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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
Hmm...
I love Miranda July and I love all of her work, but I didn't totally understand this book. I think if I were to sit still for the next 50 years and really think about it very hard then perhaps it would click, but I don't have that kind of time, so i guess I'll just have to give this book another try someday. However, the good news is that this book did shine some light onto her most recent film (The Future) which helped me feel less traumatized by the movie -- so that's good.
I love Miranda July and I love all of her work, but I didn't totally understand this book. I think if I were to sit still for the next 50 years and really think about it very hard then perhaps it would click, but I don't have that kind of time, so i guess I'll just have to give this book another try someday. However, the good news is that this book did shine some light onto her most recent film (The Future) which helped me feel less traumatized by the movie -- so that's good.
The premise is that Miranda July is writing a screenplay (now a motion picture "THE FUTURE") but she's having some issues with her writing/revising, and as a distraction, she starts responding to ads in the Pennysaver, interviewing each subject, ostensibly trying to get to the bottom of what they are selling, why they're selling it, and who they are. But, you know, it's Miranda July, so really it's about love, failure/success, art, and the broken ways we humans get through the world. Brigitte Sire, a photographer, accompanies July to provide portraits of each person and their home.
I loved Joe, the 81-year-old guy selling christmas card fronts, and Miranda clearly loved him too, since she wrote him into her movie, THE FUTURE. The opening story (a MTF transsexual who is selling her large leather jacket) was touching but the narrative was awkward - like Miranda didn't know how to handle pronouns. All of the stories are intimate, strange and poignant; several of them are a little creepy, too. I wonder if Miranda met some people in her Pennysavers journey that were edited out.
I always feel more strongly about Miranda July's work when I'm in the throes of it, but I'm not sure how much it lingers afterwards. When I read [b:No One Belongs Here More Than You|113429|No One Belongs Here More Than You|Miranda July|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255740069s/113429.jpg|3173608], I was madly in love with it at the time, but five years later, I can't remember it at all. I suspect this book will have the same fate.
I loved Joe, the 81-year-old guy selling christmas card fronts, and Miranda clearly loved him too, since she wrote him into her movie, THE FUTURE. The opening story (a MTF transsexual who is selling her large leather jacket) was touching but the narrative was awkward - like Miranda didn't know how to handle pronouns. All of the stories are intimate, strange and poignant; several of them are a little creepy, too. I wonder if Miranda met some people in her Pennysavers journey that were edited out.
I always feel more strongly about Miranda July's work when I'm in the throes of it, but I'm not sure how much it lingers afterwards. When I read [b:No One Belongs Here More Than You|113429|No One Belongs Here More Than You|Miranda July|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255740069s/113429.jpg|3173608], I was madly in love with it at the time, but five years later, I can't remember it at all. I suspect this book will have the same fate.
I'm not sure about this book. Miranda July definitely has a distinctive voice - I've only read this one book and seen one of her movies (Me and You and Everyone We Know, which I loved) but it's still very clear. But her worldview in this book seems stranglingly narrow and self-absorbed, but in a kind of pitiable way, more than an infuriating one. And she does seem somewhat self-aware of it? I don't know. It was, however, engrossing and moving despite this, and is definitely different from, well, any other book I've read, I think.
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I liked this book so much more than I thought I would. I checked it out from the library, but kept putting off reading it because I wanted it to be a collection of short stories (I'd really enjoyed her last book). With a day off work and nothing to do, I wound up reading it in one sitting. Rather than a traditional narrative, the book is part conceptual art project (if you don't like July's work, you'll probably have no interest in this book), and part personal essay. It was more cohesive and linear than I expected--in between visiting people she contacts in the PennySaver, July weaves together her own personal experiences with those of the people she meets. She is honest and thoughtful, and her willingness to attempt a connection (however tenuous) will people from all walks of life is admirable and comes across as genuine.
I'm going to attempt a longer review of this book for work, but wanted to share a nice quote:
"We had to winnow life down so we knew where to put our tenderness and attention; and that was a good, sweet thing. But together or alone, we were still embedded in a kaleidoscope, ruthlessly varied and continuous, until the end of the end."
PS - This book made me cry like a baby.
I'm going to attempt a longer review of this book for work, but wanted to share a nice quote:
"We had to winnow life down so we knew where to put our tenderness and attention; and that was a good, sweet thing. But together or alone, we were still embedded in a kaleidoscope, ruthlessly varied and continuous, until the end of the end."
PS - This book made me cry like a baby.
The overall concept of the book was interesting -- contacting people advertising random items in the PennySaver & then meeting with them to see the item or items they were selling, as well as interview them a bit in general. She definitely met some interesting people, but the overall whole seems... lacking, somehow. The photography was neat & definitely needed alongside the individual sections.
But, she didn't seem to ask very interesting questions of her interviewees, I think. It was all pretty free-form, yet seemed somewhat shallow too, even though she was being brave (in a way), putting herself out there to meet & chat with various people (including one creepy-ish guy wearing an ankle monitor). Interspersed between the interviews, she had sections about her frustrations writing her screenplay, variations on it, etc. Those parts were boring; she never pulled me in enough to care about those sections at all. Then again, I had never heard of her or seen her movies, so maybe those sections would have been more interesting if I had some knowledge of her wider body of work.
So, the concept of the interviews was interesting, but the overall whole just didn't pull it together for me. Meh. It was like a piece of performance art that just didn't quite succeed. 2 to 2.5 stars.
But, she didn't seem to ask very interesting questions of her interviewees, I think. It was all pretty free-form, yet seemed somewhat shallow too, even though she was being brave (in a way), putting herself out there to meet & chat with various people (including one creepy-ish guy wearing an ankle monitor). Interspersed between the interviews, she had sections about her frustrations writing her screenplay, variations on it, etc. Those parts were boring; she never pulled me in enough to care about those sections at all. Then again, I had never heard of her or seen her movies, so maybe those sections would have been more interesting if I had some knowledge of her wider body of work.
So, the concept of the interviews was interesting, but the overall whole just didn't pull it together for me. Meh. It was like a piece of performance art that just didn't quite succeed. 2 to 2.5 stars.
3.5 - fajna lektura na leniwy wieczór. Ale nie jest to wielka literatura.
amazing, gripping, honest and heartbreaking all at the same time...miranda july is a true artist and you can tell through her profound yet blunt writing style