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A review by hannahgarstang
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
I was super busy whilst reading this, but binged it any free moment I had. I wasn't sure if I liked it earlier on, but as soon as we met Big Swiss I became obsessed, which is ironic.
The drama and characters are messy as they make lots of bad decisions. These personal flaws matched with an unfiltered sense of humor make them ultimately likeable and relatable.
How people relate to traumatic experiences is explored very thoroughly. It asks questions like how does trauma impact our sense of identity? Should we focus on the future and cleave it away from our personhood, but then potentially dismiss any influence it has had on us leading to unresolved emotional processing and maladpative behaviour? Alternatively do we overly identify with it and use it as an excuse to shirk accountabilty for maladpative coping mechanisms and bad behaviour, using it ultimately as a crutch to become a passive or destructive actor in our own lives?
Or should we all maybe go to therapy and process being alive, accepting that accepting ourselves is a lifelong practice?
After thinking about this all so much it made me reflect on my own relationship with trauma.
Their is also a frankness and sometimes even humor in the way they speak about trauma which felt true to life. Humor is a pretty common way of dealing with the hardest stuff in life.
The rich inner lives of animals in this book is also whimsical and wonderful. Adoration or horror of the local insect and bird population along with miniature donkey anticipation parallel the mental states of our protagonist in a really satisfying way. The house Greta and Sabine live in is also a character in itself.
Finally, I really appreciated the perspective Big Swiss is written from. Adult woman doing gay shit in the woods and bar bathrooms is hard to come by, you know. So with that said, what are you waiting for? Don't Regretta not getting around to this bad Boi!
The drama and characters are messy as they make lots of bad decisions. These personal flaws matched with an unfiltered sense of humor make them ultimately likeable and relatable.
How people relate to traumatic experiences is explored very thoroughly. It asks questions like how does trauma impact our sense of identity? Should we focus on the future and cleave it away from our personhood, but then potentially dismiss any influence it has had on us leading to unresolved emotional processing and maladpative behaviour? Alternatively do we overly identify with it and use it as an excuse to shirk accountabilty for maladpative coping mechanisms and bad behaviour, using it ultimately as a crutch to become a passive or destructive actor in our own lives?
Or should we all maybe go to therapy and process being alive, accepting that accepting ourselves is a lifelong practice?
After thinking about this all so much it made me reflect on my own relationship with trauma.
Their is also a frankness and sometimes even humor in the way they speak about trauma which felt true to life. Humor is a pretty common way of dealing with the hardest stuff in life.
The rich inner lives of animals in this book is also whimsical and wonderful. Adoration or horror of the local insect and bird population along with miniature donkey anticipation parallel the mental states of our protagonist in a really satisfying way. The house Greta and Sabine live in is also a character in itself.
Finally, I really appreciated the perspective Big Swiss is written from. Adult woman doing gay shit in the woods and bar bathrooms is hard to come by, you know. So with that said, what are you waiting for? Don't Regretta not getting around to this bad Boi!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Sexual content, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Stalking
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Rape
Minor: Drug use and Drug abuse