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heamarhar 's review for:
The Rabbit Hutch
by Tess Gunty
Okay, I'm sorry for the long review but I have a lot of feelings about this book and am sad about the reviews not matching my enthusiasm. I knew this book was a winner after the first 2 pages. I told my friends immediately, "I think this book is going to change my life." Maybe my feelings will change a few days removed from my completion of the book, but we'll see. I'm trying to not read other reviews because I am afraid they will make me dislike the book. :(
I'm not smart enough to accurately detail how The Rabbit Hutch made me feel, but dang it I'm going to try. It took me like a month to read it (it is DENSE and probably not everyone's cup of tea). I was stunned by the beautiful, lyrical writing and circular connections of everyone in Vacca Vale and beyond. Every interaction happened for a reason, even if you dont realize it upon your first read. And yeah, you could easily read the other reviews and say I got sucked into thinking Blandine was more important than she really was to the storyline or that the pretty words distracted me from an otherwise average story, but I genuinely enjoyed it and was mesmerized the whole way through. Tiffany and James's story had me feeling sick to my stomach!! Moses in the confession booth had me in a chokehold!!
Maybe I'm just easily impressed, but I'm such a huge fan of contemporary literary fiction that deals with how we view each other and our places in the world. I bought a hard copy of the book a week before I finished it because I already knew it deserved a place on my "5 star reads" shelf.
Here are some of my highlights:
"'Anyway, I’m surprised I called you good not because I think you’re bad. It would be absurd to describe a whole person as good or bad. You’re just a series of messy, contradicting behaviors, like everyone else. Those behaviors can become patterns, or instincts, and some are better than others. But as long as you’re alive, the jury’s out.'”
"That time on a red-eye bus when the driver used the intercom to contemplate, in campfire baritone, the wonder of his grandchildren, the way they validated his life as time well spent. As he lulled the passengers with stories, someone began to pass around a Tupperware of sliced watermelon, and a drunk man offered to share the miniature bottles of whiskey from his bag, and Joan felt such overwhelming affection for her species, she feared she would sacrifice herself to save it."
"Joan understood that human tenderness was not to be mocked. It was the last real thing."
"She misses her mother like a phantom limb."
Point deduction for the research oversight of having a book based in Indiana and calling the BMV "the DMV" though.
I'm not smart enough to accurately detail how The Rabbit Hutch made me feel, but dang it I'm going to try. It took me like a month to read it (it is DENSE and probably not everyone's cup of tea). I was stunned by the beautiful, lyrical writing and circular connections of everyone in Vacca Vale and beyond. Every interaction happened for a reason, even if you dont realize it upon your first read. And yeah, you could easily read the other reviews and say I got sucked into thinking Blandine was more important than she really was to the storyline or that the pretty words distracted me from an otherwise average story, but I genuinely enjoyed it and was mesmerized the whole way through. Tiffany and James's story had me feeling sick to my stomach!! Moses in the confession booth had me in a chokehold!!
Maybe I'm just easily impressed, but I'm such a huge fan of contemporary literary fiction that deals with how we view each other and our places in the world. I bought a hard copy of the book a week before I finished it because I already knew it deserved a place on my "5 star reads" shelf.
Here are some of my highlights:
"'Anyway, I’m surprised I called you good not because I think you’re bad. It would be absurd to describe a whole person as good or bad. You’re just a series of messy, contradicting behaviors, like everyone else. Those behaviors can become patterns, or instincts, and some are better than others. But as long as you’re alive, the jury’s out.'”
"That time on a red-eye bus when the driver used the intercom to contemplate, in campfire baritone, the wonder of his grandchildren, the way they validated his life as time well spent. As he lulled the passengers with stories, someone began to pass around a Tupperware of sliced watermelon, and a drunk man offered to share the miniature bottles of whiskey from his bag, and Joan felt such overwhelming affection for her species, she feared she would sacrifice herself to save it."
"Joan understood that human tenderness was not to be mocked. It was the last real thing."
"She misses her mother like a phantom limb."
Point deduction for the research oversight of having a book based in Indiana and calling the BMV "the DMV" though.