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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
This story stays with me. It’s a meditation on forward movement, quickness in adapting and the contemplation of survival in the unknown. Every page was a slice of danger and determination. Throughly satisfying from beginning to end.
Something about Groff just doesn't work for me. I keep feeling like her primary intention is that I be impressed with her prose and that the function of the prose (plot, character, etc) is entirely secondary.
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This novel is a masterclass in pacing and point of view. I’ve seen some readers describe it as relentless, and it is in that we are stuck with this character and experiencing her plight alongside her without a single break. But we get to experience her small triumphs, too, and the process of getting to know her was (to me at least) totally compelling. I was rooting for her so hard, but I also wanted her to be set free. I wanted peace for her, and also revenge—Lauren Groff made her so familiar to me in this short book. I know this won’t be for everyone, but to me it was beautiful and profound, and I can see myself going back to it for a reread if only to marvel at how Groff has tied this whole thing together.
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
emotional
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Just not to my taste and I couldn’t push myself to get through it.
I was a little intimidated by this since I am not usually into books that take place entirely in the wilderness but I LOVED it! The musings of religion & God & femininity were just so insightful & Groff’s prose is absolutely beautiful. I have kind of a lot of passages I loved:
“For what is a girl but a vessel made to hold the desires of men.”
“But now she sensed the earth under her in its spin and knew herself to be a piece of it, necessary and large enough.”
“The beauties of the world were without limit and the grace given to encounter more of them would have been an astonishing gift.”
“And feel it now, so soft, so eternal, this wind against your good and living skin.”
“She felt she understood now the first man Adam, how with each name he felt himself growing more powerful, closer to the god who had created and named him. Name after name, Adam felt his dominion tipping into domination until he believed that he owned the world by naming the things in it and that all the things of the world were his to do with as he wished. For this was how the adults granted power to themselves over babies, and how babies without understanding surrendered themselves to adults until they were old enough to name others. How, in coming to this country, her fellow Englishmen believed they were naming this place and this people for the first time, and how it conferred upon them dominion here in this place, although, she was now surprised at her thought, surely the people of this place had their own names for things. But one name takes precedence over others, and so the wheel of power turned.”
“And she began to see now that when god created man and woman together and said to let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, perhaps by dominion god did not mean the right to kill or suppress the fish, the fowl, the cattle, and every creeping thing. Then she thought that perhaps in the language of the bears there was a kind of gospel, also. And perhaps this gospel said to the bears the same thing about god giving bears dominion over the world. And perhaps bears believed that this gave them license to slaughter the living world, including the men within it.
And this thought made her shake, for if the gospel was changeable between species, then god was not immoveable. Then god was changeable according to the body god spoke through. And that god could change according to the person in the moment the soul was encountering god. And this meant that when the godliest of the ministers in the city and in this awful place, back in the fort, spoke on god's behalf they were only speaking a mote of the far greater truth.”
“For what is a girl but a vessel made to hold the desires of men.”
“But now she sensed the earth under her in its spin and knew herself to be a piece of it, necessary and large enough.”
“The beauties of the world were without limit and the grace given to encounter more of them would have been an astonishing gift.”
“And feel it now, so soft, so eternal, this wind against your good and living skin.”
“She felt she understood now the first man Adam, how with each name he felt himself growing more powerful, closer to the god who had created and named him. Name after name, Adam felt his dominion tipping into domination until he believed that he owned the world by naming the things in it and that all the things of the world were his to do with as he wished. For this was how the adults granted power to themselves over babies, and how babies without understanding surrendered themselves to adults until they were old enough to name others. How, in coming to this country, her fellow Englishmen believed they were naming this place and this people for the first time, and how it conferred upon them dominion here in this place, although, she was now surprised at her thought, surely the people of this place had their own names for things. But one name takes precedence over others, and so the wheel of power turned.”
“And she began to see now that when god created man and woman together and said to let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, perhaps by dominion god did not mean the right to kill or suppress the fish, the fowl, the cattle, and every creeping thing. Then she thought that perhaps in the language of the bears there was a kind of gospel, also. And perhaps this gospel said to the bears the same thing about god giving bears dominion over the world. And perhaps bears believed that this gave them license to slaughter the living world, including the men within it.
And this thought made her shake, for if the gospel was changeable between species, then god was not immoveable. Then god was changeable according to the body god spoke through. And that god could change according to the person in the moment the soul was encountering god. And this meant that when the godliest of the ministers in the city and in this awful place, back in the fort, spoke on god's behalf they were only speaking a mote of the far greater truth.”
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
I enjoyed the writing style here but I wish more actually happened….