Reviews

The Baudelaire Fractal by Lisa Robertson

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buggirl48's review against another edition

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5.0

to the rep who sent me this years ago, i cannot thank you enough <3 why i love books

atlas0fstars's review against another edition

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2.0

this book was beautifully written but you needed some baudelarian cypher to really understand what was going on. Maybe it’s just modernism or maybe I didn’t fill the prerequisites before opening this book - but it was hard to read and even harder to understand. Beautifully written , but difficult.

ottobop's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

twinpeaks's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No

4.0

the writing is so lovely and evocative like sticking virginia woolf in a 21st century it girl on the verge and pulling a thread, but i couldnt for the life of me cling to a single sentence. i was forgetting the words even as i read. i dont know if that says something about me or about the book

iris_sel's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

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

1.0

I hate when books make me feel stupid. this narrator is so pretentious and has such a ‘holier than thou’ attitude, I just could not get into it. I wanted to tear my own hair out multiple times.

but some passages out of context and by themselves are interesting, I suppose.

annamickreads's review against another edition

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4.0

"The Baudelaire Fractal," at first appearance, is a spiraling, poetic tale that routinely flits in different directions. The bigger picture is a series of essays about the main character Hazel Brown's life, especially after waking up one morning a hotel room in Paris to find that she has written the complete works of Baudelaire upon the walls.

Hazel is the epitome of the female drifter; many of the essays take place in different time periods and cities in which Hazel has rented the cheapest possible room to save money. She reflects upon her experience in each city, be it working endless odd jobs, observing the halls around her, or ruminating on her neighbors. Baudelaire as a significant historical vagabond is a natural comparison, and in one essay, Hazel explores the concept of authorship through the lens of Baudelaire himself.

The prose in this book really makes it stand out to me, it could have been a series of essays from the author herself, but instead what the reader receives is fluid and thoughtful and verges on autofiction.