Scan barcode
khopeisz's reviews
142 reviews
The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante
4.75
Ferrante is triumphantly capable of reaching into the depths of humanity, of womanhood, and extracting hidden truths and sentiments. Goldstein’s translation is immaculate as always. This is a quiet read, an exploratory character work, perhaps a bit of a suspenseful thriller? it’s a parable that teaches no lesson, a mirror like the sea, that reflects the black bile we vomit up. This one will stick with me, in my side perhaps, like a hat pin.
Valentino by Natalia Ginzburg
4.25
reading this one and annotating/gabbing with Caterina was so much fun. mainly two little qualms: spoilery intros should be illegal. I liked learning what I knew about Kit and Valentino organically, and was fortunate that I didn’t read the introduction of this edition until after finishing the story. And two, where did Clara go!??!
Anyway, it’s hilarious to me that the only reason Maddalena is a “villain” initially is bc she’s older and ugly. That would make villains out of so many of us! (I know this is more of a commentary, how ironic it is that beautiful yet lazy Valentino is being blighted by ugly yet accomplished Maddalena, and it’s a commentary on the characters within the universe. but I just found it very funny lol).
Anyway, it’s hilarious to me that the only reason Maddalena is a “villain” initially is bc she’s older and ugly. That would make villains out of so many of us! (I know this is more of a commentary, how ironic it is that beautiful yet lazy Valentino is being blighted by ugly yet accomplished Maddalena, and it’s a commentary on the characters within the universe. but I just found it very funny lol).
The Things We Didn't Know by Elba Iris Pérez
Did not finish book. Stopped at 0%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 0%.
This is probably a perfectly fine book. I just did not jive with 1) the font choice 2) the writing style. there are so many other books to read in the world: I can afford to be particular.
The Dry Heart by Natalia Ginzburg
4.75
This was such a gossipy little read! I was scribbling in the margins, my one Alberto-esque trait, constantly talking back to this book. I have nothing more intelligent to say about Ginzburg’s observations on womanhood, marriage, etc. anyway, Alberto you better be glad our girly took you out quickly! Also Giovanna, what do you DO to these men???
People Collide by Isle McElroy
3.5
For me, the way the story was told prevented it from being truly effective. There was too much interiority, which is funny to say considering the premise of the novel. But I kept being told things and not shown things. A behavior trait was discussed at length but conservatively shown. I couldn’t connect with the characters bc of this.
I believe we are meant to generally examine how our identities are grafted onto others’, etc etc, how the identities of Eli and Elizabeth are broken down and then reconstructed (a line towards the end of the book pretty much says this). And we see this the way society interacts with Eli as Elizabeth, but not so much the other way around. Plus there were other thematic-adjacent tangents the author would go on, like imperialism, that I wished the book had been longer to explore these things satisfactorily (I feel like Exciting Times is a better example of this).
Wish we’d been given more of a sense of place. I’m not entirely convinced the author has been to Paris or Bulgaria. And what’s up w the unresolved terrorist attack? Why involve that? I don’t need it to be resolved, I just didn’t totally understand its inclusion.
The positives: while there is sooooo much telling going on the book, there were a lot of lines with which I resonated. I felt the author spoke to human nature well on occasion, on other occasions I felt they made generalizations that were akin to surface level philosophies on gender.
Another positive: ngl, I thought it was very hot when Elizabeth as Eli told Eli as Elizabeth that they’d already purchased their museum tickets, knowing they were being followed. And of course the gender swap sex scene was amazing. I feel like I need more literary gender swap sex scenes now lol.
I believe we are meant to generally examine how our identities are grafted onto others’, etc etc, how the identities of Eli and Elizabeth are broken down and then reconstructed (a line towards the end of the book pretty much says this). And we see this the way society interacts with Eli as Elizabeth, but not so much the other way around. Plus there were other thematic-adjacent tangents the author would go on, like imperialism, that I wished the book had been longer to explore these things satisfactorily (I feel like Exciting Times is a better example of this).
Wish we’d been given more of a sense of place. I’m not entirely convinced the author has been to Paris or Bulgaria. And what’s up w the unresolved terrorist attack? Why involve that? I don’t need it to be resolved, I just didn’t totally understand its inclusion.
The positives: while there is sooooo much telling going on the book, there were a lot of lines with which I resonated. I felt the author spoke to human nature well on occasion, on other occasions I felt they made generalizations that were akin to surface level philosophies on gender.
Another positive: ngl, I thought it was very hot when Elizabeth as Eli told Eli as Elizabeth that they’d already purchased their museum tickets, knowing they were being followed. And of course the gender swap sex scene was amazing. I feel like I need more literary gender swap sex scenes now lol.
The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante
5.0
ahhhhhhhhhhh the perfect book! I’m so emotional. With their ups and downs, it’s still Lila and Lenu forever 🩵🩵 and I’ve been Team Enzo from the start so I pray to god he doesn’t disappoint me 😭
August Is A Wicked Month by Edna O'Brien
4.0
I saw a review about this book being a “don’t have sex because you will get pregnant and you will die” type of book, but in my opinion, this isn’t the case.
I read this more as Ellen sort of coming of age, her youth stunted by not the best parents and the rigidity of Catholicism (we get a brief mention of the Magdalene laundries). After her first affair, Ellen says she feels young again, and so the novel follows her along as she seems to engage with the world with reckless teenaged abandon, though she is 28. There is a behavioral regression happening likely because she was never able to “act out” in the first place. The story ends a la Barbie’s (2023) ending, which I thought was an interesting and bittersweet moment: a woman in a clinic trying to do right by her sexual health.
Ellen is not likeable nor does she have a great outlook on the world, nor is she a great judgment of character. Which is where that sort of youthful broodiness and extremism come into play. O’Brien wrote Ellen’s interiority so well, and I found myself, while at a distance to some of Ellen’s ideologies, aligned with others.
There are derogatory terms made but these are usually made by morally ambiguous/inferior characters and these are sometimes reprimanded as well. I’m at a point in my reading where I don’t need a book, especially from the sixties, to be squeaky clean, as long as the derogatory terms aren’t excessive. I was just okay with how they were presented in this book.
O’Brien’s writing was so crisp and yet so lyrical. I had my pen in tow while reading this, ready to underline phrases and descriptors. It’s also WILD to me to contextualize this book. It speaks so openly about sex, and it is the first book I’ve EVER read that details a woman dealing with an STD, and doesn’t just gloss over it.
This book is just like very interesting. The context in which it was written, the voice that follows the main character, and the prose are all high marks for me. And yet, can I say it’s clear in its motivations? I’m not sure. I understand why it comes across as an anti-sex sort of book to some. But I really read it as a character study of a woman reverting to teenage extremisms that she did not experience in her youth, in order to cope with the unhappiness of her marital woes, and, ultimately, the unhappiness she has with herself. I took to it a little more personally, having been emotionally stunted by religion as well, when I came into my twenties, I “acted out” and fell into horrible, illicit affairs. At the end of those affairs, I did not resolve to return to a life of religion, but to return to myself in a new way. I feel like Ellen’s revelation is similar.
I read this more as Ellen sort of coming of age, her youth stunted by not the best parents and the rigidity of Catholicism (we get a brief mention of the Magdalene laundries). After her first affair, Ellen says she feels young again, and so the novel follows her along as she seems to engage with the world with reckless teenaged abandon, though she is 28. There is a behavioral regression happening likely because she was never able to “act out” in the first place. The story ends a la Barbie’s (2023) ending, which I thought was an interesting and bittersweet moment: a woman in a clinic trying to do right by her sexual health.
Ellen is not likeable nor does she have a great outlook on the world, nor is she a great judgment of character. Which is where that sort of youthful broodiness and extremism come into play. O’Brien wrote Ellen’s interiority so well, and I found myself, while at a distance to some of Ellen’s ideologies, aligned with others.
There are derogatory terms made but these are usually made by morally ambiguous/inferior characters and these are sometimes reprimanded as well. I’m at a point in my reading where I don’t need a book, especially from the sixties, to be squeaky clean, as long as the derogatory terms aren’t excessive. I was just okay with how they were presented in this book.
O’Brien’s writing was so crisp and yet so lyrical. I had my pen in tow while reading this, ready to underline phrases and descriptors. It’s also WILD to me to contextualize this book. It speaks so openly about sex, and it is the first book I’ve EVER read that details a woman dealing with an STD, and doesn’t just gloss over it.
This book is just like very interesting. The context in which it was written, the voice that follows the main character, and the prose are all high marks for me. And yet, can I say it’s clear in its motivations? I’m not sure. I understand why it comes across as an anti-sex sort of book to some. But I really read it as a character study of a woman reverting to teenage extremisms that she did not experience in her youth, in order to cope with the unhappiness of her marital woes, and, ultimately, the unhappiness she has with herself. I took to it a little more personally, having been emotionally stunted by religion as well, when I came into my twenties, I “acted out” and fell into horrible, illicit affairs. At the end of those affairs, I did not resolve to return to a life of religion, but to return to myself in a new way. I feel like Ellen’s revelation is similar.
Dead in Long Beach, California by Venita Blackburn
4.25
I have been in search for a book like this one all year. A book that looks at the underbelly of death and loss, at the out of body (as Blackburn herself has described it), indiscriminate experience of grief. I knew that this book was going to be unusual stylistically, and for that reason I chose to take it slow. I feel like a rush job for a more unconventional work can make you quick to dismiss what the author is trying to say by means of their convention. And so I am glad I took my time to hear the book speak.
Coral, our main character, is practically tangible beyond the page. I found myself incredibly concerned for her, sympathetic, angry at her, and understanding of her. She is navigating unspeakable loss, and then we learn that this loss is just a compounding of other losses. I am engaged with what she, as the existential We, has to say about her experience as a human, a lover, a sister, daughter, aunt, creative, and minor celebrity. I am rooting for her.
The We as the narrator works for me. Blackburn confirms that this is Coral. Language is unique in that we can manipulate it in times of grief. A therapist may recommend a couple recount a difficult scenario in the third person in order to speak objectively about it. Someone who is bilingual may find it easier to discuss a tragedy in their non-native language, as if to create more of a distance. With this in mind, Coral resorting to narrating the story of her grief as a collective, existential We makes sense.
For me, Venita Blackburn accomplishes something with this book that other authors I’ve read this year were not able to. I think in another author’s hands, Coral could have easily irritated me with her questionable actions. But with Blackburn, I never grew frustrated with Coral, I just grew deeper in my understanding. Blackburn also wrote from truth and from pain. Death Valley by Melissa Broder is basically this book’s sister-cousin. Both authors poured their truth with grief and loss onto the page. However, while I enjoyed Death Valley, I ended the book wanting more. With Dead in Long Beach, California, I ended the book having collected what I came for.
Following my reading, I listened to Blackburn’s Kirkus Review interview and was incredibly endeared by her persona, and intrigued by her thoughts on writing. I would like to commune with her more through her other projects.
Some notes: this book teeters the non-ending scale for me, but only because I had some questions that needed answering still. I cried at the ending though, and a book getting me to cry is a good marker for me. Also, I liked the little “cut scenes” if you will where we read Coral’s book. These reminded me of schlocky 80’s sci-fi movies.
I think the best way to approach this book is with an open mind, with an interest in varying conventions of form. It’s one I’d recommend.
Coral, our main character, is practically tangible beyond the page. I found myself incredibly concerned for her, sympathetic, angry at her, and understanding of her. She is navigating unspeakable loss, and then we learn that this loss is just a compounding of other losses. I am engaged with what she, as the existential We, has to say about her experience as a human, a lover, a sister, daughter, aunt, creative, and minor celebrity. I am rooting for her.
The We as the narrator works for me. Blackburn confirms that this is Coral. Language is unique in that we can manipulate it in times of grief. A therapist may recommend a couple recount a difficult scenario in the third person in order to speak objectively about it. Someone who is bilingual may find it easier to discuss a tragedy in their non-native language, as if to create more of a distance. With this in mind, Coral resorting to narrating the story of her grief as a collective, existential We makes sense.
For me, Venita Blackburn accomplishes something with this book that other authors I’ve read this year were not able to. I think in another author’s hands, Coral could have easily irritated me with her questionable actions. But with Blackburn, I never grew frustrated with Coral, I just grew deeper in my understanding. Blackburn also wrote from truth and from pain. Death Valley by Melissa Broder is basically this book’s sister-cousin. Both authors poured their truth with grief and loss onto the page. However, while I enjoyed Death Valley, I ended the book wanting more. With Dead in Long Beach, California, I ended the book having collected what I came for.
Following my reading, I listened to Blackburn’s Kirkus Review interview and was incredibly endeared by her persona, and intrigued by her thoughts on writing. I would like to commune with her more through her other projects.
Some notes: this book teeters the non-ending scale for me, but only because I had some questions that needed answering still. I cried at the ending though, and a book getting me to cry is a good marker for me. Also, I liked the little “cut scenes” if you will where we read Coral’s book. These reminded me of schlocky 80’s sci-fi movies.
I think the best way to approach this book is with an open mind, with an interest in varying conventions of form. It’s one I’d recommend.
The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffmann
4.0
“and it was universally deemed an unpardonable imposition to smuggle wooden dolls instead of living persons into respectable tea-parties—“
Treasure Island!!! by Sara Levine
3.75
hey ummmmm what the f/ck? anyway, pouring one out for Richard. justice for Adrianna.