This is an extraordinary novel. It moves forward with propulsive force. Even though the story might span years on a page, the writing never feels likeThis is an extraordinary novel. It moves forward with propulsive force. Even though the story might span years on a page, the writing never feels like narrative summary. Meanings are condensed into single sentences or even single words, like poetry condenses meaning, but the novel reads grippingly. The people felt real. I'm in awe of Regina Porter's skills....more
This short fiction felt to me like brief poetic essays. Essay as in: to try. There are many breathtaking and beautiful tries here in this book. Some oThis short fiction felt to me like brief poetic essays. Essay as in: to try. There are many breathtaking and beautiful tries here in this book. Some of the tries didn’t land for me but I admired that Kang tried at all.
The sections that felt the most perfect and true and unique were those that imagined most directly the brief life of the narrator’s older sister. Other sections felt a bit over-manipulated at times to fit with the author’s original idea of making the color white be a unifying theme....more
I wanted to hang out with this brave-yet-clueless protagonist and to cheer her on even as she poisoned her dog out of love for her Merman. The novel fI wanted to hang out with this brave-yet-clueless protagonist and to cheer her on even as she poisoned her dog out of love for her Merman. The novel felts very lighthearted and romp-ish as I read along, but then, the ending was so rewarding, and so unexpected, and so lovely and wise, that I felt I’d just read a profound book in disguise.
Even though the protagonist is both clueless and ridiculous, she is open to the world, and knows her own faults, and the lessons she learns in the course of her singular relationship with a mythic creature—about the nature of romantic love, and the dangers of single-minded devotion to another (whether you are receiving that devotion, or giving it)—are beautifully and surprisingly and deeply told.
The sex writing in this novel deserves a huge shout-out. The sex writing is brave and funny, and no matter how meticulously and biologically detailed a scene gets the writing always always serves the best interest of the story.
If, at some point, the novel hooks you the way it did me, then you might end up putting it on that glorious shelf of honor reserved for books that explore women’s desires in deeply satisfying ways, right next to Bear and Mrs. Caliban....more
The novel at first felt fragmentary, stuttering, hesitant, and understated, but as I read along every sentence, every thought built upon the last, untThe novel at first felt fragmentary, stuttering, hesitant, and understated, but as I read along every sentence, every thought built upon the last, until the story became not only a interwoven chronicle of wrenching human happenings, but also an examination of how humans behave toward one another; how people behave in crowds; how human beings survive trauma (or not); and how they find meaning in the aftermath of unrelenting tragedy.
There was nothing cinematic about the treatment of the Gwangju massacre here. There is not much resembling what you might call a 'scene.' Instead the story builds on one small detail after another. The voices interweave in surprising ways. The structure serves to graphically illustrate the interconnection of human beings, as well as the fragility of these connections--people are separated by death, by experience, by class and gender and age, no matter how much they try to remain connected.
I was very surprised at how this novel worked--surprised that it worked at all. I was surprised at how gut-punchingly sad the revelations in the second chapter were, even though the chapter was narrated by a ghost, and the tragedy the ghost tells is told obliquely, not graphically; even so the story in this chapter left me defenseless when it came to the unexpected death of one of the characters.
The nature of obligation and conscience and of right and wrong kept prodding my thinking as I read. Characters wonder aloud about humanity's ability to be inhumane; about their ability to be compassionate.
I cried a few times.
The final chapter was for me a masterful way of wrenching the story from the realm of fiction and into the real world, where it belongs....more
The language is precise. The sentences have a staccato rhythm that I first found appealing but after a while they made me feel as if there were a ballThe language is precise. The sentences have a staccato rhythm that I first found appealing but after a while they made me feel as if there were a ball peen hammer tapping on my head as I read along. The narrator is hyperactively self-aware and eventually I wanted to slap her. The stakes didn't seem particularly high. Many of the scenes seemed unnecessary. The book seemed unnecessary....more
I was disturbed by the self-obsessive nature of the narrators, and their (for me) excessive attention to small details of their lives, almost as if I I was disturbed by the self-obsessive nature of the narrators, and their (for me) excessive attention to small details of their lives, almost as if I were being forced inside the mind of someone with severe obsessive compulsive disorder. I was uneasy with the story telling because I never knew what terrible thing might just be on the verge of happening. This is of course exactly what makes this novel "noir" rather than something else--just this trapped and uncomfortable feeling of dread--and I have a feeling it will be popular with readers who aren't me....more
From the first page, this collection made me remember how much I love stories that are macabre, unexpected, or full of dread. These stories feel both From the first page, this collection made me remember how much I love stories that are macabre, unexpected, or full of dread. These stories feel both contemporary, and yet deeply connected with the magnificent stories of the macabre from past eras--stories that I have read over and over again, like The Monkey's Paw by Saki, and The Horla by de Maupassant, and The Most Dangerous Game by Connell, and anything ever written by Poe.
What is different about Enriquez's stories--startlingly, shockingly, eye-opening-ly different--is how deeply they reflect a female perspective. Female fears. Female dreads.
I say "eye-opening" because I never really took time to feel how masculine these old stories are until I read Enriquez's stories. I cut the old stories all kinds of slack because I read them as a child and they made me fall in love with reading. In many of my favorites, though, women might as well not exist--take "The Most Dangerous Game," a story about two men locked in a life-and-death battle for survival. Other old macabre tales might include women characters, but the stories frequently hinge on, let's face it, misogyny or gynophobia--check out "Berenice" by Poe, for example, if you haven't lately:
The prose is an arresting and densely packed mosh of highbrow and lowbrow that I found very appealing. The story itself hits that sweetspot-for-me of The prose is an arresting and densely packed mosh of highbrow and lowbrow that I found very appealing. The story itself hits that sweetspot-for-me of being simultaneously unbelievable and perfectly true-to-life--meaning, as I read I kept thinking both "that would never happen" and "wow, that's exactly what the world is like these days."
I do agree with comparisons others have made with author Harold Jacobson, only because he is the closest I can think of to the uniquely dark/comic mix this novel offers--but it is not a close affinity--Levinson has his own vision and it's frankly much more wide-ranging in its willingness to explore extremes of both dark and light.
I'm amazed by the prescience of the novel--although anti-Semitism is ever-present, this novel seems to have predicted a certain dark reality in current America that was less apparent even a few months ago, when the novel was set in galleys. It offers an interesting perspective on Germany, as well, and its current role in the world. I'm glad to have read it....more
I enjoyed reading these stories very much. They're smart and they present a view of contemporary Mexico that, although it plays dangerously close to sI enjoyed reading these stories very much. They're smart and they present a view of contemporary Mexico that, although it plays dangerously close to stereotype, always ends up exposing the stereotype rather than succumbing to it.
The stories here unfold a bit like intellectual puzzles at times, where the author/narrator seems to be trying to fit his storytelling into a given preset theme or thesis. I didn't mind this approach here though because the themes were universally thought-provoking. I didn't mind feeling a bit boxed in by the writer's intent, or bothered by my sense that the writer was laboring a bit to make a point, because the points he made were interesting ones.
The American expatriate-in-Mexico viewpoint was new to me and I enjoyed that viewpoint, especially since I've read several novels-in-translation recently by Mexican authors, including some that are exploring what it's like to be an expat living in the US. ...more
I'm torn on how to review this novel. I recognize the writing as unique and I feel that Fagan was trying for something new, and taking chances, which I'm torn on how to review this novel. I recognize the writing as unique and I feel that Fagan was trying for something new, and taking chances, which are always things to be applauded. And it also feels to me as if many people will enjoy this book--possibly fans of Neil Stephenson and William Gibson--even though I didn't enjoy it myself. For me the story felt underdeveloped, and the syntax felt a little unmoored from any concrete idea I could make for myself about what it meant. There are too many themes and characters packed in. I didn't feel invested in any of them. I had trouble following events. It felt like there were too many themes going on at once and too many sharp scene cuts to ever really believe I was being taken care of as a reader. In sum I just wasn't the right reader to catch what was being offered here....more
What if the best things in life weren't free? There is an utter sweetness to this novel in which Karlsson explores exactly this question. The protagonWhat if the best things in life weren't free? There is an utter sweetness to this novel in which Karlsson explores exactly this question. The protagonist isn't an especially good person. His life is not particularly well-lived in terms of experiences or relationships or achievements. And yet in each of the every-dayness of his experiences he manages to find great pleasure. There are such delightful details in the writing where the narrator recounts what should have been a dull experience in obsessive detail, it seems, until you as a reader realize that the narrator finds these things worthy of his attention and his joy, from just the kinds of events that would bore or irritate or frustrate anyone else. The novel is light and short and a pleasure to read. At times I was thinking, well, there is not much to this novel, and then would find myself oddly influenced by the message in the text itself--to just let it be, I was enjoying myself and enjoying the words and didn't need to spoil that pleasure by wanting somehow to be reading something more complex. It has influenced my thinking....more
This was a perfect, perfect book for me. The novel is simply told, and very short, but it touches on so many critical, cut-to-the-bone themes, includiThis was a perfect, perfect book for me. The novel is simply told, and very short, but it touches on so many critical, cut-to-the-bone themes, including the most fundamental questions of identity, of gender, of responsibility toward others, and of what makes life worth living. In this novel the more outwardly stable and successful a character is, the less likely they are to have any perspective on their life choices. The more a given character becomes aware of their lived experience, the closer he or she comes to falling into the abyss. The story forces characters, and by extension readers, to think deeply about what "self" is, whether it be defined most simply as an organic body with organic desires and needs of its own, or as part of a social structure, where one's value and even one's sanity is defined by others. This was a disturbing read in the best sense possible--I was disturbed from complacent thinking and stirred up with new thoughts. ...more
Darn! The beginning was so, so fearless, so promising, a setup for a wrenching story of self-destruction and annihilation and nihilistic despair, the Darn! The beginning was so, so fearless, so promising, a setup for a wrenching story of self-destruction and annihilation and nihilistic despair, the kind of story where bad choices are the only choices available to a character you care about, and where you're willing to follow her all the way to the end because she is so true to her beliefs. Like so many debut novelists though Tennant-Moore let go of the noose she had around my neck after the first act. Instead of increasing tension, and narrowing the story to its one inevitable perfect ending--what I hoped for from this novel--the story didn't seem to know where to go. I was no longer invested.
Someone should give young novelists a copy of Save the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need. Still I am a big fan of Tennant-Moore, she shows her chops here where even the first few pages make it worth reading to the end, and I'll look forward with delight to reading her next novel....more
This short, wry novel can be read as a critique of the way society shuns those who are different: The protagonist Bjorn does nothing other than behaveThis short, wry novel can be read as a critique of the way society shuns those who are different: The protagonist Bjorn does nothing other than behave in an unusual way, hurting no one, and finds himself ostracized and hated by his co-workers. Or, it can be read as an indictment of the way differently-abled people might be resented in their workplace for being held to different, lower standards: In spite of missing work and behaving like a drug addict, Bjorn is protected by his boss and not fired, and the novel implies perhaps he should have been. Or it can be read as a criticism of the lack of compassion toward the mentally ill: Bjorn's coworkers and boss aren't concerned with helping him in any humanitarian way; they are instead concerned with making sure he follows the rules and stays productive.
I appreciated the novel more and more as the story progressed, and as these different ways of interpreting it became apparent....more
The right book for me, at the right time. I can see that a literal, linear reading of this text would make it tedious and off-putting...but I was in tThe right book for me, at the right time. I can see that a literal, linear reading of this text would make it tedious and off-putting...but I was in the mood for leaps of the kind of logic that makes sense only in theory, not practice. The novel is a simmering pot of social criticism once you frame everything in it as ironic and exaggerated. For instance one thing that some reviewers found off-putting was the visit to the psychologist/diagnosis if neurological defect in the 'protagonist' about halfway through--but this can also be read as an indictment of the way moral choices have morphed into pathology, and/or the way any violent act these days coming from a seemingly "normal" person leads instantly to diagnostic opining in the next day's news. The novel unsettled me. It made me think far more about culpability than the more popular novel about family dynamics run amuck--We Need to Talk About Kevin. ...more
There were a few too many stories going on in this novel for me to love it. The first is a fascinating story of a child overcoming his mother's severeThere were a few too many stories going on in this novel for me to love it. The first is a fascinating story of a child overcoming his mother's severe agoraphobia, which has kept the child afraid to go outside himself for the first eleven years of his life. The second is the story of an economically distressed town and how people cope with the loss of hope. These are both stories of great potential. But instead of nurturing either of them, the novel is also stuffed with missing boys, mysterious men in the woods, an absent father, a dead-then not-dead uncle, skateboarding, and an episode where the child is bitten by a wolf in a scene that feels like one of those "it happened in real life" things that don't work at all in fiction. There are at least five novels threading through this one novel. Any one of the five I would have been delighted by, but taken together they clashed and diminished one another for me....more
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