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Darryl Suite's Reviews > Edinburgh
Edinburgh
by
by
“The survivor gets to tell the story. Have you figured out who survives yet?�
.
After completing Chee’s astounding essay collection ‘How to Write an Autobiographical Novel,� I was desperate to get a hold of Edinburgh, the “autobiographical novel� in question. I will not presume to know how Chee was feeling while writing this book, but I get the sense that completing this story and working over the prose until it was spellbinding, was therapeutic. Because I don’t want to give a lot away (and the summary on the back of my book spilled too much info I wish I had not known beforehand), I’ll keep the summary short: our young protagonist Fee is abused by a man in power (a choir director) from his school. From there, we are immersed into feelings of pain, betrayal, guilt, self-harm, inner turmoil, survivor’s guilt, voicelessness, and powerlessness.
.
There were parts of this book that caused me to be an utter wreck, but the details are not sensationalized nor are we manipulated into feeling these emotions. Truth be told, I was devastated by a particular event that takes place midway into the text (I love when a book can get me to feel this deeply --I was like Chee, why? why? why?) The writing style has a very dream-like and languid quality to it. Here are the three reasons why I say this: 1) the language is very lyrical, melodious (which fits into the musical background of the characters� lives), erotic even. The language is straight-up stimulating. 2) the plot and structure can feel choppy and turbulent, just like how a dream feels, dipping in and out of an emotion or mood without a moment’s notice (which is actually more true to life, isn’t it?) 3) The lack of quotations can be disorienting (again, what a dream can evoke). Sometimes you’re unsure if a character is speaking aloud or thinking. This a good thing, a really good thing. All these factors stimulate your senses and cause you, the reader, to feel unnerved, bothered, pensive, all while having an otherworldly experience. This book had my entire body engaging with it. Brain, limbs, heart, and eyes.
.
After completing Chee’s astounding essay collection ‘How to Write an Autobiographical Novel,� I was desperate to get a hold of Edinburgh, the “autobiographical novel� in question. I will not presume to know how Chee was feeling while writing this book, but I get the sense that completing this story and working over the prose until it was spellbinding, was therapeutic. Because I don’t want to give a lot away (and the summary on the back of my book spilled too much info I wish I had not known beforehand), I’ll keep the summary short: our young protagonist Fee is abused by a man in power (a choir director) from his school. From there, we are immersed into feelings of pain, betrayal, guilt, self-harm, inner turmoil, survivor’s guilt, voicelessness, and powerlessness.
.
There were parts of this book that caused me to be an utter wreck, but the details are not sensationalized nor are we manipulated into feeling these emotions. Truth be told, I was devastated by a particular event that takes place midway into the text (I love when a book can get me to feel this deeply --I was like Chee, why? why? why?) The writing style has a very dream-like and languid quality to it. Here are the three reasons why I say this: 1) the language is very lyrical, melodious (which fits into the musical background of the characters� lives), erotic even. The language is straight-up stimulating. 2) the plot and structure can feel choppy and turbulent, just like how a dream feels, dipping in and out of an emotion or mood without a moment’s notice (which is actually more true to life, isn’t it?) 3) The lack of quotations can be disorienting (again, what a dream can evoke). Sometimes you’re unsure if a character is speaking aloud or thinking. This a good thing, a really good thing. All these factors stimulate your senses and cause you, the reader, to feel unnerved, bothered, pensive, all while having an otherworldly experience. This book had my entire body engaging with it. Brain, limbs, heart, and eyes.
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Reading Progress
January 15, 2019
–
Started Reading
January 15, 2019
– Shelved
January 20, 2019
–
Finished Reading
