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A review by bookishdea
There Is No Year by Blake Butler
1.0
This book was on my Nook, and when I started it, I had no idea what it was. It wasn't until a few chapters in that I realized that this was the weirdish horror novel I had gotten a while ago.
I also read this book while taking the bus home from work -- after working an eight hour shift and getting off at 7am. So yes, not optimal reading conditions.
I am really not a fan of post-modernist literature. Actually, I despite it with a passion, and the last piece of post-modernist literature I unfortunately read was Douglas Copland's Coma Girl and I ended up throwing it halfway across the room into a wall.
It really depends on my mood, but different writing styles besides your basic paragraphs can really annoy me as well.
Also, apparently I'm not a huge fan of speculative fiction. And I know that I am quite wary of horror.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
I finished the book. But I was left just as confused as I was when I started it. There was nothing really horrifying about the book. I just found it really strange. And no, I didn't like the book. It didn't send me into a rage (seriously, what was up with Coma Girl, that was like the most pointless book I've ever read...post-modernism is why I dropped out of my lit-based American Studies program*). I'm sure for the right reader, this book is excellent. But unfortunately, I am not that reader. This isn't a YA paranormal romance with vampires/werewolves/whatever that makes me scream about the way it's upholding the rape culture and romanticizing abusive partners. No, this book was simply a book that I should never have picked up because it's not a genre I like, it's not a style I like, and it really requires more thought than reading when you're half-asleep.
If you like post-modernism, different kinds of writing styles, or want a new face in the horror genre (that is a different kind of creepy), I recommend this book to you.
If you don't want any of that...stay away. You'll probably just end up confused.
*well, not the only reason. But my professors ADORED post-modernist lit and I despise it and unfortunately the program that advertised both literary AND cultural AND historical aspects of the US turned out to be an extremely post-modernist literature based program. So yeah. Not the only reason, but a big one.
I also read this book while taking the bus home from work -- after working an eight hour shift and getting off at 7am. So yes, not optimal reading conditions.
I am really not a fan of post-modernist literature. Actually, I despite it with a passion, and the last piece of post-modernist literature I unfortunately read was Douglas Copland's Coma Girl and I ended up throwing it halfway across the room into a wall.
It really depends on my mood, but different writing styles besides your basic paragraphs can really annoy me as well.
Also, apparently I'm not a huge fan of speculative fiction. And I know that I am quite wary of horror.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
I finished the book. But I was left just as confused as I was when I started it. There was nothing really horrifying about the book. I just found it really strange. And no, I didn't like the book. It didn't send me into a rage (seriously, what was up with Coma Girl, that was like the most pointless book I've ever read...post-modernism is why I dropped out of my lit-based American Studies program*). I'm sure for the right reader, this book is excellent. But unfortunately, I am not that reader. This isn't a YA paranormal romance with vampires/werewolves/whatever that makes me scream about the way it's upholding the rape culture and romanticizing abusive partners. No, this book was simply a book that I should never have picked up because it's not a genre I like, it's not a style I like, and it really requires more thought than reading when you're half-asleep.
If you like post-modernism, different kinds of writing styles, or want a new face in the horror genre (that is a different kind of creepy), I recommend this book to you.
If you don't want any of that...stay away. You'll probably just end up confused.
*well, not the only reason. But my professors ADORED post-modernist lit and I despise it and unfortunately the program that advertised both literary AND cultural AND historical aspects of the US turned out to be an extremely post-modernist literature based program. So yeah. Not the only reason, but a big one.