Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Lapvona

Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

54 reviews

sweetpea's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I had a difficult start with the first 1/3 of the book. Put it down for months and then read it all in one sitting. I felt I had no entry point for any of the characters. Truly all were unlikable, which is not a fault in and of itself, but the way they were written was so alien to me that I could not be remotely invested. The characters seem to survive off spite. Mosfegh's obsession with bodily functions and filth, while curiously funny in other works, was so tiresome here! There was something generally underbaked about the novel. I'm not a deeply religious person, so, the novel's central themes of faith and religious artifice might have gone over my head. This was just a chore to get into and a bit predictable (again not a fault). The setting was really intriguing to me and I could tell she put effort into researching it. I just felt the story never went anywhere...

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ropalimpia's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is probably my favorite book that I've read this all year, and I picked it up as a hate read. After having read My Year of Rest and Relaxation a while ago and having absolutely abhorred it, this felt entirely different. It was disgusting, grotesque, gory, it smelled bad. It felt like a project in filth, immorality, religion, class, and abusive family dynamics. This book is "Religion is the opium of the masses. It is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of the heartless world, and the soul of our soulless conditions": The Novel. Most of the dynamics present in Lapvona were the rich looking down on the poor for being too pious, stupid, and easy to manipulate, and the poor looking down on the rich for being too indulgent, stupid, and distant from God.

Lapvona is not for the reader who turns to reading for comfort and escapism. It's not even for readers who want to read about the complexities of the human condition. It's not for readers who want a creepy horror read. Everything in this book is exaggerated and digusting. It's meant to cause revulsion in the reader. I'm not someone who is easily fazed by text, but there were times when I would physically cringe, but over time, you grow numb to the vile acts. It's like you become one of them.

I really loved this book. I loved Moshfegh's project. I loved how much care she put into something so irreverent. It's not something I would recommend to anyone, frankly, but, for me, it's the single best book I've read all year. I like to be uncomfortable. Maybe that's it. This is for the reader who wants to be uncomfortable, but still enjoys amazing writing.

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bontals's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“Will you pray for them, Father?’
‘Of course. I’ll speak to God directly.”

A dark and brutal book. Truly stomach churning at times. A fucked up mirror into Western lives, both as lord and peasant. I love magical realism.

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reggiewoods's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Life is nasty, short, brutish and cruel, especially in Lapvona. Really nasty. Flat out disgusting. Gross. The question is, why? Moshfegh is going to great lengths to turn our stomachs, but what is it she’s trying to get us to see? Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe some morality tale about income inequality or nepotism? I think I have to agree with the critics and say she just wants to gross us out. It’s a one-note story, misery, and that note is played on a group of characters that have very little to like about themselves or one another. The plot is interesting, but the characters lack of interest in one another really mutes what should be very striking moments. It is much better written than what you would expect from fetishist fiction, but beyond that shock value I’m not sure what else it offers to entice readers. I only recommend if you delight in the repulsive.

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tamimin's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An a24 movie in a book. That's all you need to know 😂

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redwrapped's review against another edition

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dark funny sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Lapvona reaches into mankind's worst urges and fantasies, and boldly shows off the depravity that people reach within short periods of time from the craving and attainment of power and the desire for self-importance, and framed in a familiar, sickening way: politicians and religious leaders manipulating and abusing the people they are supposed to help protect and lead to civility and salvation.

The village of Lapvona brags on its fertile dirt, capable of growing anything. But it cannot grow any fruit or vegetables when there's a horrible drought and the only source of water is dammed and stored only for the lord and his manor's usage, but not dispersed to the masses of people who desert their traditional vegetarianism and resort to eating dogs and anything else in their hunger-induced depravity.

"Religion is the opiate of the masses" is examined closely through every aspect of their lives, showing in no unsparing detail how corrupt, selfish, and desperate mankind is to designate meaning to anything, no matter how meaningless and manmade their problems are. Why should God forgive when God didn't even mete out the punishment, but the feudal lord who is both too stupid and too greedy to stop his accomplices from pillaging and depriving the villagers? But the villagers are too stupid and engrossed in their own problems to usually realize that. And then they actually believe that their lord will serve as a father figure to a new Immaculately-conceived Christ child and think of their village as saintly and holy, chosen for a higher purpose.

It's a grim but realistic approach to the political and religious aspect of the novel, but it has a surprisingly warm (but still wicked and morally-decrepit) version of the Prince and the Pauper. And stark, clear-eyed realism gives way to more a fantastical, creepy version of a wise woman who initially serves as a wet nurse for all of Lapvona before growing old and seeking a way to remain relevant to the village.

Moshfegh blends together folk-horror, comedy, biblical allusions, history that repeats itself, grotesque fairy tales (of the Slavic/Eastern European variety, usually the grimmest and scariest of all the folklore and fairy tales), and a series of archetypes as old as time to form one unforgettably bleak and twisted story in a way that only Moshfegh could pull off.

Despite straying farther from her body of work than ever before, Moshfegh has dared to write a book that diverges significantly from the beaten path, and has created Lapvona: a wholly original, unforgettable, and unmistakable tale. (And I LOVED it.)

Thanks to Penguin Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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