I don't want to say the thing that everyone else is saying because you need to let women live and write and not pit them against each other just becauI don't want to say the thing that everyone else is saying because you need to let women live and write and not pit them against each other just because there are similarities but also I do get why everyone is saying what they're saying. Whatever, I enjoyed it....more
I am not qualified to comment on the racial content, obviously, but what I do feel qualified to comment on is the parts of this book that feel like thI am not qualified to comment on the racial content, obviously, but what I do feel qualified to comment on is the parts of this book that feel like they're about becoming disillusioned with dating men. It's an interesting thing to go through the experience of being drawn to a man and feeling pitted against or compared to another woman in his life and to contemplate what might happen in a relationship between the two women in that triangle if they set aside feeling pitted against each other or compared in some way, or even if they just let themselves get to know each other and see each other outside of the context of the relationship with the man. How many women would look at the other woman and think to themselves, "Actually, she's much more interesting than this dude"?
It's beautifully written and sexy and compelling....more
This stretched plausibility for me, and some of the characters felt like their only purpose was to serve as red herrings, but if I look at it as a metThis stretched plausibility for me, and some of the characters felt like their only purpose was to serve as red herrings, but if I look at it as a metaphor/allegory for codependency, it works better for me....more
A touching memoir about Zauner's relationship with her mother and the role of food in it. There is some stuff in here that I found to be a little shocA touching memoir about Zauner's relationship with her mother and the role of food in it. There is some stuff in here that I found to be a little shocking (view spoiler)[like the physical altercations or the whole we didn't have another kid because you were so terrible kind of stuff (hide spoiler)] but by and large, a vulnerable and honest look at the complexities of parent-child relationships. Spent a lot of time thinking about how as an only child who's single and whose father died when I was young, I am pretty much it in terms of taking care of my mother or dealing with the aftermath of her passing. Heavy stuff, and I sure did cry a lot. The dismount felt a bit awkward, the stuff about Japanese Breakfast felt a bit tacked-on (and I like Japanese Breakfast, ftr!), but I'm not really sure how you end a memoir by someone who is so young and has lots of life to go when so much of it hinged on someone who passes....more
I really enjoyed this while I was reading it, though I admittedly find myself struggling to recall it now - which may very well be more of a symptom oI really enjoyed this while I was reading it, though I admittedly find myself struggling to recall it now - which may very well be more of a symptom of covid brain fog than anything else. Pastiloff's memoir follows her through what is essentially her journey of becoming, getting to be the woman with the following she has now, through writing and yoga, and combining the two. It's an interesting story, and I appreciated the vulnerability with which she told it. ...more
A retelling of mythological events and characters through the eye of a seemingly minor player in some famous stories. Because Circe is bound to her isA retelling of mythological events and characters through the eye of a seemingly minor player in some famous stories. Because Circe is bound to her island, it's a bit of a languid story, so it goes through its dips and its peaks, but overall a pleasant and atmospheric read....more
This book is truly impressive. Very well-written, clearly thoroughly researched. It's not easy to do narrative non-fiction well, but Daniel James BrowThis book is truly impressive. Very well-written, clearly thoroughly researched. It's not easy to do narrative non-fiction well, but Daniel James Brown absolutely aced this.
He follows the saga of the Donner Party through the eyes of Sarah Graves, who made the journey with her family and her new husband, and was one of the lucky survivors of the event. She left with the first party who snowshoed out of the Donner Lake area and then, somehow, after much loss, made it to civilization.
Brown is distantly related to Graves and that brought him to her story, and gave him a personal stake in this book, which comes through in the care and detail of how it's written.
There were a few parts that felt like they could've been edited or condensed some, but overall, a pretty gripping read....more
One of the most haunting, devastating, brilliant, innovative memoirs I've ever read. Machado breaks down her experience in an abusive relationship intOne of the most haunting, devastating, brilliant, innovative memoirs I've ever read. Machado breaks down her experience in an abusive relationship into a series of thoughtful, well-researched literary tropes and conventions. So incredible I hardly know what to say about it. Just read it....more
Can't stop thinking about this fun, strange, delightfully frank novel. Does everyone have that relationship in college where you're obsessed with eachCan't stop thinking about this fun, strange, delightfully frank novel. Does everyone have that relationship in college where you're obsessed with each other but won't be together for one reason or another? Where the love feels like new territory, like you have your own language? I definitely did, and The Idiot felt like re-living it. Batuman has this way of being both hysterically and painfully abrupt/direct - it's a very dry and situational sense of humor, which I absolutely love. It takes a bit of time to build, and it feels like it loses a touch of steam towards the end, but overall, a really enjoyable read, and one I could see myself picking up again some day....more
Update: I recently finished the mini-series adaptation of Normal People on Hulu, and interestingly, it gave me a bit of a different perspective on it. Update: I recently finished the mini-series adaptation of Normal People on Hulu, and interestingly, it gave me a bit of a different perspective on it. I found I liked Connell significantly more in the show - I think it's partially that kind of character is hard to capture in an internal monologue - it's hard to demonstrate that someone doesn't communicate when you're reading their innermost thoughts, and also that the actor who played him just did an absolute dynamite job (both leads did). It also gave me a bit of a different perspective on the story. (view spoiler)[It made me appreciate the positive aspects of the relationship between Connell and Marianne a bit more. The toxic dynamics just jump out at you with such force, but there is sweetness there, too. I see the ending with a bit more sweetness, that they have both grown, and that they never would've grown without each other, and their willingness to part is evidence of that growth. The past version of Marianne that was desperate to please Connell would've followed him anywhere, and the past version of Connell that didn't have confidence would've never submitted his work or applied for a grad program, etc. (hide spoiler)] It was really a well-done adaptation.
Original review: I've been trying to think about what was so good about this book that made it hard for me to put down, because it was, and I'm still not sure that I can pin-point it.
In some ways I think it's that there is so much here that is easy to relate to, at least to a certain kind of person who's been through a certain kind of heartache. The kind where you want so badly for someone to notice you, to care about you, to let you in. The kind where you know that you could give and give and give and give of yourself to the person and never stop. It's not a healthy love, not at all, but it's truly drug-like, and there's nothing else like it. There were several people in my 20s who would leave and come back, leave and come back, leave and come back. I spent so much time wondering why they would come back, thinking that the coming back meant something, even having them tell me that the coming back meant something - but in so doing, I was focused on the wrong part. I should've been asking why they kept leaving, because that's the story.
It reminds me a bit of another book I read this year and loved, The Idiot.Review here. It's a different kind of relationship in some ways, but a similar kind of relationship in others.
Basically if someone has ever completely laid waste to you, you'll probably relate....more
Gods, this was both fascinating and horrifying. The description says it all, Adrienne Brodeur's mother reeled her daughter into her affair, acting as Gods, this was both fascinating and horrifying. The description says it all, Adrienne Brodeur's mother reeled her daughter into her affair, acting as confidante and conspirator. As someone who has, admittedly, been involved in one, and who has friends and family members who have had them, affairs are complicated and complex things, and it can be easy to villainize the people who have them. (Esther Perel wrote a great book about this.) What Brodeur does best, I think, is capture the incredible range of emotions involved in all parties. It's not a flattering portrait of her mother, obviously, but she does still write about her mother with incredible empathy considering the position she was put in. It didn't feel like a hit-job, more like a woman coming to terms with what she went through, and the domino effect that the affair had on all of the people who it touched. It would have been easy to paint her mother and her lover as bad, bad people, but she gave them as much depth as she could. Not an easy thing to do, and I think Brodeur deserves a bunch of credit for that....more
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