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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
I don't know if it's me but this is another book I found a bit boring. I could see why I should like the book but there were parts that I found a bit confusing, I think especially where it changes perspectives. I did really like the imagery and poetic aspects of the book though and might reread when I'm not hating everything I pick up.
I couldn't put this down. The story held me captive while I tried to go about my day, and later when I tried to sleep. Artistically written. Gripping, powerful, strange and a must-read.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was really beautifully and lyrically written and I enjoyed the form, with Gretel narrating via a monologue addressed to her absent mother. The imagery of life on the canal was striking and beautiful, and the addition of magical realism, mythological elements and a monster in the canal created an eerie, ancient atmosphere.
I initially rated this book quite highly in my personal ratings, but it ended up quite forgettable for me personally - still, it was a compelling and creative re-telling of the Oedipus myth written by a third, forgotten sibling, with a complex exploration of the relationship between mother and child.
It was unsettling, heart-breaking, creepy and quite gross at times, especially once you put all the pieces together. I might give this another read in the future with a fresh eye and see if it stands out to me more.
I initially rated this book quite highly in my personal ratings, but it ended up quite forgettable for me personally - still, it was a compelling and creative re-telling of the Oedipus myth written by a third, forgotten sibling, with a complex exploration of the relationship between mother and child.
It was unsettling, heart-breaking, creepy and quite gross at times, especially once you put all the pieces together. I might give this another read in the future with a fresh eye and see if it stands out to me more.
To be fair to this book, I don’t think I was in the right headspace while battling a cold. I was disoriented in time and POV, though I get that this is deliberate to a certain extent to show the effects of trauma and loss on identity.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
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:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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:
Complicated
I might come back and review this again once it settles.
This is a very complicated book. It is obviously beautifully written - it is really what kept me going through multiple complex story lines.
My suggestion would be to take note of the chapter titles as guides for what story, timeline, and perspective you are in. I figured it out a quarter of the way through and had to go back and confirm details.
Despite the beauty of the writing, there is very little romance in this book - the place and characters are tough, gritty, and complicated. The use/meaning of gender dismorphia and trans-ness is something i will be trying to figure out for a bit i feel.
It is not a bad book, but note sure i would recommend it.
This is a very complicated book. It is obviously beautifully written - it is really what kept me going through multiple complex story lines.
My suggestion would be to take note of the chapter titles as guides for what story, timeline, and perspective you are in. I figured it out a quarter of the way through and had to go back and confirm details.
Despite the beauty of the writing, there is very little romance in this book - the place and characters are tough, gritty, and complicated. The use/meaning of gender dismorphia and trans-ness is something i will be trying to figure out for a bit i feel.
It is not a bad book, but note sure i would recommend it.
I found this to be a tedious slog through a world of hopelessly-broken (almost cartoonishly so) characters who are unrelentingly miserable about everything.
We are all completely familiar with the main plot -- it would be unlikely for anyone to read this book without being aware that it is Oedipus, and anyone who did so would be confused about what is happening. Margot/Marcus exists as a character only to touch each of the main plot points, without there being any pretense that he is making choices or living as an individual. The narrator exists only to investigate and narrate, seemingly without any desire to do so. Sarah and Fiona exist only to be hopelessly unreliable sources of scraps of information, which nonetheless are doled out and fit into place just when needed for the purpose of the narration. "The Bonak" is just as present or absent or scary or beatable as it needs to be in any circumstance, and we don't feel inclined to ponder it.
Unrelenting direness aside, the writing is lovely. It's just not enough to make you glad that you are immersed in the hopeless riverside counter-world.
We are all completely familiar with the main plot -- it would be unlikely for anyone to read this book without being aware that it is Oedipus, and anyone who did so would be confused about what is happening. Margot/Marcus exists as a character only to touch each of the main plot points, without there being any pretense that he is making choices or living as an individual. The narrator exists only to investigate and narrate, seemingly without any desire to do so. Sarah and Fiona exist only to be hopelessly unreliable sources of scraps of information, which nonetheless are doled out and fit into place just when needed for the purpose of the narration. "The Bonak" is just as present or absent or scary or beatable as it needs to be in any circumstance, and we don't feel inclined to ponder it.
Unrelenting direness aside, the writing is lovely. It's just not enough to make you glad that you are immersed in the hopeless riverside counter-world.
This is the story of Gretel, a young lexicographer who was abandoned by her mother at sixteen. It's the story of a woman in search of her roots, the story of a woman trying to reconnect with her past, the story of a woman trying to find her mother and the young person who lived with them on their houseboat, years ago...
It's a wonderfully unsettling revisioning of the Oedipus myth (how could it be anything else?), with several allusions to Hansel and Gretel as well. The language is stunning, and it is also, in many ways, the point. Language matters a great deal in this book. I'm in. Anyone can retell a myth, a fairy tale; this one takes some care. The language drives the book. It's weird and beautiful and it works.
It's a wonderfully unsettling revisioning of the Oedipus myth (how could it be anything else?), with several allusions to Hansel and Gretel as well. The language is stunning, and it is also, in many ways, the point. Language matters a great deal in this book. I'm in. Anyone can retell a myth, a fairy tale; this one takes some care. The language drives the book. It's weird and beautiful and it works.
I almost never read the synopsis of a book before starting it but with this one it would've been very helpful. This is a gender transforming retelling of the myth of Oedipus.