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A review by casskrug
Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin
4.0
scaffolding tackles a little bit of everything: desire, marriage, motherhood, feminist politics, psychoanalysis, home remodeling, queerness, religion, past/present/future… we see how all of those topics interact with the lives and relationships of two different women, anna and florence, who live in the parisian same apartment 40 years apart.
there are some loose plot points that mirror each other in both women’s lives, including affairs, pregnancy, and careers in psychoanalysis, but it is not a super plot heavy novel - it’s a quiet look at the ideas and inner turmoil of the characters. ultimately, i really loved the experience of reading this book. the way that elkin paints the picture of both characters and their home somehow felt comforting to read. her language remains accessible even as it presents interesting ideas about who and what we are allowed to desire through the lens of lacanian psychoanalysis. some of the context went over my head but was still thought provoking to read about.
i’m really glad to have enjoyed lauren elkin’s fiction as much as i enjoyed her nonfiction exploration of feminist art, art monsters. there is very strong connective tissue between both books, without it feeling like she’s repeating herself. i’m excited to see how those themes are expanded upon in her other work! i’m not sure how much of scaffolding will fully stick with me but it was an enjoyable novel to get swept up in.
“I always thought of scaffolding as something supportive that goes around or next to something else, but there is always at least one point of damage, they can't just pile it up free-standing.”
thank you to fsg and netgalley for the digital copy!
there are some loose plot points that mirror each other in both women’s lives, including affairs, pregnancy, and careers in psychoanalysis, but it is not a super plot heavy novel - it’s a quiet look at the ideas and inner turmoil of the characters. ultimately, i really loved the experience of reading this book. the way that elkin paints the picture of both characters and their home somehow felt comforting to read. her language remains accessible even as it presents interesting ideas about who and what we are allowed to desire through the lens of lacanian psychoanalysis. some of the context went over my head but was still thought provoking to read about.
i’m really glad to have enjoyed lauren elkin’s fiction as much as i enjoyed her nonfiction exploration of feminist art, art monsters. there is very strong connective tissue between both books, without it feeling like she’s repeating herself. i’m excited to see how those themes are expanded upon in her other work! i’m not sure how much of scaffolding will fully stick with me but it was an enjoyable novel to get swept up in.
“I always thought of scaffolding as something supportive that goes around or next to something else, but there is always at least one point of damage, they can't just pile it up free-standing.”
thank you to fsg and netgalley for the digital copy!