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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
I'm reviewing this for the Dreamcage website so no full review yet. Look at me. Preening twonk.
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really don't know how to rate this book. It had its ups and downs. I liked the first 80 pages, but then literally nothing happened. Many parts just made me uncomfortable, but it totally was a good book.
A brilliant meditation on humanity and parenthood, art and nature. Captured a lot of the simple yet messy splendors that being a human has to offer. Lots of quotes that made me
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Phenomenal. This one touched my heart more than any of the other works of Cusk’s that I’ve read. I had low expectations, having heard mixed reviews and having only sort-of-enjoyed a couple of her books. So maybe don’t read on if you want to preserve that buffer between expectations and reality!
But gosh! The characters are so beautifully entangled, and I was moved almost to tears by the tenderness Cusk evokes in the last parts. The narrator - M - is an astonishing creation. It’s written as if it is a letter from M to a dear personal friend (there’s an Easter egg there if you look for it! M is based on a historical figure and so are many of the other characters.). So the narrative is drenched in reflection and memory as she recounts the time a famous artist came to stay with her family on their remote property. This interior, reflective narrative voice is Cusk’s signature mode of storytelling and she has utterly perfected it.
M reflects on her own flaws and limitations as she tries to make sense of her life in the face of a chaos that threatens to tear it all apart. The chaos comes in the form of a selfish, misogynistic, and psychologically manipulative artistic genius, who is himself struggling to recoup his self-identity in the face of his faltering virility.
There are stunning descriptions of the marsh landscape where the story is set, and although there is a lot of musing, this has more of a plot than the other Cusk books I’ve read. It’s paced perfectly and the prose just glitters. So many lines that ring clear as a bell, beautifully worded and achingly subtle observations, and passages that carry you along on the intricacies of an idea for pages. Themes of motherhood or child-rearing, art, relationships, time, self-expression, and the big one: the creative drive and the (gendered) ability to give creativity an outlet that is recognised and celebrated. Lots of little funny moments of humour to boot. Absolutely adored this one and will hold it close to my heart for a long time to come.
I know this one has had some mixed reviews, and there’s been some critique of her “celebrating” a controversial figure (Mabel Dodge Luhan). But for me, Cusk has used the figure and one of her memoirs as an imaginative jumping off point to explore the ideas that preoccupy many of Cusk’s works: creativity, gender, artistry, family, landscape/place, and the living of a good (or other) life. I found it wonderful.
But gosh! The characters are so beautifully entangled, and I was moved almost to tears by the tenderness Cusk evokes in the last parts. The narrator - M - is an astonishing creation. It’s written as if it is a letter from M to a dear personal friend (there’s an Easter egg there if you look for it! M is based on a historical figure and so are many of the other characters.). So the narrative is drenched in reflection and memory as she recounts the time a famous artist came to stay with her family on their remote property. This interior, reflective narrative voice is Cusk’s signature mode of storytelling and she has utterly perfected it.
M reflects on her own flaws and limitations as she tries to make sense of her life in the face of a chaos that threatens to tear it all apart. The chaos comes in the form of a selfish, misogynistic, and psychologically manipulative artistic genius, who is himself struggling to recoup his self-identity in the face of his faltering virility.
There are stunning descriptions of the marsh landscape where the story is set, and although there is a lot of musing, this has more of a plot than the other Cusk books I’ve read. It’s paced perfectly and the prose just glitters. So many lines that ring clear as a bell, beautifully worded and achingly subtle observations, and passages that carry you along on the intricacies of an idea for pages. Themes of motherhood or child-rearing, art, relationships, time, self-expression, and the big one: the creative drive and the (gendered) ability to give creativity an outlet that is recognised and celebrated. Lots of little funny moments of humour to boot. Absolutely adored this one and will hold it close to my heart for a long time to come.
I know this one has had some mixed reviews, and there’s been some critique of her “celebrating” a controversial figure (Mabel Dodge Luhan). But for me, Cusk has used the figure and one of her memoirs as an imaginative jumping off point to explore the ideas that preoccupy many of Cusk’s works: creativity, gender, artistry, family, landscape/place, and the living of a good (or other) life. I found it wonderful.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes