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A review by casskrug
Molly by Blake Butler
whew this is a tough book to find words for. this is not a book that i would casually recommend due to the content. the first 30 pages of this book, where butler describes in detail the end of his wife’s life, were so harrowing that i had to put the book down for a few days. he then examines the beginning of their relationship, its many ups and downs over the years, molly’s childhood and family life, and the complex grief he felt after she took her own life. i cried at the way blake describes everything he loves and admires about molly. it was tough to read about the way both of them struggled with their mental health. there is a level of honesty and rawness in this book that i don’t think i’ve encountered before.
many readers have pointed out the gray area that this book lives in, due to the things that butler has revealed about molly now that she is no longer here to tell her side of the story. i’m struggling to figure out where i stand on the issue. where is the line of demarcation between blake’s story and molly’s? is it right for him to divulge the affairs that she kept secret while she was alive, that he only found out about after her death? i’m not sure. i think he has a right to tell the story of his grief, but i’m not sure we as readers needed the intimate details of what molly was doing in private.
one other thing i will say is that i wish this book was edited a bit better. butler obviously has a way with words, but i found many of the sentences lost their clarity because they were overwritten. this might be petty but there were grammar and spelling issues that made it difficult to understand at times.
i don’t think i can really give this a rating. it is an immensely difficult read, so personal - making me understand why a lot of people choose not to rate nonfiction.
many readers have pointed out the gray area that this book lives in, due to the things that butler has revealed about molly now that she is no longer here to tell her side of the story. i’m struggling to figure out where i stand on the issue. where is the line of demarcation between blake’s story and molly’s? is it right for him to divulge the affairs that she kept secret while she was alive, that he only found out about after her death? i’m not sure. i think he has a right to tell the story of his grief, but i’m not sure we as readers needed the intimate details of what molly was doing in private.
one other thing i will say is that i wish this book was edited a bit better. butler obviously has a way with words, but i found many of the sentences lost their clarity because they were overwritten. this might be petty but there were grammar and spelling issues that made it difficult to understand at times.
i don’t think i can really give this a rating. it is an immensely difficult read, so personal - making me understand why a lot of people choose not to rate nonfiction.