Scan barcode
A review by mellkayy
Crudo by Olivia Laing
My first read of 2019 was Crudo by Olivia Laing. I had heard rave reviews about this and I was so excited to pick this one up, but unfortunately it wasn’t for me.
Crudo follows feminist and author Kathy Acker, as if she were alive in 2017. Acker is inundated with news from around the globe, and often times found herself overwhelmed by all the terrible things that were happening, most prominently Brexit and Trump’s first year as President of the United States.
What I really enjoyed about this novella was the lyrical, stream of consciousness style writing, and the relevance to important issues impacting the world in 2017.
However, that’s where my enjoyment stops. The book overall didn’t really seem to go anywhere; instead, we were shown Acker acknowledging what was going on in the world, then she moved on. I think if this was explored in more depth it would have been a more intriguing read. Also, there was equal time spent on her focusing on trivial things that added nothing to the story, such as her having gained a few pounds over the summer, then having to exercise more to work it off. In such a short book (this edition is around 180 pages), this seemed unnecessary.
I think personally part of my lack of enjoyment stems from my little of knowledge about politics, therefore some of the content of this book went over my head.
Unfortunately this just didn’t live up to the hype for me.
Crudo follows feminist and author Kathy Acker, as if she were alive in 2017. Acker is inundated with news from around the globe, and often times found herself overwhelmed by all the terrible things that were happening, most prominently Brexit and Trump’s first year as President of the United States.
What I really enjoyed about this novella was the lyrical, stream of consciousness style writing, and the relevance to important issues impacting the world in 2017.
However, that’s where my enjoyment stops. The book overall didn’t really seem to go anywhere; instead, we were shown Acker acknowledging what was going on in the world, then she moved on. I think if this was explored in more depth it would have been a more intriguing read. Also, there was equal time spent on her focusing on trivial things that added nothing to the story, such as her having gained a few pounds over the summer, then having to exercise more to work it off. In such a short book (this edition is around 180 pages), this seemed unnecessary.
I think personally part of my lack of enjoyment stems from my little of knowledge about politics, therefore some of the content of this book went over my head.
Unfortunately this just didn’t live up to the hype for me.