An intense and unsettling novel that unfolds like an investigatory manner. Slimani's spare and dispassionate voice adds to the unusual tension around An intense and unsettling novel that unfolds like an investigatory manner. Slimani's spare and dispassionate voice adds to the unusual tension around this story of a nanny who murders her two young charges. There is so much subtext and Slimani purposely leaves much of it steeped in ambiguity. I found parts of it riveting. ...more
The thirteen Turner kids all grew up in the house on Yarrow Street in east Detroit. The house may or may not hHumans haunt more houses than ghosts do.
The thirteen Turner kids all grew up in the house on Yarrow Street in east Detroit. The house may or may not have a ghost (a haint) that only Cha-Cha, the eldest of the Turner brood, can see. Or, maybe, it has a host of them - the ghosts of generations of love, pain, disappointment, joy, etc. All the messy things that make up a family. Flourney mines so much of the ordinary and extraordinary moments in the life of the huge Turner family and turns it into a beautifully layered story of familial pain and redemption. At times it did feel like there was A LOT to hold on to, but all in all a deeply affecting and wonderfully told story. ...more
I was enraptured by the first part of the book. The second part didn't quite sing as much for me, but as many have said, Kawakami does an extraordinarI was enraptured by the first part of the book. The second part didn't quite sing as much for me, but as many have said, Kawakami does an extraordinary job of capturing the unsettling coercive influences over the female body. ...more
A beautiful addition to the pantheon of southern gothic tales of families torn apart by demons and ghosts. Cash creates memorable characters with stylA beautiful addition to the pantheon of southern gothic tales of families torn apart by demons and ghosts. Cash creates memorable characters with style and voice that feels interred in the North Carolina land. Aching and honest....more
A beautifully written book with one of the most intriguing openings I have read in a while. In 1617 and the women of Vardø - the easternmost town in NA beautifully written book with one of the most intriguing openings I have read in a while. In 1617 and the women of Vardø - the easternmost town in Norway - are left to fend for themselves after a freak storm kills the majority of the townsmen while they were working the fishing boats. I was immediately brought into the lives of these women - Maren, Kirsten, etc. - and their survival in the aftermath of tragedy. The arrival of the new Commissioner, Absalom Cornet, and his wife, Ursa, however, changes the tenor of the story. At this point, the hopelessness of the women (who were fending quite well for themselves thus far) begins to congeal all around them. Cornet's mission to root out witchcraft, and the zeal with which he carries out his mission, is a death knell for the women. I found it harder to get through the latter parts of the book with the same avidity I held at the beginning of the book due to the unrelenting hopelessness and abuse of the women. I get it ... this wasn't exactly a forgiving time for women - and no time under religious zealotry is a forgiving one for any woman, for that matter. Still, I felt that such a bold opening could maybe, possibly, merit a bolder end. Nevertheless, it is an affecting story with beautifully wrought moments throughout. ...more
The thing about Ishiguro is how deftly he inhabits such a wide array of genres, voices, etc. Never Let Me Go is a chilling dystopian tale, but so achiThe thing about Ishiguro is how deftly he inhabits such a wide array of genres, voices, etc. Never Let Me Go is a chilling dystopian tale, but so achingly told with every beat so expertly penned. The unraveling of the knowledge of what truly is happening to Kathy, Tommy, Ruth and their classmates at Hailsham is harrowing at its heart. I loved this book the first time I read it years ago, I loved it even more this time around. ...more
The idea of this book intrigued me from the moment I heard about it. I have a lot of personal overlap with the book, having moved to the Hague many moThe idea of this book intrigued me from the moment I heard about it. I have a lot of personal overlap with the book, having moved to the Hague many moons ago to work at one of the international criminal tribunals. For that same reason, it was difficult for me to overlook some of the details (or lack thereof) that clearly pointed to the fact that the writer had limited access and knowledge of the real world of working in an international court. Much of what I couldn't get past was small (details of the detention centre - which I visited on numerous occasions) but some grated on me, like the tropey depiction of the defense attorney as someone with a porous moral center. Most defense attorneys working at the tribunal that I knew had far more nuance, and many had long, storied careers working in human rights (in fact, the current ICC Chief Prosecutor made his name at the court working for the defense). And both sides manipulate the media, not just defense (it was the prosecution that invited Angelina Jolie to the court, after all). Very few of the relationships depicted at the court felt real to the life that I experienced. Ultimately, this fact led me to question why she made the character a translator at the Court? It just felt like a neat trick to me at the end of the day. The story really isn't about the court but about the relationships the narrator embarks on, so I didn't feel it necessary to bring in this world of international criminal courts, particularly because that part of the book rang so one dimensional to me. In the end, it all just fell kind of flat to me. An easy read, but sort of "meh" at the end of the day. ...more
I am not huge fan of historical fiction but I am a huge fan of Amy Bloom. Her writing just seems to tick many boxes for me. I didn't always like LorenI am not huge fan of historical fiction but I am a huge fan of Amy Bloom. Her writing just seems to tick many boxes for me. I didn't always like Lorena Hickok but I always liked her voice as the narrator of the tale of her long-standing relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt. The first half of the book really hummed, the last half not so much. Still, an enjoyable read. ...more
The beauty of this memoir lies in the lack of sentimentality that Bloom employs to tackle the subject. No easy feat when dealing with the death of a bThe beauty of this memoir lies in the lack of sentimentality that Bloom employs to tackle the subject. No easy feat when dealing with the death of a beloved spouse to early-onset Alzheimers. Bloom's humor and wit are at their finest here, recounting the harrowing (and, at times, hilarious) steps toward realizing that her husband is "losing his mind," and their mutual understanding to support his decision to go to Switzerland to die on his own terms rather than wait for disease to gut the person that he is. It's a hard book to get through at times, not necessarily because of the disease, but because Bloom so expertly captures those daily moments of shared ordinariness and extraordinariness that make up a life together and the feelings she has at the imminent loss of those moments. Honest and funny and wrenching. ...more
A bizarre and evocative novel about an unnamed narrator who travels to the Canadian wilderness to ostensibly find her missing father. With her are herA bizarre and evocative novel about an unnamed narrator who travels to the Canadian wilderness to ostensibly find her missing father. With her are her pseudo-boyfriend Joe, and David and Anna, a couple with more than a few problems. The prose is stylistically straightforward yet meandering in execution. Underneath it all is simmering violence that made my skin itch. There is so much in this slim novel about being womanhood, marriage, motherhood, the innate violence between men and women. It's a tough read but oh so fascinating. Margaret Atwood's mind will always amaze me. ...more
I re-read this in tandem with reading Heather Clark's fantastic biography, Red Comet. This is an extraordinary collection - different from what I remeI re-read this in tandem with reading Heather Clark's fantastic biography, Red Comet. This is an extraordinary collection - different from what I remember from my first read, likely because I was young and the collection was the Hughes edited version that left out some of her most searing words ("Rabbit Catcher", "The Jailor"). This collection was written in a white heat toward the end of her life after Hughes had left her. Yes, some of it is a big 'ole "fuck you" to Hughes, but that doesn't take away from the genius of the words behind the fuck you. And, apart from those poems, there are those on motherhood, madness, etc. that are brilliant. "Tulips" gutted me. ...more
The opening of the novel drew me in. I thought the central idea was intriguing. However, it didn't quite sustain throughout. Well written but wears a The opening of the novel drew me in. I thought the central idea was intriguing. However, it didn't quite sustain throughout. Well written but wears a bit thin by the end....more
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