2.74k reviews for:

Creation Lake

Rachel Kushner

3.45 AVERAGE

dark mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
dark funny reflective relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
mysterious reflective slow-paced
challenging mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This book and I just weren't getting along. The main character is some how insufferable and bland at the same time. And the pacing is so incredibly slow. 

If you have read it and think it's worth the slog, let me know! I'd love to know what it is I'm missing with this book!

Um, obsessed? 
I also read this while volunteering in the French countryside between Marseille and Toulouse. I listened to part of it on audiobook (read by the author) and read part of it on my phone, toggling back and forth. I listened to the audio on long walks on country roads bordering farming fields and fields full of sunflowers. It was...kind of perfect? And this protagonist was so fascinating to read -- I kept toggling between disdain and pity and even sometimes envy (which isn't great). 
Loved it. 

Mesmerizing, darkly funny, breaks my 'must have one character I'd meet for lunch' rule of fiction, but I loved it anyway. I take it back. I'd have lunch with Bruno, ...but not in the cave.

I enjoyed this for the philosophy and history lessons (the Cagots !? insane piece of history !) but less so for the actual plot...
dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix