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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Rape, Self harm
challenging
dark
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Reading this was miserable and the entire time I was only reading to be put out of my misery.
challenging
sad
Only got into this about 200 pages in. Sounded like something id really be into - two women meeting over a mutual interest/love of a writer, but I don’t think it was executed well.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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:
Yes
This novel is wringing wet with rage and tenderness. Gaitskill doesn't hold anything back about sexuality or the visceral ugliness of bodies, nor of how power is wielded against vulnerable people (and in this novel, women.) It starts off with a comic sensibility, but there's so much more here than a satire of an Ayn Rand-like figure's most ardent follower. You will come to know the two main characters so well and may miss them after the final page.
Listen to this sentence: "Her voice held a tea party in the garden while a child was murdered in the house." Man alive!
Listen to this sentence: "Her voice held a tea party in the garden while a child was murdered in the house." Man alive!
With the caveat that I would probably not choose to read this a second time: this is a dense, dark, dramatic (but not unrealistic) look at the traumas of girlhood, in all of their forms. As one might expect from the title, Gaitskill's major points of exploration are body image, sexuality, and gendered power struggles, all sort of brilliantly set against the backdrop of a fictional Ayn Rand character and her work.
The most recommendable thing about this book is Gaitskill's writing. She's a writer of literary fiction, but she never makes a stretch of a metaphor or settles for cliche. There was no descriptive sentence that I couldn't get behind, because they all accurately described the viscera of the feeling in ways that I might not have considered, but seemed fitting. Her writing is clear and easy to read.
But the story is not so easy to read (except for the "Anna Granite"/Ayn Rand parts, which can be funny). Both main characters have been sexually abused, which shapes their personalities and the way they relate to each other. It's an interesting concept, but as you can probably imagine, depressing. And again, dense! given how deeply Gaitskill goes into their lives and memories.
Worth reading once to perceive little moments as Gaitskill does. But I don't think I'd have the energy to read it again.
The most recommendable thing about this book is Gaitskill's writing. She's a writer of literary fiction, but she never makes a stretch of a metaphor or settles for cliche. There was no descriptive sentence that I couldn't get behind, because they all accurately described the viscera of the feeling in ways that I might not have considered, but seemed fitting. Her writing is clear and easy to read.
But the story is not so easy to read (except for the "Anna Granite"/Ayn Rand parts, which can be funny). Both main characters have been sexually abused, which shapes their personalities and the way they relate to each other. It's an interesting concept, but as you can probably imagine, depressing. And again, dense! given how deeply Gaitskill goes into their lives and memories.
Worth reading once to perceive little moments as Gaitskill does. But I don't think I'd have the energy to read it again.
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No