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A review by em_harring
Not One Day by Anne Garréta
3.0
[3.5 stars rounded down]
This book is a little exhausting to read. Hence why it took me six months to complete.
I really enjoy the project of this book. Not One Day is a confessional that details a series of women the author has loved or desired over the course of her life. Each chapter very much reads like a snapshot of one specific moment in time. There isn't much context given for women that Garréta knew longer than one day (or night).
The truly frustrating part of this book was the writing, but it was also the best part? At times, the writing is beautiful and evocative and poetic. Other times, it's extremely overwrought and overwritten, with so many different ideas in one sentence or paragraph that it's confusing to follow what's happening. There are also tangents that the author goes on, very stream of consciousness, that took me out of the moment.
As much as I enjoyed the project of this book, I'm unsure how successful it was for me, as a reader. Some sections I quite liked. My favorite section was about a car and landscapes and traveling--Garréta's writing really shone in that chapter.
There were some moments when I was left wondering if Garréta even likes women, because she spoke of them so disparagingly at times. It felt a little misogynistic in some chapters, or at the very least stereotypical and unfair. This book was also written in 2002, so some of the language is dated and not what we would necessarily say these days.
A mixed bag, overall.
This book is a little exhausting to read. Hence why it took me six months to complete.
I really enjoy the project of this book. Not One Day is a confessional that details a series of women the author has loved or desired over the course of her life. Each chapter very much reads like a snapshot of one specific moment in time. There isn't much context given for women that Garréta knew longer than one day (or night).
The truly frustrating part of this book was the writing, but it was also the best part? At times, the writing is beautiful and evocative and poetic. Other times, it's extremely overwrought and overwritten, with so many different ideas in one sentence or paragraph that it's confusing to follow what's happening. There are also tangents that the author goes on, very stream of consciousness, that took me out of the moment.
As much as I enjoyed the project of this book, I'm unsure how successful it was for me, as a reader. Some sections I quite liked. My favorite section was about a car and landscapes and traveling--Garréta's writing really shone in that chapter.
There were some moments when I was left wondering if Garréta even likes women, because she spoke of them so disparagingly at times. It felt a little misogynistic in some chapters, or at the very least stereotypical and unfair. This book was also written in 2002, so some of the language is dated and not what we would necessarily say these days.
A mixed bag, overall.