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oliviapengle 's review for:
Peach
by Emma Glass
4.5 stars. Let me preface this review by saying I might be reading into this... but with respect to reviews that have essentially asked wtf?!, this is what I loved about [b:Peach|34957071|Peach|Emma Glass|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501497597s/34957071.jpg|56231202]. (Also, if it wasn't clear from the blurb, content warning for sexual assault!)
Writing style. Prior to its release, Glass' writing was compared with Eimar McBride, which made me very wary of reading the book. I have tried and failed to read both [b:A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing|18218630|A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing|Eimear McBride|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1374386236s/18218630.jpg|25647879] and [b:The Lesser Bohemians|28363987|The Lesser Bohemians|Eimear McBride|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1469511945s/28363987.jpg|48208213]. I had absolutely no patience for McBride's writing style. I would say that while Glass wrote [b:Peach|34957071|Peach|Emma Glass|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501497597s/34957071.jpg|56231202] in stream-of-consciousness, there is a major difference between McBride's third person and Glass' first person point-of-view. It felt extremely intentional to make us read the story through the body of Peach. Yes, some parts were less crafted, perhaps distracted and superficial, but overall this was beautiful prose written to shift our perspective on the horrific acts within. One passage I read out loud was this:
Perspective on sexual assault. Glass challenges the reader's assumptions about sexual assault. I don't mean that she debunks myths about virginity, consent, or something along those lines, I mean that she literally forces the reader to make judgments about Peach and her actions. Most of us wouldn't blame Peach for not saying something to the police about her sexual assault, but by adding more extreme acts of violence and harassment in the assault of her boyfriend, hanging of her cat, and stalking , the reader naturally questions why Peach still hasn't reported her assault and its related crimes. The brilliance of this book is that in only 97 pages we are forced into a tension between empathy and what we may see as common sense, despite not having the same experience as the character.
Symbolism. There is so much symbolism in this tiny book that you wonder whether it might be too explicit and forced, but I'm not convinced it is. The juxtaposition between Lincoln and Baby is the most salient to me. Glass writes Lincoln - the perpetrator of the sexual assault - as greasy and savory, with comparisons of his body to sausage. (Sausage comes up as a recurring motif in the trauma Peach contends with throughout the story.) On the other hand, Baby - Peach's infant brother - is so sweet that sugar powder falls off him in droves. In other words, innocence and purity in the Baby versus guilt and corruption in Lincoln. She even makes an explicit reference to this comparison when Peach says she doesn't want Baby to be contaminated by sausage. For me, this was a really powerful, albeit slightly overdone, comparison because it highlights that male entitlement to female bodies is not innate but rather it is learned. Beyond this, clearly the idea of peaches is important and I think there are many ways to read it. One idea is to compare the sexualization of the female body to peaches: peaches are beautiful, round, and we want them to ripen faster so that we can consume them when they are most sweet and juicy (I know that sounds a bit gross, but bear with me). But there's also the undeniable fragility of a peach despite its power as a desired fruit. It is fuzzy, it can be easily bruised. At the same time, peaches are a stone fruit with a hard pit on the inside and this is critical to the story. Peach is bruised by her sexual assault and feels the tender meat of her body rotting, but the bulge in her belly grows as she gains further control over her trauma thereby growing the size of the pit in proportion to the vulnerable fruit flesh.
The ending. Of course I found it quite shocking and absurd that Peach kills Lincoln and brings the hunks of meat to her family for a BBQ. Cannibalism is a bold choice, the likes of which haven't been done well in many cases except [b:Lord of the Flies|7624|Lord of the Flies|William Golding|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327869409s/7624.jpg|2766512]. It's a truly horrific ending, but I have to believe that Glass chose it intentionally. I can't quite work out whether it was meant to reify the symbolism of sausages, highlight the destruction of flesh, vindicate Peach, or challenge our notion of the right way for these kinds of stories to end. Maybe all four. But I did feel like it was an agentic ending that flips the traditional narrative or takes to extreme the nontraditional narrative; perhaps it is out of touch with reality because it is meant to be.
I really believe that this was a great novel that has more to it than meets the eye. I didn't think I was going to like it at all, but I was surprised. Anyway, I'm not sure if any of the above is right or what Glass actually intended but I thought that it was a beautiful, challenging, and intentional novel. Clearly it's horrific, but if you can stomach it then I think it's worthwhile.
Writing style. Prior to its release, Glass' writing was compared with Eimar McBride, which made me very wary of reading the book. I have tried and failed to read both [b:A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing|18218630|A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing|Eimear McBride|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1374386236s/18218630.jpg|25647879] and [b:The Lesser Bohemians|28363987|The Lesser Bohemians|Eimear McBride|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1469511945s/28363987.jpg|48208213]. I had absolutely no patience for McBride's writing style. I would say that while Glass wrote [b:Peach|34957071|Peach|Emma Glass|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501497597s/34957071.jpg|56231202] in stream-of-consciousness, there is a major difference between McBride's third person and Glass' first person point-of-view. It felt extremely intentional to make us read the story through the body of Peach. Yes, some parts were less crafted, perhaps distracted and superficial, but overall this was beautiful prose written to shift our perspective on the horrific acts within. One passage I read out loud was this:
"Silver silent spectres sail. Silent as they dance, slow and shy. Faces facing down to the floor. Moving in soft waves, silent, soft flourishes. Silvery silhouettes silhouetted by the glowing green lights of gory medical machinery. Glimmering, shivering like silver fishes in oily streams. Shy and silent, but subtly surveying. Seeing everything. Softly sashaying around the room. Seeing me sit, sigh, cry. Silently soothing me with their soft presence."
Perspective on sexual assault. Glass challenges the reader's assumptions about sexual assault. I don't mean that she debunks myths about virginity, consent, or something along those lines, I mean that she literally forces the reader to make judgments about Peach and her actions. Most of us wouldn't blame Peach for not saying something to the police about her sexual assault, but by adding more extreme acts of violence and harassment
Symbolism. There is so much symbolism in this tiny book that you wonder whether it might be too explicit and forced, but I'm not convinced it is. The juxtaposition between Lincoln and Baby is the most salient to me. Glass writes Lincoln - the perpetrator of the sexual assault - as greasy and savory, with comparisons of his body to sausage. (Sausage comes up as a recurring motif in the trauma Peach contends with throughout the story.) On the other hand, Baby - Peach's infant brother - is so sweet that sugar powder falls off him in droves. In other words, innocence and purity in the Baby versus guilt and corruption in Lincoln. She even makes an explicit reference to this comparison when Peach says she doesn't want Baby to be contaminated by sausage. For me, this was a really powerful, albeit slightly overdone, comparison because it highlights that male entitlement to female bodies is not innate but rather it is learned. Beyond this, clearly the idea of peaches is important and I think there are many ways to read it. One idea is to compare the sexualization of the female body to peaches: peaches are beautiful, round, and we want them to ripen faster so that we can consume them when they are most sweet and juicy (I know that sounds a bit gross, but bear with me). But there's also the undeniable fragility of a peach despite its power as a desired fruit. It is fuzzy, it can be easily bruised. At the same time, peaches are a stone fruit with a hard pit on the inside and this is critical to the story. Peach is bruised by her sexual assault and feels the tender meat of her body rotting, but the bulge in her belly grows as she gains further control over her trauma thereby growing the size of the pit in proportion to the vulnerable fruit flesh.
The ending. Of course I found it quite shocking and absurd
I really believe that this was a great novel that has more to it than meets the eye. I didn't think I was going to like it at all, but I was surprised. Anyway, I'm not sure if any of the above is right or what Glass actually intended but I thought that it was a beautiful, challenging, and intentional novel. Clearly it's horrific, but if you can stomach it then I think it's worthwhile.