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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The idea of telling the story of a woman from the eyes of different people was brilliant. But most of them being lovers, made it limiting. The book has a sad undertone to it which didn't work too well for me.
The writing is brilliant. Janice Pariat has a way with words. There were some quotes to mull over about. I wouldn't say that the book is a must read. But you may pick it up for a quick, light read. You won't be missing out on anything even if you don't pick it.
The writing is brilliant. Janice Pariat has a way with words. There were some quotes to mull over about. I wouldn't say that the book is a must read. But you may pick it up for a quick, light read. You won't be missing out on anything even if you don't pick it.
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
reflective
2.5 stars rounded to 3.
I don't think this book was for me. Even though it's well written, I did not like any of the characters in the book. The idea to provide insight into someone's life through the eyes of multiple people is marvellous, but when they keep talking about themselves, are we really getting to understand a character or their own twisted perception of things?
The two chapters that I liked the most were the one with the art teacher and the guy she married. Those two actually sum up the central character better than all the others put together.
I understand the charm of writing without giving out too much but - the city with the river, the city without the river, the city in the east of the country, the city by the sea, the city that flooded in 1960s; this was like the literary version of the famous conversation - "What would you like to eat?" "Anything."
You can be vague about the characters or vague about the places or vague about the story in general but when you're vague about everything, you end up with one big lump of vague and little else.
I don't think this book was for me. Even though it's well written, I did not like any of the characters in the book. The idea to provide insight into someone's life through the eyes of multiple people is marvellous, but when they keep talking about themselves, are we really getting to understand a character or their own twisted perception of things?
The two chapters that I liked the most were the one with the art teacher and the guy she married. Those two actually sum up the central character better than all the others put together.
I understand the charm of writing without giving out too much but - the city with the river, the city without the river, the city in the east of the country, the city by the sea, the city that flooded in 1960s; this was like the literary version of the famous conversation - "What would you like to eat?" "Anything."
You can be vague about the characters or vague about the places or vague about the story in general but when you're vague about everything, you end up with one big lump of vague and little else.
Going into this book, I was looking forward to seeing how the story would unravel. I absolutely loved the premise - that it focused around one women, with nine different perspectives from people who loved her during her life (or "loved", should I say). I expected something deep and reflective, that would make me contemplate the way perspective really does change everything. But instead, it fell kind of flat.
Here are the three main reasons it didn't work for me:
Each voice wasn't distinctive enough
If you're going to have nine different perspectives, they all need to have their own spin on life, and it's not enough to just throw them into a different place and a different situation. A lot of the voices overlapped and merged and I didn't feel like I inhabited their character at all. They all felt and acted along the same sorts of lines, which made me question their human capacity.
The writing itself was lacking -
This might sound a little brutal, but the way it was written just wasn't for me. It had all the things we are always told not to do in creative writing class, such as excessive adverbs and telling rather than showing. It felt like a book of statements, rather than a book of insight and understanding.
For example:
'You say it's delicious, but on your face I can see sadness.' (how do you see sadness?? explain don't just state it)
'I decide to tell you the truth. // 'No.' // You don't seem surprised.' (again, show that they're not surprised. A shrug of the shoulders, or a blank face.)
Lost potential of could-be brilliant ideas -
There were so many elements of this book that I really felt could have been meaningful, but their potential just wasn't reached. For example, the vagueness of the characters, the fact that they had no names. I think this would have worked really well, but only if the characters had distinct voices to make them memorable.
I loved the idea of 'the city with a river' versus the 'city with no river' but it was completely lost on me because I was so confused at where the woman was situated in half of the stories, and where each other person was situated in relation to that. There needed to be more locational reference points.
There were also some phrases that did dig a bit deeper and intrigued me. Such as: 'they will grow up and plunge into vocations that do not call for beauty' and 'the ones we pretend to ignore are the ones we are most aware of'. But these were very sparse, which was a shame, because if the whole book had this kind of depth then it would have been magical.
Overall, I found that, even by the ending, I didn't feel like I knew the woman all that well. The stories that stuck with me the most were the art teacher and the musician, but I suspect that's only because they were touched on more than once throughout the book. I really wanted to like this book, but it didn't work out.
Here are the three main reasons it didn't work for me:
Each voice wasn't distinctive enough
If you're going to have nine different perspectives, they all need to have their own spin on life, and it's not enough to just throw them into a different place and a different situation. A lot of the voices overlapped and merged and I didn't feel like I inhabited their character at all. They all felt and acted along the same sorts of lines, which made me question their human capacity.
The writing itself was lacking -
This might sound a little brutal, but the way it was written just wasn't for me. It had all the things we are always told not to do in creative writing class, such as excessive adverbs and telling rather than showing. It felt like a book of statements, rather than a book of insight and understanding.
For example:
'You say it's delicious, but on your face I can see sadness.' (how do you see sadness?? explain don't just state it)
'I decide to tell you the truth. // 'No.' // You don't seem surprised.' (again, show that they're not surprised. A shrug of the shoulders, or a blank face.)
Lost potential of could-be brilliant ideas -
There were so many elements of this book that I really felt could have been meaningful, but their potential just wasn't reached. For example, the vagueness of the characters, the fact that they had no names. I think this would have worked really well, but only if the characters had distinct voices to make them memorable.
I loved the idea of 'the city with a river' versus the 'city with no river' but it was completely lost on me because I was so confused at where the woman was situated in half of the stories, and where each other person was situated in relation to that. There needed to be more locational reference points.
There were also some phrases that did dig a bit deeper and intrigued me. Such as: 'they will grow up and plunge into vocations that do not call for beauty' and 'the ones we pretend to ignore are the ones we are most aware of'. But these were very sparse, which was a shame, because if the whole book had this kind of depth then it would have been magical.
Overall, I found that, even by the ending, I didn't feel like I knew the woman all that well. The stories that stuck with me the most were the art teacher and the musician, but I suspect that's only because they were touched on more than once throughout the book. I really wanted to like this book, but it didn't work out.
Soft, gentle love from the eyes of the beholder...
Good read for me. I enjoyed the simplicity & reality of the love stories.
Good read for me. I enjoyed the simplicity & reality of the love stories.
It’s very interesting to listen to how each person in this woman’s life perceive her. Their is a common theme between all of their descriptions and that is that she was beautiful and a little bit of a lost soul.
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The novel explores the contours of love and loss as precariously walked by a young woman and the people who have loved her, or who she has loved, at some point or the other in her life. In deeply honest recollections by nine different characters in nine different chapters, the protagonist is fleshed out real and raw, yet only in parts, only as a puzzle waiting to be pieced together.
Only cats have names in this novel. The protagonist is without a name, so are the nine narrators, which somehow helps retain an intrigue around the characters all along. The novel’s settings, which are seemingly familiar lands, are also unnamed, but identified metaphorically in many ways. For instance, London is the “city with a river.”
The novel makes for some excellent light-hearted reading. Its premise is rather interesting and speaks to how any perspective is partial, flawed, and subjective, how nobody is ever perceived whole or known in their entirety. The characters, with all their flaws, are relatably human, vulnerable, and hence loveable. The writing is sprinkled with gems of beautiful prose all around. The author displays a remarkable penchant for describing locations and scenes of daily life, which she does in the most charming and wistfullest of manners.
However, even as the author poignantly documents the travails of love and leaving, after a point, the stories seem to take an unappealing monotone, with the characters losing diversity and their relationships taking on similar, predictable trajectories. Although the novel attempts to explore love in all its different forms – romantic love, “deep profound friendship”, mentorship, etc. – it is disconcerting that the protagonist is time and again reduced to an object of lust. The author fails to navigate the male gaze that ends up becoming unrealistically overt in certain passages.
Only cats have names in this novel. The protagonist is without a name, so are the nine narrators, which somehow helps retain an intrigue around the characters all along. The novel’s settings, which are seemingly familiar lands, are also unnamed, but identified metaphorically in many ways. For instance, London is the “city with a river.”
The novel makes for some excellent light-hearted reading. Its premise is rather interesting and speaks to how any perspective is partial, flawed, and subjective, how nobody is ever perceived whole or known in their entirety. The characters, with all their flaws, are relatably human, vulnerable, and hence loveable. The writing is sprinkled with gems of beautiful prose all around. The author displays a remarkable penchant for describing locations and scenes of daily life, which she does in the most charming and wistfullest of manners.
However, even as the author poignantly documents the travails of love and leaving, after a point, the stories seem to take an unappealing monotone, with the characters losing diversity and their relationships taking on similar, predictable trajectories. Although the novel attempts to explore love in all its different forms – romantic love, “deep profound friendship”, mentorship, etc. – it is disconcerting that the protagonist is time and again reduced to an object of lust. The author fails to navigate the male gaze that ends up becoming unrealistically overt in certain passages.
a beautiful narration laced with exquisite writing about this one very complex woman from the lenses of her loved ones. the whole book felt like a character study of a person who was hard to understand at first and hard to not fall in love at last. Janice pariat's proses give all the feels and her characters exude all the warmth.