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A review by girlpdf
Sky Saw by Blake Butler
3.0
ewwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i want to read about this book more than i want to read it, i want to remember reading this book more than i want to reread it, and i appreciate the way this book operated in my head at a mechanical level more than i appreciated reading it. does that all make sense.
strange obscure and hostile, sky saw is about itself, in both metatextual digs that should be overwrought or cheesy but actually kind of work? and in the way that the language feels like the object. there are other writers that i think balance dense, in-yer-face writing with the idea of the novel in a much more elegant way (alexis wright…… alexis wright anyone…..), but in fairness i don't think butler is interested in balance.
it feels like there's a story, and this book is the mechanical operation of that story — it is the layer behind the surface narrative, the words are functioning at a higher level, carrying heavier meaning that is less obvious, unbeautifully imposing themselves more obstructively, interested in raw function rather than pure connotation. definitely uninterested in cliche and familiarity.
i'm struggling to write this review because i don't really know what to say… i'm glad i read it because it was unlike many things. at some points i was bored. at some points i was moved (rare but certain). at some points it felt wanky and gratuitous, and at other points it felt interesting and adventurous. wow i'm really doing a masterclass in ambivalence here. idk. someone else read it and tell me what you think
i want to read about this book more than i want to read it, i want to remember reading this book more than i want to reread it, and i appreciate the way this book operated in my head at a mechanical level more than i appreciated reading it. does that all make sense.
strange obscure and hostile, sky saw is about itself, in both metatextual digs that should be overwrought or cheesy but actually kind of work? and in the way that the language feels like the object. there are other writers that i think balance dense, in-yer-face writing with the idea of the novel in a much more elegant way (alexis wright…… alexis wright anyone…..), but in fairness i don't think butler is interested in balance.
it feels like there's a story, and this book is the mechanical operation of that story — it is the layer behind the surface narrative, the words are functioning at a higher level, carrying heavier meaning that is less obvious, unbeautifully imposing themselves more obstructively, interested in raw function rather than pure connotation. definitely uninterested in cliche and familiarity.
i'm struggling to write this review because i don't really know what to say… i'm glad i read it because it was unlike many things. at some points i was bored. at some points i was moved (rare but certain). at some points it felt wanky and gratuitous, and at other points it felt interesting and adventurous. wow i'm really doing a masterclass in ambivalence here. idk. someone else read it and tell me what you think