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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5
I haven’t felt this way about a book in a long time and I can’t even really articulate why I loved it so much. Mary Gaitskill has this entrancing way of transporting you completely into a story, with each and every detail being incredibly well thought out. I love the way she writes from the POV of deeply flawed characters, sometimes making me laugh out loud at how awful they are, and sometimes making me reflect on my own flaws.
I’m now obsessed with moving to NYC tho
I haven’t felt this way about a book in a long time and I can’t even really articulate why I loved it so much. Mary Gaitskill has this entrancing way of transporting you completely into a story, with each and every detail being incredibly well thought out. I love the way she writes from the POV of deeply flawed characters, sometimes making me laugh out loud at how awful they are, and sometimes making me reflect on my own flaws.
I’m now obsessed with moving to NYC tho
This collection of short stories is definitely about bad behavior. Mostly it’s kinky sex, but there are occasional drug users. But the stories are not particularly titillating. What happens when ordinary people start incorporating “bad behavior” into their lives? Sometimes nothing much. Sometimes they bump into identity questions.
All the characters are relentlessly observed. The author takes us inside their minds, shows us their delusions and desires, and all their halting attempts to break out and make a connection with another human being. Sometimes this happens, mostly not.
Most of the stories are set in NYC, and as always, the city insinuates itself as a main character.
All the characters are relentlessly observed. The author takes us inside their minds, shows us their delusions and desires, and all their halting attempts to break out and make a connection with another human being. Sometimes this happens, mostly not.
Most of the stories are set in NYC, and as always, the city insinuates itself as a main character.
This is the book of short stories that hold "Secretary," which was made into a soft-porn popular movie about a girl who cuts herself and wants to be dominated. This book blows. She is a writer with good craft, especially for subtext and how people move physically, she writes about sex and captures the undertow of emotions so well. I've read all her books and wait for more to be published.
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I feel as though I may have liked this book more if I had read it in college. Or maybe high school. A time when I was more impressionable maybe. I appreciate the sentiment but it felt so pretentious I hated many of the characters... and I do enjoy unlikable narrators. Also... I hate saying this but the movie Secretary was better than the original source.
Alright. I respect her and her stories, HOWEVER, I could not make it through this collection. I got about half way and had to stop. I thought a couple of the stories were alright and had some poignant themes, but I couldn’t connect with the characters in most of them and found myself just waiting waiting waiting for the story to be over. I’m hoping something else of hers will pique my interest more!