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A review by jodar
Outline by Rachel Cusk
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
An intriguing novel in which each chapter seemed like a pearl in a necklace. Each chapter focuses on a specific time and place during the narrator's travel to Athens and her time there as a writing teacher. The narrator herself, however, is largely removed from the story; it's as though she is exploring things through her interactions with other people rather than focusing on her own thoughts and feelings directly.
The main theme to me was the exploration of the meaning of life though personal interactions, man-woman relationships, cross-cultural relationships, family, careers and all the variety of efforts the characters make to find fulfilment and inner peace.
The writing style is quite spartan and almost detached, even when discussing emotionally wrought ordeals. For me the novel had the sense of an investigation or series of discussions of life's meaning rather than any direct experiences of life events.
There are some eloquent passages, all the same, for example:
The main theme to me was the exploration of the meaning of life though personal interactions, man-woman relationships, cross-cultural relationships, family, careers and all the variety of efforts the characters make to find fulfilment and inner peace.
The writing style is quite spartan and almost detached, even when discussing emotionally wrought ordeals. For me the novel had the sense of an investigation or series of discussions of life's meaning rather than any direct experiences of life events.
There are some eloquent passages, all the same, for example:
[I] thought of the strange transitions from enchantment to disenchantment and back again that moved through human affairs like cloudbanks, sometimes portentous and grey and sometimes mere distant inscrutable shapes that blotted out the sun for a while and then just as carelessly revealed it again. (Chapter 4)
I can understand why others may find the novel is not to their taste, but personally I found it fascinating, complex and engagingly reflective.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Eating disorder, Animal cruelty, and Infidelity