A series of essays exploring Chee's writing career and life, particularly focusing on how he wrote his first novel, Edinburgh, and his writing life upA series of essays exploring Chee's writing career and life, particularly focusing on how he wrote his first novel, Edinburgh, and his writing life up until that point. Born in Maine, with a Korean father and American mother, Chee did not fit in growing up and experienced racist bullying. He writes about living in San Francisco in 1989, and the work he did as an AIDS activist, as well as the series of catering jobs he worked in before he began to teach writing. He emphasises the precarity of being a writer, and how even critical success does not lead to a living wage. He is interested in what drew him to keep writing, and what makes some aspiring writers succeed, and others stop writing. Chee writes as though his experiences are universal, and that all writers exist in the same milieu; I found this grating, and I found that some of his pronouncements on the nature of living and writing were too general; he seems to resist allowing that his experiences are specific to him, and that made this book feel imprecise to me. As I read, I realised I was looking for a different book that gives more room for diversity, or in which Chee only wrote about himself and resisted making general statements. That being said, Chee is a thoughtful, generous writer, whose essays are carefully worked and drawn. I would recommend this, particularly to writers. ...more
This is a difficult book to read because it's so relentlessly sad and grim. Dorothy and Justine, the "two girls" of the title, meet because Justine isThis is a difficult book to read because it's so relentlessly sad and grim. Dorothy and Justine, the "two girls" of the title, meet because Justine is writing an article about Dorothy's former mentor, the author Anna Granite. Anna Granite is the founder of a branch of philosophy that centres around individualism and distrust of the State. When they meet, Dorothy and Justine see in the other things that they hate and fear. Dorothy sees Justine as shallow, conceited, and a too concerned with following societal rules. Justine is horrified by Dorothy's weight and her excentricity. But Dorothy and Justine are both the product of the rigidly patriarchal society of the US in the 60s and 70s, and have experienced abuse and sexual trauma. They both see the other person as someone they could become, or as a part of themselves that they hate. Peace, if any peace can be found, is in embracing their other self, and seeing her with compassion.
Two Girls, Fat and Thin is a sophisticated and complex novel, albeit let down by some inconsistent editing, and a clumsy plot structure. Nevertheless, it is engaging and challenging, and made me want to seek out more work by Mary Gaitskill. ...more
I wasn't attracted by the main character of this story -- a feckless, wealthy young man, Henry, a future duke. I don't usually like novels about youngI wasn't attracted by the main character of this story -- a feckless, wealthy young man, Henry, a future duke. I don't usually like novels about young people taking a lot of drugs, and in the first few chapters, that seems to be the story Henry Henry is telling. However, I was drawn in by Bratton's prose, which is precise and funny, with a flair for description, and a great ear for how young people talk to one another. And as I learned more about Henry, called Hal, the more I became interested in who he was, and how he had come to be that way. Hal's mother died when he was a child, and he has been brought up by a largely absent father and left in the care of boarding schools. He is the oldest of five siblings, and will one day inherit a dukedom. He's also a Catholic and gay. He's frustratingly privileged, but when he describes himself as having no sense of self, or constantly attempting to find oblivion, his hopelessness is palpable. The novel gradually reveals the ways in which Henry's father (also called Henry) has mistreated him, and the complexity of Hal's life and his impulse towards self-destruction comes to make more and more sense. Allen Bratton's skill as a prose writer holds this together: he creates believable characters in complex situations, and quietly criticises wealth, class structure, and nuclear families, while capture the despair of the early twenties. Hal is in a position where he could sink or swim, and the reader is left with immense relief when it seems that he will swim. ...more
This is a loosely written book; an accumulation of memoir, essay, auto-fiction, self-reflection. It's supposed to be messy, because it's a study of hoThis is a loosely written book; an accumulation of memoir, essay, auto-fiction, self-reflection. It's supposed to be messy, because it's a study of how traumatic experiences do not fit into a neat narrative. Jamie Hood is very careful not to be trite or glib, or to rush to any conclusion. She wants to point out how rape/trauma is a quotidian experiences in her (and many women's) lives, and that the criticism of exploring trauma in a novel (the 'trauma plot' of the title) is highly misguided, because critics assume that sexual violence is a rare or extraordinary experience, whereas, for many women, it is a familiar aspect of life. Hood argues that one of the failures of the #MeToo movement was to make rape seem unusual, and rapists monstrous, when sexual violence is experienced by (at a low estimate) 65% of women, so it cannot be said to be unusual.
I really enjoyed the introduction to this book, and I thought Hood's insights into rape culture and trauma were very interesting and well-constructed. However, I found many parts of this memoir were not written with enough attention to detail, and Hood was frequently distracted, or went off on tangents, which seemed to undermine what she was saying. It's difficult to write about dissociation, despair, and how rape disorganises and disorients the psyche, and Hood's writing goes a long way to get this impression across. However, at times her writing becomes too repetitive or too confusing, and I wished she had edited this further. I was also a little perplexed by her decisions not to mention or explore that she is transgender until most of the way through the book: as she's writing in such detail about how misogyny is a huge factor in rape culture, surely it's important to acknowledge that transmisogyny and homophobia would have had an impact on the ways in which she was treated too? I wondered if she was doing other trans women a disservice by not weaving this into the narrative at an earlier point, although maybe her point is that all woman, trans or cis, are never safe from the rape culture created by misogyny.
It's certainly a thought-provoking and valuable book, and I'm glad that I read it. Perhaps it's strongest as a witness statement, a portrait of what it's been like for Jamie Hood to live in the world, and how our existence should not be this intolerable. ...more
I found the author's second novel, Penance, compulsively readable, and I borrowed this one from the library as soon as I could get my hands on it. BoyI found the author's second novel, Penance, compulsively readable, and I borrowed this one from the library as soon as I could get my hands on it. Boy Parts, Clark's first novel, is carried by the strength of its narrator's voice: Irina, fetish photographer, artist, part-time bartender, has an unforgettable perspective. Brash, brilliant, callous, irreverent, her voice is compelling and original. Penance is concerned with unreliable narration, and Eliza Clark's interest in this can be seen in Irina, too. As Irina narrates her life, we begin to wonder how much she can trust her own perceptions, and how much her readers can trust her. As a photographer, Irina is interested in how we perceive the world, and how she, as a glamorous, young woman, is perceived by those around her. And what does she see in the men she photographs? How does their vulnerability, or their entitlement, affect how they see her? In a world where the visual is everything, Clark's questions have a genuine urgency, and they become more and more stark as Irina struggles harder to trust her own memories, or what she sees around her.
I was gripped by this book, and I think Clark is exploring something interesting, but it lacks the nuance and subtlety of Penance. I also found the ending rather weak, and kept thinking of ways I would have reorganised the plot of this book. That being said, it's an impressive piece of work. ...more
The Möbius Book contains two texts set beside each other: the first is an account of Lacey's break-up with a novelist, following a six-year relationshThe Möbius Book contains two texts set beside each other: the first is an account of Lacey's break-up with a novelist, following a six-year relationship. The second is a novella which takes place over a single night, in which two women discuss their failed relationships, while outside their flat, a murder may have taken place. Lacey's 2023 novel, Biography of X is written by a character who is in an abusive relationship, but does not name it to herself as such. In The Möbius Book, Lacey acknowledges that she herself was in the same position, and is only able to acknowledge now. The autobiographical part of the book is held together by Lacey's spare, considered prose, and is engaging, but has many of the flaws of memoir: some elements are lingered on for too long, others are glossed over, the realisations may feel rushed or too vague. I found Lacey's writing on faith and religion particularly trite. I was glad to turn the book over and begin on the second part, which, as a novella, I found more successfully structured and considered. By placing these two separate pieces together, Lacey makes obvious the questions that haunt every piece of writing: How much of this is true, or drawn from real life? Or, in memoir, how much of this is remembered correctly? How important is "truth" to a piece of writing? It's an engaging experiment, but not always a convincing one. ...more
Absolutely devastating account of Annie Ernaux's experience with abortion in 1963. At the age of twenty, Ernaux is pregnant, and abortion is illegal. Absolutely devastating account of Annie Ernaux's experience with abortion in 1963. At the age of twenty, Ernaux is pregnant, and abortion is illegal. She desperately asks her acquaintances and doctors if they know anyone who can help her, or if there is anything she can do. Eventually, after three agonising months, she finds a nurse in Paris who will help to have an abortion. The procedure is described in details, as is the resulting agony, and Ernaux's near-death due to haemorrhage. Written in stark, straightforward prose, Happening is gripping and emotional, and also shows how vital it is for safe, legal abortion to be easily obtainable. ...more
Frustrating. I think this is autofiction? It's about a character called "SH" -- many details seem to correspond with Siri Hustvedt's own life, but notFrustrating. I think this is autofiction? It's about a character called "SH" -- many details seem to correspond with Siri Hustvedt's own life, but not all of them. The catalyst of writing this is a notebook that SH kept in 1978, which she rediscovers when she's going through boxes belonging to her mother. The novel/memoir explores the events of this year, in which Hustvedt is living alone in New York City and trying to write. She uses this notebook and pieces of the prose she was working on as memory aids, and includes diary entries and prose snippets. I struggled with this device: the notebook and prose is so polished that I can't believe it's an original document, so I tried to see it as a literary device. However, as a literary device the whole conceit of the book seemed forced: is it a novel about a young woman in New York? A study of New York in the 70s? Why, then, include all the parts from an older perspective? Much of the 'plot' of the story seemed overly contrived to me -- I am sure there would be a way to make these events flow more naturally, or to write about them in a way that makes them emotionally convincing, but that doesn't seem to be what Hustvedt is trying to do. I was perplexed and frustrated by her approach. ...more
Written before Anne Rice's famous vampire novels, The Feast of All Saints is a rich historial novel set in New Orleans before the American civil war. Written before Anne Rice's famous vampire novels, The Feast of All Saints is a rich historial novel set in New Orleans before the American civil war. Anne Rice explores the community of the gens de couleur libre or the Free People of Colour, who are a mixed-race, French speaking community, living in a small area of the city. Though they are not enslaved, unlike most of the other Black people and people of colour around them, their liberty is severely restricted, and they constantly experience new threats on their freedom. The story focuses on Marcel St. Marie, a fourteen-year-old, who is wealthy and educated, but whose opportunities rest solely on the whims of his white father. His sister, Marie St. Marie, is exceptionally beautiful, and deeply conflicted: her mother and aunts want her to become the mistress to a wealthy white man, but Marie wishes to marry a man of colour. In this sprawling, lush story, Anne Rice explores the lives of these two siblings: the difficulties they face, the possibilities for happiness, and their wish to find a way to be true to their own dreams and morals. The book is strongest in its exploration of place and time, giving the reader a sense of New Orleans, and the mores and codes of a small society struggling to find its own path. But the narrative at times becomes lost in melodrama and (view spoiler)[there is a gang rape scene at the end that does not feel in keeping with rest of the narrative and is not sufficiently integrated into the text, as well as being very painful to read. (hide spoiler)] The story would have been stronger if it was 200 pages shorter, but it's still an interesting study. ...more
Annemarie Ní Churreáin writes with such empathy and tenderness in this pamphlet of poems about the Stranorlar mother-and-baby home. The poems are inteAnnemarie Ní Churreáin writes with such empathy and tenderness in this pamphlet of poems about the Stranorlar mother-and-baby home. The poems are intercut with reports on the home, and quotations from people who lived there. This grounds the poems in the day-to-day reality of the home, and gives Ní Churreáin space to write about the women who were there in lush, expansive and imaginative poems. An important and memorable work. ...more
Part of what makes this novel so powerful is its gradual unfolding. It begins with a shard of pottery, buried in the earth, brought back to light. ThePart of what makes this novel so powerful is its gradual unfolding. It begins with a shard of pottery, buried in the earth, brought back to light. The novel itself is an unearthing: opening up what is unsaid, hidden, stolen. Isabel lives in her mother's house, but is acutely aware that it belongs to her brother, Louis. She is obsessively clean and tidy, and cruel to her maids. When Louis's girlfriend, Eva, moves in for a brief spell, Isabel is frustrated and angry, and sure that Eva is stealing from her. But in the hot summer, in the small house, the unspoken begins to come to the surface, and who and what is being stolen comes to light. This is a remarkably subtle book that could be reduced to a cheap pay-off, but is not: spare, it is rich with detail, and full of life. ...more
Five women attend a support group. They have each experienced unusual traumas that have put them in the public eye. Each one tells the story of what hFive women attend a support group. They have each experienced unusual traumas that have put them in the public eye. Each one tells the story of what happened to her, and how it impacts her life now. There were some elements I really liked about this, but it's very uneven. Each of the stories is a retold fairy tale, and some of them work much better than others. There is an emphasis on reality TV and the news cycle, and the implications of this weren't explored in sufficient depth to make them feel anything other than gimmicky. The stories sit somewhere between magic realism and things within the bounds of ordinary life, and it's not always well thought-out. There are strong moments, though: Adelmann emphasizes various ways in which trauma makes a person difficult to be around, messy or unpalatable, and this was really well achieved. The support group idea is a good hook, and drew me into the book, though I wish the bonds with the women had been explored more fully, without the twist at the end. There is a lot of possibility here, but ultimately it doesn't come together. That being said, this was very readable and engrossing. ...more
David Small is a talented artist: this book is full of intense and striking ink-wash paintings, that capture the landscape of a small, frightened chilDavid Small is a talented artist: this book is full of intense and striking ink-wash paintings, that capture the landscape of a small, frightened child. Small captures adults deftly in a few strokes that capture how a child might see them, and imagines the internal landscape of a child brilliantly. Then why I am I giving this book such a low rating? Though the art is fantastic, it cannot make up for the ways in which this story is not fully realised. David Small comes from a home marked by its silences and lack of conversation, and when his parents notice a lump on David's neck, they are slow to do anything about it. Years pass before the lump is operated on, when it is discovered that David has cancer. He looses part of his vocal chords, and can no longer speak. This book is essentially a selection of awful moments in David's life, expressed in vivid, terrifying drawings. But there is no sense of him exploring these moments, no sense of him as a person, and no sense of how his adult self, writing this book, perceives what happened. His text is oddly clinical and distant. This book felt incomplete to me. ...more
It is 1903. Aoi Ichi comes from the tiny island of Iojima, where her parents dive and fish for food, and her whole life revolves around the sea. She lIt is 1903. Aoi Ichi comes from the tiny island of Iojima, where her parents dive and fish for food, and her whole life revolves around the sea. She loves the sea turtles she sees swimming in the waters, and worships the seven-tail turtle sea god. Her parents sell her to a brothel in Kyushu at the age of 14, where she is initiated into a world of debt, endless work, and sexual exploitation. She is an indentured servant, carrying a heavy debt which she must pay off before she can leave the brothel. The novel is a subtle, emotional work, which gradually reveals the dangers and inequalities that Ichi faces. Ichi is illiterate when she arrives at the brothel, but she attends a school, where she learns calligraphy, arithmetic and writing. Her teacher, Tetsuko, a former sex worker, encourages Ichi, and helps the students to express themselves, as well as understand accounting and debt. Tetsuko is highly critical of the system of brothels, and the legislation that renders sex workers as "livestock" rather than people. She gives a fresh perspective to the girls. Ichi is full of life, intelligence and anger, and the diary entries she writes are a highlight of every chapter, giving a sense of her character and energy. Tetsuko's encouragement of Ichi helps her to see beyond her circumstances, and examine her worth as a person. This is a beautifully constructed book, giving space to its characters to develop within their historical period, and creates a sense of their autonomy despite the traumas they experience. It is a challenging, considered work, and shows how much a writer can achieve within a relatively short space. Although it's a sad story, it's also a cutting commentary on society, and offers a sense of the possibility for change. ...more
A brilliant anti-war novel, and perhaps one of the best studies of living with the experience of trauma ever written. Vonnegut captures hopelessness iA brilliant anti-war novel, and perhaps one of the best studies of living with the experience of trauma ever written. Vonnegut captures hopelessness in the face of atrocity, and how individual experience is fractured when it comes up against atrocity too big to be contemplated. Something so big that only aliens can open the trapdoors of our consciousness. Yet this book also manages to be entertaining and witty. An amazing feat of imagination and empathy. ...more
A novel that works with on a small canvas but creates a story that feels huge and timeless. Veronica Hegarty is one of eleven siblings, and her brotheA novel that works with on a small canvas but creates a story that feels huge and timeless. Veronica Hegarty is one of eleven siblings, and her brother Liam, the one closest to her in age, has just committed suicide. Veronica must travel to Brighton to identify his body, and help to arrange the wake and funeral at home in Dublin. Though Veronica feels her life is comfortable and stable, she discovers that it all unravels easily when she allows herself to feel grief for Liam, and through that grief, discovers that she can no longer allow herself the lies and self deception that have made her life possible. Veronica's story encapsulates the hypocrisies and secret shames of middle-class Ireland: the guilt, secrets and trauma that lie within ordinary households. The story also reverberates outwards, as Enright asks how we can live with suffering, and how to cope with the losses we must live with every day. It is an intelligent, nuanced novel, and while its themes are weighty, it is often very witty, and extremely readable. ...more