You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Descriptive without being wordy. Two interesting tails and a unique format.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
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
I loved this book. Two separate stories about immigrants and belonging, and all the things that are part of making you feel at home, or make you feel unstable, unsettled, unwelcome, and that often it can be small things, that may or may not be mostly in your own perception, that really shape that. I really like that the two different stories pull you in in two completely different ways: one through deep familiarity of being young, looking for adventure but being so unsure of who you really are; and the second by taking you through how justifying little steps can lead you to somewhere deeply frightening.
Listened to the audiobook wonderfully narrated by Jessica Douglas-Henry and Ric Herbert.
One of the most well written and engaging literary fiction novels I've read this year. Looking forward to reading more novels by Michelle de Kretser.
One of the most well written and engaging literary fiction novels I've read this year. Looking forward to reading more novels by Michelle de Kretser.
one of those ‘did it even happen?’ books that mildly irritate me
If Michelle's books are all like this I hope I never have the misfortune to have one land in my possession again. 56 pages in 128 and nothing, nowhere, and the satire was cringey. Feels like a book written out of sheer boredom during Covid lockdowns and Michelle just says to themselves "what if we respected people's pronouns but the worlds still is garbage?" And it's like as a reader going "ha, this guy respects a queers pronouns but is working for a fascist police state, IRONICCCC." AND ITS JUST GIVING ME THE ICK! BUH BYE. Bye girl. Just bye. You had SO much to work with here, you had GOOD IDEAS, just poorly executed. Like watching a plane make it off the runway just for it to nose dive into sheer chaos and flames. My 2 stars is generous. GENEROUS.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Scary Monsters had me singing the David Bowie song whenever I looked at the cover, but drove all else from my head when I was reading. It is two novellas, each with its own cover, and you can choose the order in which you read them (I chose Lyle first). Don't be fooled by the cover art, they are both dark. Lili is set in the early 80s and Lyle in the not-too-distant future. Both characters migrated to Australia when they were young, and the issue of belonging is a scary monster for each, and racism, misogyny and ageism permeate the book. Lili is teaching English in France before going to university, and her story is about friendship, power, and growing up. Lyle lives with climate crisis, extreme pressure to conform in a believable dystopian future. Disturbing, beautiful, darkly humorous, clever and thought-provoking, it might be my favourite de Kretser novel.
Australian writer Michelle de Kretser’s latest title, Scary Monsters, is an intriguing object. It is a book of two halves and boasts two front covers — a luscious-looking cherry on one side and a pretty cherry tree in bloom on the other — and the reader gets to choose which story to start with first.
One story is set in the past — France in 1981 — and the other is set in the near future in an alternative Australian reality.
It’s not obvious how the stories are linked other than both riff on the idea of immigration and what it is to be a South Asian immigrant in Australian society.
I opted to start with the Australian section (with the cherry tree on the cover), rather than reading the book in chronological order.
Which story you start with may sway your overall feeling toward the novel.
As a whole, I found Scary Monsters uneven because the two different sections are just so different in tone and style. Perhaps the only thing they have in common is that they are both written in the first person in warm, intimate voices.
And while they explore similar themes, they do it in radically different ways: one story is essentially speculative fiction told with biting wit, while the other is more akin to literary fiction and hugely reminiscent of de Kretser’s Questions of Travel, which won the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2013.
To read a fuller review of this book and to find out what de Kretser said at this year's Perth Festival event, please visit my blog.
One story is set in the past — France in 1981 — and the other is set in the near future in an alternative Australian reality.
It’s not obvious how the stories are linked other than both riff on the idea of immigration and what it is to be a South Asian immigrant in Australian society.
I opted to start with the Australian section (with the cherry tree on the cover), rather than reading the book in chronological order.
Which story you start with may sway your overall feeling toward the novel.
As a whole, I found Scary Monsters uneven because the two different sections are just so different in tone and style. Perhaps the only thing they have in common is that they are both written in the first person in warm, intimate voices.
And while they explore similar themes, they do it in radically different ways: one story is essentially speculative fiction told with biting wit, while the other is more akin to literary fiction and hugely reminiscent of de Kretser’s Questions of Travel, which won the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2013.
To read a fuller review of this book and to find out what de Kretser said at this year's Perth Festival event, please visit my blog.
I inadvertently read the first line of de Kretser's bio, which revealed this first part to be somewhat autobiographical and in reading some of the reviews I can see criticism, which I think is unwarranted due to how the book is written as a woman looking back on her experiences in France layered with the colour of her skin and the fact she immigrated to Australia and is now an alien twice removed, so to speak.
Given the autobiographical nature and the way in which people think or write about themselves, it makes sense this is made up of vignettes of the most important/memorable times in the character's time in Montpellier. The misogyny, racism, and sensationalism becomes hard packed with paranoid feelings and unexplainable emotions leading it to be a subtext in much the way it is to our real lives.
There is some truly special writing within this first part evoking what it is to be a female and making your way in a world where the headlines of the time are sensationalising the killing of women and those who perpetrate the crime.
Which brings us to Lyle and the literal flipside of the novel in which we enter near future Australia with Lyle and his immigrant family trying to make their way in an ever draconian system. The writing plays out in a similar vein, but the casual asides to dystopian measures placed upon the citizens of Australia and the ban on Islam are all the more shocking for being slipped in amongst other goings on.
It brings things to life and it turns the mirror on us in the world of today where we are ever focused on making sure everything is in order at home including keeping up to date with consumerist trends and must haves that the real issues tend to bubble under the surface until apathy really sets in and it is simply a case of losing your compassion and empathy as you feel the harsh sting of being an underling.
This was another random library pick up that paid dividends.
Given the autobiographical nature and the way in which people think or write about themselves, it makes sense this is made up of vignettes of the most important/memorable times in the character's time in Montpellier. The misogyny, racism, and sensationalism becomes hard packed with paranoid feelings and unexplainable emotions leading it to be a subtext in much the way it is to our real lives.
There is some truly special writing within this first part evoking what it is to be a female and making your way in a world where the headlines of the time are sensationalising the killing of women and those who perpetrate the crime.
Which brings us to Lyle and the literal flipside of the novel in which we enter near future Australia with Lyle and his immigrant family trying to make their way in an ever draconian system. The writing plays out in a similar vein, but the casual asides to dystopian measures placed upon the citizens of Australia and the ban on Islam are all the more shocking for being slipped in amongst other goings on.
It brings things to life and it turns the mirror on us in the world of today where we are ever focused on making sure everything is in order at home including keeping up to date with consumerist trends and must haves that the real issues tend to bubble under the surface until apathy really sets in and it is simply a case of losing your compassion and empathy as you feel the harsh sting of being an underling.
This was another random library pick up that paid dividends.
Really good but the dystopian future is a bit too real.