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mmcloe's reviews
235 reviews
The Stories of Breece d'j Pancake by Breece D'j Pancake
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oh my goodness he was such a brilliant writer. The comparisons to Hemingway are very common and make a lot of sense but I think Pancake's writing is often more comparable to Joyce; focused on how powerful political forces can shape local cultural ecology, centering deeply flawed characters undergoing epiphanies, and immensely playful with regional language and dialect. He also picks apart the brutal seams of white southern masculinity and, in doing so, begins to gesture towards a possibility of relations outside of thus brutality. Appalachia is a deeply complicated and beautiful region with a multitude of histories and cultures all their own. I think these stories capture some slivers of these cultures in a way that is dignified and unornamented.
My favorite stories were:
1. Fox Hunting
2. The Mark
3. Time and Again
4. The Salvation of Me
I'm so so so thankful that we're left with his perfect writing, even if it's only a dozen short stories. I will be returning to this collection yearly for sure.
My favorite stories were:
1. Fox Hunting
2. The Mark
3. Time and Again
4. The Salvation of Me
I'm so so so thankful that we're left with his perfect writing, even if it's only a dozen short stories. I will be returning to this collection yearly for sure.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, and Violence
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I'm a tremendous fan of Silko's short stories ("Tony's Story" in particular) and it's interesting to see her expand upon the themes of her short work in a novel. I'm always thinking about how we read things and have been taught to read things and Silko is a master of reinterpreting events through a lens of Pueblo mythology, ecology, politics, and religion. Reinterpreting and rereading is a necessary first step to the direct work necessary for the abolition of settler colonialism and capitalism.
Her writing is also top notch. Immensely vivid and piercing without being overdone.
Her writing is also top notch. Immensely vivid and piercing without being overdone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol
Pure Colour by Sheila Heti
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A bit divided on this one. Many of the reflections on the divine, aesthetics, and silence were all incredibly interesting and reminded me a lot of my experiences with Quakerism. I like the idea of a process-oriented God who we mimic by arguing and creating art. Heti's prose is also lovely and crisp and easy to read.
Much of the novel's framing flew a little to close to self-help literature for my tastes, however. The division of people into three groups (aesthetically minded, structurally minded, interpersonally minded) didn't land for me and seems all too similar to Instagram-level spirituality classes.
Much of the novel's framing flew a little to close to self-help literature for my tastes, however. The division of people into three groups (aesthetically minded, structurally minded, interpersonally minded) didn't land for me and seems all too similar to Instagram-level spirituality classes.
Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place by Neema Avashia
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Beautiful collection of essays, all of which continually push back on outdated images of the region while carving out a new space for new writers and artists to emerge.
I'm particularly struck by Avashia's experimentation with structure. Many essays are centered around a single object or action and the structure of the prose often reflects or elaborates on that central metaphor.
Excited to see what she writes next!
I'm particularly struck by Avashia's experimentation with structure. Many essays are centered around a single object or action and the structure of the prose often reflects or elaborates on that central metaphor.
Excited to see what she writes next!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, and Racism
Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Oh how odd and magical!
Got me thinking about celebrity culture, the social model of disability, how our bodies are inextricable from our identities, the ways that narratives come together and create their own reality, and the history of the picaresque.
I think Fevvers should go up there with Bartleby as an example of how social refusal can work towards possibly revolutionary ends.
Got me thinking about celebrity culture, the social model of disability, how our bodies are inextricable from our identities, the ways that narratives come together and create their own reality, and the history of the picaresque.
I think Fevvers should go up there with Bartleby as an example of how social refusal can work towards possibly revolutionary ends.
Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oh lordy this is simply perfect. So so many ideas to talk about with this book, among them:
1. How trauma affects memory and its retelling, on personal and social levels
2. How we construct narratives and discourses. Written vs oral, archival vs personal, misremembered vs fabricated
3. Is the author the Inquisitor? Is the audience? Is this a metafictional work?
4. The different types of families and the circumstances that produce them
5. The fluidity of bodily and biological categories, the openness of our flesh as we engage with others
6. The long shadow of slavery and its stain on the "Western" archive of the African continent (I loved the allusion to Saidiya Hartman with "the archive is a tomb")
7. Women's networks and the ways in which they often spread subversively under the gaze of the patriarchy
And so so so much more. I sincerely hope this series reaches accolades and a legacy far beyond any literary category because it's simply unparalleled.
1. How trauma affects memory and its retelling, on personal and social levels
2. How we construct narratives and discourses. Written vs oral, archival vs personal, misremembered vs fabricated
3. Is the author the Inquisitor? Is the audience? Is this a metafictional work?
4. The different types of families and the circumstances that produce them
5. The fluidity of bodily and biological categories, the openness of our flesh as we engage with others
6. The long shadow of slavery and its stain on the "Western" archive of the African continent (I loved the allusion to Saidiya Hartman with "the archive is a tomb")
7. Women's networks and the ways in which they often spread subversively under the gaze of the patriarchy
And so so so much more. I sincerely hope this series reaches accolades and a legacy far beyond any literary category because it's simply unparalleled.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence
Chasing Homer by László Krasznahorkai
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Reminds me a bit of if Krasznahorkai was tasked with writing a Lispector novel and managed to read There's a Monster at the End of this Book and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" along the way. Deeply introspective narrator caught up far too much with the concerns of the present, preventing them from enjoying themselves until a brief exhale at the very end.
I quite enjoyed the drum tracks and paintings as well. I can't say I've encountered another novel like this one.
I quite enjoyed the drum tracks and paintings as well. I can't say I've encountered another novel like this one.
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Amos Tutuola
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Marlon James listed this as an inspiration for Black Leopard Red Wolf! Very neat to see where he's picked out and adapted different pieces of Tutuola's writing.
Very odd little novel. I like how time and space aren't really a priority for Tutuola and he instead focuses on some of the strangest images I've read. I'm a big fan of the intersex lesbian commune!
Very odd little novel. I like how time and space aren't really a priority for Tutuola and he instead focuses on some of the strangest images I've read. I'm a big fan of the intersex lesbian commune!
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I'm absolutely sobbing.
A stunning engagement with ecology, family, power, forbidden love, identity, and trauma all against the backdrop of a rapidly changing society. The language is also STUNNING - a simply poetic rendering of children's treatment of language as plastic and startling (which is lost to us in adulthood).
A stunning engagement with ecology, family, power, forbidden love, identity, and trauma all against the backdrop of a rapidly changing society. The language is also STUNNING - a simply poetic rendering of children's treatment of language as plastic and startling (which is lost to us in adulthood).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Pedophilia, and Violence
Moderate: Incest