot imagine this post-Ivy future, he's pulled back into the past now, remembering what he believes he should leave behind. Rereading had me understanding and appreciating different aspects of the story, the way in which Lyle is such an unreliable narrator, he can't be trusted on his opinion/perspective on anyone (everything he says about Ivy?? Absolutely cannot be trusted), how we only ever get glimpses into his truth. There other parts I want to discuss and analyse - what is the meaning of Lyle misreading/mishearing words, why is Chanel the way she is, and what of the character of their children?
My reread of Lili's story has me feeling an instant emotional connection to her. I don't know if it's because we're now the same age, both immigrant women, but so much of her interior thoughts hit. The first time round I was figuring out what she meant, now I feel like I understand it so much more easily and I'm able to slip into her slice life story like I read it yesterday. Everything from "it counted for something but not enough", what it means to be a WoC, the threat of violence, the white feminism, "What might be the consequences of that?", "Why didn't the Arab have a name?", "ce n'est pas normal", "some people had history and other people had lives" - I feel and understand it all. While I love both stories, I think Lili's story has a special place for me because of that. I always thought I didn't like slice of life stories or more literary contemporaries, turns out when it's written by a BIPOC about BIPOC people it makes all the difference in the world. And then - knowing her ending from Lyle's story will never not hurt.
I could write essays on essays on this novel and I'm so excited to get to be part of a conference to celebrate the brilliance of this novel and the rest of Michelle de Kretser's work!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First read 2022, 4.5 stars.
That was horrifying and brilliant and I kind of have no words.
I read Lili first, Lyle second. While Lyle's story was more impactful as Lili's was very slice of life, finding out what happened to Lili in Lyle's story was gut punching.
I'm glad I read them in the order I did.
This is a read for my Australia Fiction course and I'm so glad to read this book for uni because I NEED to analyse the hell of this. I think I want to write my essay on this but I also have no idea where to start.
Rereading this through, Lyle's story hits so much more emotionally than the first time round. First time round it felt like a dystopian horror story and it definitely still is, but the way in which he has to break himself and become a person "with missing pieces" hurt more. He killed the only connection he had left to his home, to his true self, Ivy is like the dog they put down at the beginning of the novel, he's all about the future and yet he cannot imagine this post-Ivy future, he's pulled back into the past now, remembering what he believes he should leave behind. Rereading had me understanding and appreciating different aspects of the story, the way in which Lyle is such an unreliable narrator, he can't be trusted on his opinion/perspective on anyone (everything he says about Ivy?? Absolutely cannot be trusted), how we only ever get glimpses into his truth. There other parts I want to discuss and analyse - what is the meaning of Lyle misreading/mishearing words, why is Chanel the way she is, and what of the character of their children?
My reread of Lili's story has me feeling an instant emotional connection to her. I don't know if it's because we're now the same age, both immigrant women, but so much of her interior thoughts hit. The first time round I was figuring out what she meant, now I feel like I understand it so much more easily and I'm able to slip into her slice life story like I read it yesterday. Everything from "it counted for something but not enough", what it means to be a WoC, the threat of violence, the white feminism, "What might be the consequences of that?", "Why didn't the Arab have a name?", "ce n'est pas normal", "some people had history and other people had lives" - I feel and understand it all. While I love both stories, I think Lili's story has a special place for me because of that. I always thought I didn't like slice of life stories or more literary contemporaries, turns out when it's written by a BIPOC about BIPOC people it makes all the difference in the world. And then - knowing her ending from Lyle's story will never not hurt.
I could write essays on essays on this novel and I'm so excited to get to be part of a conference to celebrate the brilliance of this novel and the rest of Michelle de Kretser's work!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First read 2022, 4.5 stars.
That was horrifying and brilliant and I kind of have no words.
I read Lili first, Lyle second. While Lyle's story was more impactful as Lili's was very slice of life, finding out what happened to Lili in Lyle's story was gut punching.
I'm glad I read them in the order I did.
This is a read for my Australia Fiction course and I'm so glad to read this book for uni because I NEED to analyse the hell of this. I think I want to write my essay on this but I also have no idea where to start.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Islamophobia
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Vomit
challenging
emotional
sad
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:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No