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A review by j_m_alexander
Matrix by Lauren Groff
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
"She rides out of the forest alone. Seventeen years old, in the cold March drizzle, Marie who comes from France."
Yes, this is a book about a nun during the late-twelfth and early-thirteenth centuries; it is a story that is largely insular, "an island of women", but it is a dramatic and powerful tale told in a masterful way. The pages are filled with seething rage, constant longing, and communal love. This is a fascinating and gripping read - yes, about a nunnery.
“She could give up the burn of singular love inside her and turn into a larger love, she could build around the other women an abbey of the spirit to protect them from cold and wet... she would build an invisible abbey made out of her own self.”
I am tempted to say this is the story of one woman, Marie, and what the will of an individual can accomplish in a world not intended to respect or even allow such a force coming from a woman, but this would not be quite right, because as much as Matrix is about this character, this leader, it is equally about community and the strength of a unified sisterhood. Marie is a woman of singular strength, but a woman born out of and wielding the knowledge that the power of women together is something wholly else.
“Marie sees again the Ladies’ Army pouring down a hillside in the Byzantine Empire, riding astride unwomanly, shouting, swords drawn, their hair loosed and flying behind them, all in the white and red tunics, ululating, fearsome”
Just a tremendous novel, not quite like anything else I have read. If I am not mistaken, there is no individual male that ever has an active role in the book, at least there is no dialogue or direct interaction between a man and Marie spelled out on the page. There are some groupings of men mentioned that influence the action, and there is at least one singular man that had an impact on Marie, but no direct interaction - it is subtle and artfully done. Marie was subverting the patriarchal powers that be and that meant knowing when to avoid and when to strike in order to protect her Abbey and her own power therein.
“Women act counter to the laws of submission when they remove themselves from availability.”
Groff's writing is beautiful and brutal, she does not spare the reader the graphic nature of life and death. Many a horrid end is detailed, and so too are lustful or violent scenes, but rarely does it feel dwelled upon - descriptions can be seemingly brief and vivid. The story is that of a life well told and again Groff manages dichotomy, as her story seems long, but the book is not - she manages to say much in what is a fairly slight novel.
“Foolish creature, old Marie would say to that child. Open your hands and let your life go. It has never been yours to do with what you will.”
Yes, this is a book about a nun during the late-twelfth and early-thirteenth centuries; it is a story that is largely insular, "an island of women", but it is a dramatic and powerful tale told in a masterful way. The pages are filled with seething rage, constant longing, and communal love. This is a fascinating and gripping read - yes, about a nunnery.
“She could give up the burn of singular love inside her and turn into a larger love, she could build around the other women an abbey of the spirit to protect them from cold and wet... she would build an invisible abbey made out of her own self.”
I am tempted to say this is the story of one woman, Marie, and what the will of an individual can accomplish in a world not intended to respect or even allow such a force coming from a woman, but this would not be quite right, because as much as Matrix is about this character, this leader, it is equally about community and the strength of a unified sisterhood. Marie is a woman of singular strength, but a woman born out of and wielding the knowledge that the power of women together is something wholly else.
“Marie sees again the Ladies’ Army pouring down a hillside in the Byzantine Empire, riding astride unwomanly, shouting, swords drawn, their hair loosed and flying behind them, all in the white and red tunics, ululating, fearsome”
Just a tremendous novel, not quite like anything else I have read. If I am not mistaken, there is no individual male that ever has an active role in the book, at least there is no dialogue or direct interaction between a man and Marie spelled out on the page. There are some groupings of men mentioned that influence the action, and there is at least one singular man that had an impact on Marie, but no direct interaction - it is subtle and artfully done. Marie was subverting the patriarchal powers that be and that meant knowing when to avoid and when to strike in order to protect her Abbey and her own power therein.
“Women act counter to the laws of submission when they remove themselves from availability.”
Groff's writing is beautiful and brutal, she does not spare the reader the graphic nature of life and death. Many a horrid end is detailed, and so too are lustful or violent scenes, but rarely does it feel dwelled upon - descriptions can be seemingly brief and vivid. The story is that of a life well told and again Groff manages dichotomy, as her story seems long, but the book is not - she manages to say much in what is a fairly slight novel.
“Foolish creature, old Marie would say to that child. Open your hands and let your life go. It has never been yours to do with what you will.”