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A review by richthegreat
A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Okay, wow. Firstly the book is insanely well written, think stream of consciousness in Irish. It is quite a challenge and I think Eimear is clearly a gifted writer.
I love stream of consciousness writing, and for me this book did not disappoint, her writing is absolutely stunning, but you have to like that sort of thing. If you can't manage Woolf, or Joyce then don't bother here, as McBride is even more.
That is where my praise ends, this book is pure violence and I would have never read it had I known. There is so much rape, and hate and incest and trauma. The book is trauma, only read it if you are prepared. I have nothing to say that is positive about the plot it is essentially just trauma being passively and actively inflicted on the main character, by herself, others and the catholic church.
For me I can't separate the content from the stunning prose, I found the book so triggering and upsetting that no amount of excellent writing can make up for it. I cannot emphasise enough that you MUST be extremely careful if you undertake to read this book.
Personally if I never read another book about a person getting abused and then engaging in horrendous self hate I will be just fine. I know this stuff happens, and I understand the human capacity to inflict pain on ourselves and others, but I can't read about it anymore, not on this scale.
I am happy to be challenged on my view of this, I appreciate as a man I may not understand the full authenticity of the lead characters emotions.
I love stream of consciousness writing, and for me this book did not disappoint, her writing is absolutely stunning, but you have to like that sort of thing. If you can't manage Woolf, or Joyce then don't bother here, as McBride is even more.
That is where my praise ends, this book is pure violence and I would have never read it had I known. There is so much rape, and hate and incest and trauma. The book is trauma, only read it if you are prepared. I have nothing to say that is positive about the plot it is essentially just trauma being passively and actively inflicted on the main character, by herself, others and the catholic church.
For me I can't separate the content from the stunning prose, I found the book so triggering and upsetting that no amount of excellent writing can make up for it. I cannot emphasise enough that you MUST be extremely careful if you undertake to read this book.
Personally if I never read another book about a person getting abused and then engaging in horrendous self hate I will be just fine. I know this stuff happens, and I understand the human capacity to inflict pain on ourselves and others, but I can't read about it anymore, not on this scale.
I am happy to be challenged on my view of this, I appreciate as a man I may not understand the full authenticity of the lead characters emotions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief