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jennyyates 's review for:
Thrust
by Lidia Yuknavitch
This is a bit untethered. It’s brilliant and fascinating at times, but it doesn’t give the reader much to hang on to, in terms of characters, plot, or even a clear idea of when or where anything is happening. My feeling is that the writer wants the reader to be a little off-balance all the time, not to assume or expect anything.
The central figure is a young girl who can immerse herself in water and travel through time, guided by a talking turtle, a whale, worms, and other natural figures, rescuing and helping people in different time periods. These range from the 19th century to a future date in which water has covered much of the habitable land, and people live in floating dwellings.
One of the recurring themes is the Statue of Liberty, with some chapters dealing with four working people who are building the statue, and others showing the statue underwater. The sculptor, Bartholdi, who created the statue, is featured in epistolary sections, with letters to and from his lover/cousin. There’s a fair amount of violent sex featured in the book, mainly between the two of them, and there are many passages extolling desire.
There are snakes. There are apples. Both show up as erotic symbols, with the apples involved in some disquieting sexual scenes. There are passages about the dysfunctional relationship we have with the earth, and the much healthier relationships that earthy creatures have with each other. There are also many lost and broken children in these pages.
You could call it a dystopian novel, although the watery world at the end seems more peaceful. The process of getting there, however, is full of human tragedies of various kinds. I’m glad to have read this highly experimental novel, but I don’t know if I want to take on another one by this author.
The central figure is a young girl who can immerse herself in water and travel through time, guided by a talking turtle, a whale, worms, and other natural figures, rescuing and helping people in different time periods. These range from the 19th century to a future date in which water has covered much of the habitable land, and people live in floating dwellings.
One of the recurring themes is the Statue of Liberty, with some chapters dealing with four working people who are building the statue, and others showing the statue underwater. The sculptor, Bartholdi, who created the statue, is featured in epistolary sections, with letters to and from his lover/cousin. There’s a fair amount of violent sex featured in the book, mainly between the two of them, and there are many passages extolling desire.
There are snakes. There are apples. Both show up as erotic symbols, with the apples involved in some disquieting sexual scenes. There are passages about the dysfunctional relationship we have with the earth, and the much healthier relationships that earthy creatures have with each other. There are also many lost and broken children in these pages.
You could call it a dystopian novel, although the watery world at the end seems more peaceful. The process of getting there, however, is full of human tragedies of various kinds. I’m glad to have read this highly experimental novel, but I don’t know if I want to take on another one by this author.