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A review by chloejen
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
2.0
{1.5} i get why people like this book, i really do, it’s just not for me.
while we have the time, however, i would like to tell a little story. 2 years ago, chloe picked up this book for a book club she was in. it was the first book of the book club and chloe had not yet figured out that everyone else in the book club was a literary genius (hi mia if you're seeing this). chloe gets her hands on a copy only to be greeted by a first sentence spanning, ahem oh right, the entire first page. it was at this moment she realized that she might be in a little over her head. by the time the meeting to discuss the book rolls around, she is about 60% through the book. she joins the zoom call prepared for everyone to talk about the sheer ridiculousness of the prose, the lack of plot, the pages upon pages of descriptions. For context, chloe has been reading primarily fantasy for years. she cannot understand how someone could enjoy a book without a racing plot or a lovable cast of characters. elements this book definitely does not have. chloe does not talk very much in that book discussion. after that, book after book similar to housekeeping was assigned, some she enjoyed more, some she enjoyed less. all of which she stopped at about 60%. chloe ended the year with nineteen books on her “currently reading” list and a severely deflated ego. she has spent the past two years finishing all of the books she started for that book club. annie john, the dead, who will run the frog hospital?. housekeeping was the final boss. chloe spent two fucking years lugging this book around in her tote bag, hoping somehow, somewhere, she would strike up the motivation to finally finish it. chloe spent two years pausing before the title to remember whether it was called housekeeping or homegoing. chloe’s copy of this book is water damaged and torn. then, on june 22, she finally picked it up and finished it. the ending was utterly underwhelming.
tldr: i might write like a pretentious little bitch sometimes but i don't like reading it
while we have the time, however, i would like to tell a little story. 2 years ago, chloe picked up this book for a book club she was in. it was the first book of the book club and chloe had not yet figured out that everyone else in the book club was a literary genius (hi mia if you're seeing this). chloe gets her hands on a copy only to be greeted by a first sentence spanning, ahem oh right, the entire first page. it was at this moment she realized that she might be in a little over her head. by the time the meeting to discuss the book rolls around, she is about 60% through the book. she joins the zoom call prepared for everyone to talk about the sheer ridiculousness of the prose, the lack of plot, the pages upon pages of descriptions. For context, chloe has been reading primarily fantasy for years. she cannot understand how someone could enjoy a book without a racing plot or a lovable cast of characters. elements this book definitely does not have. chloe does not talk very much in that book discussion. after that, book after book similar to housekeeping was assigned, some she enjoyed more, some she enjoyed less. all of which she stopped at about 60%. chloe ended the year with nineteen books on her “currently reading” list and a severely deflated ego. she has spent the past two years finishing all of the books she started for that book club. annie john, the dead, who will run the frog hospital?. housekeeping was the final boss. chloe spent two fucking years lugging this book around in her tote bag, hoping somehow, somewhere, she would strike up the motivation to finally finish it. chloe spent two years pausing before the title to remember whether it was called housekeeping or homegoing. chloe’s copy of this book is water damaged and torn. then, on june 22, she finally picked it up and finished it. the ending was utterly underwhelming.
tldr: i might write like a pretentious little bitch sometimes but i don't like reading it