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A review by anishinaabekwereads
Miss Subways by David Duchovny
4.0
I'm going to start this review by saying I was highly skeptical. I didn't quite believe I'd enjoy it primarily because I knew next to nothing about Duchovny's writing (training or previous history). I found this in the bookstore I work in and had no idea he'd even written other novels. It was purely an impulse purchase because I was curious.
It took me a bit after I finished the novel to come to a decision on whether or not I liked it. Duchovny's writing style is certainly not for everyone. Often abrupt, often feeling almost too close to a stream of consciousness, the novel's preternatural subject matter was likely even less appealing to some readers. For me, it wasn't an issue. I was captivated by the writing and the story pulled me forward continually, but I wasn't sure that I liked it even as I was reading it. This, I believe was more the result of being unsure if I liked Emer or Con. Trust me I don't need to like characters to like a book but something about these two really threw me. It was only after I let it sit with me for a while that I was able to parse out that, despite not particularly caring for either character, the story itself was filled with the kind of nuance that exploded the quotidian of life that made the entire thing matter. The oddness of the story was balanced strongly by the overwhelming routine of Emer's life.
I don't often re-read books but I'm seriously considering doing so with this one because I feel like there's so much still in this novel that I need to reexamine and that there are so many little pieces I easily overlooked the first go round.
It took me a bit after I finished the novel to come to a decision on whether or not I liked it. Duchovny's writing style is certainly not for everyone. Often abrupt, often feeling almost too close to a stream of consciousness, the novel's preternatural subject matter was likely even less appealing to some readers. For me, it wasn't an issue. I was captivated by the writing and the story pulled me forward continually, but I wasn't sure that I liked it even as I was reading it. This, I believe was more the result of being unsure if I liked Emer or Con. Trust me I don't need to like characters to like a book but something about these two really threw me. It was only after I let it sit with me for a while that I was able to parse out that, despite not particularly caring for either character, the story itself was filled with the kind of nuance that exploded the quotidian of life that made the entire thing matter. The oddness of the story was balanced strongly by the overwhelming routine of Emer's life.
I don't often re-read books but I'm seriously considering doing so with this one because I feel like there's so much still in this novel that I need to reexamine and that there are so many little pieces I easily overlooked the first go round.