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fleshexecutable's Reviews (65)
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
It is December and this is the first new book I've completed all year. I don't necessarily say that as praise towards the book, however, like a sun-dried sponge my brain soaked it in completely in one six-hour sitting. I read this coming off the back of multiple rereads of Jesus Saves by Darcey Steinke and absolutely desperate for a return to desolate, suburban, god-starved mid-America, I turned to Universal Harvester. And while it ticked those boxes, there is an itch left unscratched and for much of the book I found myself reaching in circles for that prickling spot. Much of the prose insists upon itself, trying desperately to hammer itself into a point that does not want to be made and leaves you with nothing but a fuck ton of holes in the wall.
At it's core, the book states that it's ultimately about mothers, and in some ways I suppose it is. I would say that before it is about mothers, it is about God and before it is about God, it is about loss and further than that, it is about the physicality of a place and at the very end of this list, in a cramped margin, it is about horror. The problem is that the book seems to have trouble deciding which of these it is building upon at any given point. Darnielle's prose is evocative but slogs at points, winding around itself before trailing off, leading to rereads of many paragraphs. But it also brings to life a vibrant picture of desperation, this belly cry into the great American nothing. This book features many different characters, none so important as the places they inhabit. I would venture to say that Iowa, the way it adheres to the characters themselves, proves itself more influential to the story than the characters. As if this story could take place anywhere but Iowa.
This feels like one of those stories that demands a second read and while I don't think I can oblige it, I can accept it for what it was. Maybe I will revisit a passage or two but I don't know if any amount of rereading will turn this into the story I was hoping it'd be. That being said, this is the closest I've gotten to that feeling of godless mid-America that I've been chasing with Jesus Saves and in that way, I feel as if I've been temporarily satiated enough to move forward.
At it's core, the book states that it's ultimately about mothers, and in some ways I suppose it is. I would say that before it is about mothers, it is about God and before it is about God, it is about loss and further than that, it is about the physicality of a place and at the very end of this list, in a cramped margin, it is about horror. The problem is that the book seems to have trouble deciding which of these it is building upon at any given point. Darnielle's prose is evocative but slogs at points, winding around itself before trailing off, leading to rereads of many paragraphs. But it also brings to life a vibrant picture of desperation, this belly cry into the great American nothing. This book features many different characters, none so important as the places they inhabit. I would venture to say that Iowa, the way it adheres to the characters themselves, proves itself more influential to the story than the characters. As if this story could take place anywhere but Iowa.
This feels like one of those stories that demands a second read and while I don't think I can oblige it, I can accept it for what it was. Maybe I will revisit a passage or two but I don't know if any amount of rereading will turn this into the story I was hoping it'd be. That being said, this is the closest I've gotten to that feeling of godless mid-America that I've been chasing with Jesus Saves and in that way, I feel as if I've been temporarily satiated enough to move forward.
