elizabthgreene's reviews
43 reviews

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

unbelievable - I am in awe of woolf, prostrate at her words over and over and over. intimacy is knowledge! 

White Noise by Don DeLillo

screaming into the void, the void hums back. i loved reading the last 20 pages of this in a crowded streaming heat wave airport, cheers don! 

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

john steinbeck you will always be famous! if you think this book is slow or boring because of the lush descriptions of the california landscape and the minutiae of small-town life … maybe you’re just weak I don’t care! 

Pure Colour by Sheila Heti

sweet sweet grief/love manual. a comfort and perspective that I’m sure to return to in the future. I looooved

Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin

reflective fast-paced

I’ve been stuck reading-wise for a while now & this weird lil novel (novella?) was helpful in breaking out. adored the atmosphere and odd characters and the messing around with structure. easy to read and get lost in, even if it only lasts for a moment. it sags a bit in the middle but the ending paid off 

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.

i have nothing against this book - I was reading for my bf and then we broke up? maybe one day will return out of sheer stubborness but relieved to get to return to my angsty lit ladies 

Recitatif by Toni Morrison

reflective

thank god we have morrison to revisit and reset and renew. a beautiful little story. all love to zadie smith, I suggest treating the intro as an afterword

Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

challenging dark fast-paced

so stupidly readable it lulls you in and carries you along for shocking, horrific stuff. obvious connections w/ nabokov & his monster humbert but coetzee’s david feels more human? and more terrifying and (somehow) pitiful. such a tight & gripping story and not a scene wasted! and I loved coetzee’s use allusions & motifs, there is plenty to chew on without being too abstract.  

you also don’t have to be a pro at geopolitics to “get” it, I think after the us’s racial reckoning there’s plenty to take away & I know it will shake around in my brain for a while 

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

reflective fast-paced

i liked it! biiig “I’m an empath” energy. though set in 2016, it really captures to me what feels very *post*-pandemic; loneliness, hyperawareness of others, constant evaluation of relationships, etc. impressive that kitamura crafted a story so predicated on spoken language & translation that is consistently engaging during a silent reading. 

(i recognize the limited-series-ification of so many contemporary novels and yet…this feels ripe for one. OR this could be maggie gyllenhaal’s sophomore film. optioning @ A24!)

The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector

challenging reflective

what an odd, special little gift of a book. much to admire here & my first lispector! I read her and feel as I do when I read woolf—like I must immediately go out and drink up all of their words