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A review by casskrug
August Blue by Deborah Levy
3.0
much like this summer, august blue felt like it slipped through my fingers and floated away. it follows elsa, an immensely talented pianist who walked offstage in the middle of a performance. she travels around europe giving piano lessons and being followed by, or maybe following, a woman who she believes to be her doppelganger, while dealing with her adoptive father’s illness.
i’ve seen quite a few people read this as their first deborah levy and not enjoy it, and now i see why. august blue feels watered down, lacking the twists and turns of the man who saw everything, the lushness of hot milk and swimming home, and the relatability of the living autobiography series. i say start with any of those if you’re trying to get into her work. while i love levy’s sparse prose, this verged on too sparse, giving me nothing to latch onto in the characters.
the concepts levy is exploring here have so much potential - how do we define what a parent is? can we avoid learning the history of our family and the events that shaped our lives? how do we face the different versions that the self could’ve taken? i just wish the exploration of these questions had a bit more impact.
i’ve seen quite a few people read this as their first deborah levy and not enjoy it, and now i see why. august blue feels watered down, lacking the twists and turns of the man who saw everything, the lushness of hot milk and swimming home, and the relatability of the living autobiography series. i say start with any of those if you’re trying to get into her work. while i love levy’s sparse prose, this verged on too sparse, giving me nothing to latch onto in the characters.
the concepts levy is exploring here have so much potential - how do we define what a parent is? can we avoid learning the history of our family and the events that shaped our lives? how do we face the different versions that the self could’ve taken? i just wish the exploration of these questions had a bit more impact.