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A review by purplemind
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Once more, my book club's monthly pick leads me to a memoir, and I have to say, of the ones I've read so far, this one is definitely my favourite.
Reading through Machado's retelling of her years "in the dream house" (as well as several parts of her life before and after) was an emotional journey, both heartbreaking and fascinating, haunting and beautifully written.
I usually don't like very short chapters in books as I feel that they break up the narration too much, and bring its flow to a halt. Machado might have managed to change my mind for good, however: even the bite-sized chapters carry weight, and intent (the "Deja-Vu" ones especially come to mind), not in little part thanks to the brilliant idea of drawing parallels between literary genres, devices, or tropes and her life. Perhaps, at the end of the day, it really does come down to how well you handle them, and the author, here, handled them perfectly.
This should be a very hard book to get through, the subject matter anything but light, or pleasant, as necessary as it might be to discuss. Machado, though, takes on the difficult task of fighting against the "archival silence" surrounding abuse of women in same-sex relationship with incredible dedication, and grace, and a surprisingly amount of humour. As a queer person myself, this book resonated with me deeply: I can't stop thinking about it, even after having finished it nearly two weeks ago. This one goes straight to my favourites, and I'm definitely going to pick up more of Machado's work in the future.
Reading through Machado's retelling of her years "in the dream house" (as well as several parts of her life before and after) was an emotional journey, both heartbreaking and fascinating, haunting and beautifully written.
I usually don't like very short chapters in books as I feel that they break up the narration too much, and bring its flow to a halt. Machado might have managed to change my mind for good, however: even the bite-sized chapters carry weight, and intent (the "Deja-Vu" ones especially come to mind), not in little part thanks to the brilliant idea of drawing parallels between literary genres, devices, or tropes and her life. Perhaps, at the end of the day, it really does come down to how well you handle them, and the author, here, handled them perfectly.
This should be a very hard book to get through, the subject matter anything but light, or pleasant, as necessary as it might be to discuss. Machado, though, takes on the difficult task of fighting against the "archival silence" surrounding abuse of women in same-sex relationship with incredible dedication, and grace, and a surprisingly amount of humour. As a queer person myself, this book resonated with me deeply: I can't stop thinking about it, even after having finished it nearly two weeks ago. This one goes straight to my favourites, and I'm definitely going to pick up more of Machado's work in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Rape