Scan barcode
A review by emilycm
Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
giving this a solid 3.5, with the likelihood as i think about it, my rating would change and go up to a 4 star rating. ottessa moshfegh is funky in her darkness, and i think that's why we are all drawn to her work. i didn't really intend to buy this right when it came out, but i was certainly hungry for some of her dark humor and profound understanding of these leading themes of classism, grief, the list goes on. she has a hold on them, and there is no denying her cultural impact as a new literary mind in our time. i really didn't go in with expectations to this, other than it being more grotesque than her other work, or what i may expect.
i see a lot of criticism with people expressing their dislike and disappointment on this. and i agree and empathize with that. this didn't 'wow' me, but certainly as i think more about it, retrace chapters and character's moments to understand them better. but actually, i want to add to this criticism in saying where people might perceive this to have 'failed' is in its writing. the writing itself is the gift, and it is unconventional, and perhaps bland, or bland in its description of the grotesqueness, and therefore that deviates from one's taste of what a genre like the one moshfegh crafts to be her own can gift us.
i love the fact that there is no definition to what ottessa writes. and that's what i liked about this, it subverted my expectations and treated me to something new.
was it a memorable something new? maybe not. but her work, and this especially is layered. layered in its themes, the complexities within it, and the general aura that this story and its characters exude. i liked being welcomed into that odd fantasy of complexity under ottessa's dominating pen, but i generally rate this "lower" since it didn't strike me in a way that is going to stick with me forever.
i see a lot of criticism with people expressing their dislike and disappointment on this. and i agree and empathize with that. this didn't 'wow' me, but certainly as i think more about it, retrace chapters and character's moments to understand them better. but actually, i want to add to this criticism in saying where people might perceive this to have 'failed' is in its writing. the writing itself is the gift, and it is unconventional, and perhaps bland, or bland in its description of the grotesqueness, and therefore that deviates from one's taste of what a genre like the one moshfegh crafts to be her own can gift us.
i love the fact that there is no definition to what ottessa writes. and that's what i liked about this, it subverted my expectations and treated me to something new.
was it a memorable something new? maybe not. but her work, and this especially is layered. layered in its themes, the complexities within it, and the general aura that this story and its characters exude. i liked being welcomed into that odd fantasy of complexity under ottessa's dominating pen, but i generally rate this "lower" since it didn't strike me in a way that is going to stick with me forever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Classism, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Grief, Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Rape, and Excrement