carlin

stunning, really took me by surprise!

in the first 20% I really wasnt very hooked but i became invested very soon after

really impressed by this on a plot level, as well as prose, character, etc.

I was very much headcanonning who i think should be in the film adaption (which would stun). I think our main character is very much an Eva Victor/Bernadette Banner type and Eva would be like Adele Exacharcopolous/Florence Pugh type

would highly recommend this generally, but especially for those wanting to read lesbian fiction

stunning, really took me by surprise!

in the first 20% I really wasnt very hooked but i became invested very soon after

really impressed by this on a plot level, as well as prose, character, etc.

I was very much headcanonning who i think should be in the film adaption (which would stun). I think our main character is very much an Eva Victor/Bernadette Banner type and Eva would be like Adele Exacharcopolous/Florence Pugh type

would highly recommend this generally, but especially for those wanting to read lesbian fiction

omg the author is Edinburgh based and probably my age or younger? getting writing published is possible <3

lowkey this is written for me. Like I knew pretty much all the movies mentioned — Challengers! Shortbus! Secretary! Crash! Showgirls! The Watermelon Woman! Sense8! etc. (besides from In the Cut which is going on the watchlist) and also all the theorists. This kind of operates as a sequel to Audre Lorde's Uses of the Erotic but also references Gayle Rubin and "Everyone is beautiful and no one is horny" as well as people I know but not read (such as Mark Fisher and David Graeber). I definitely want to add some of the things referenced here to options for my reading club

I think it is argued quite effectively but does have a little academic-poisoning: sometimes the questions that are thrown out feel too abstract and unnecessary. However I think by the end of the book the line of argument does feel justified and specific enough that it doesn't just feel like a pile of ideas. Also I appreciate that some of this does actually feel sexual!

really beautiful book, will be thinking about it

Love Cunningham's prose, I find it so elegant and pure. Maybe this is how Hemingway feels to other people

found part 2 to be a little less cohesive than parts 1 and 3. Wish it focused more, somehow, on specific people rather than equally telling everyone's story. I think in general I wish this was longer

really beautiful book, will be thinking about it

Love Cunningham's prose, I find it so elegant and pure. Maybe this is how Hemingway feels to other people

found part 2 to be a little less cohesive than parts 1 and 3. Wish it focused more, somehow, on specific people rather than equally telling everyone's story. I think in general I wish this was longer

omg the author is Edinburgh based and probably my age or younger? getting writing published is possible <3

lowkey this is written for me. Like I knew pretty much all the movies mentioned — Challengers! Shortbus! Secretary! Crash! Showgirls! The Watermelon Woman! Sense8! etc. (besides from In the Cut which is going on the watchlist) and also all the theorists. This kind of operates as a sequel to Audre Lorde's Uses of the Erotic but also references Gayle Rubin and "Everyone is beautiful and no one is horny" as well as people I know but not read (such as Mark Fisher and David Graeber). I definitely want to add some of the things referenced here to options for my reading club

I think it is argued quite effectively but does have a little academic-poisoning: sometimes the questions that are thrown out feel too abstract and unnecessary. However I think by the end of the book the line of argument does feel justified and specific enough that it doesn't just feel like a pile of ideas. Also I appreciate that some of this does actually feel sexual!

the cover is a little bit misleading, but got really into this after about a hundred pages <3

really enjoyed the character work here and there's some really great scenes. I think my favourite character was Poor Wee Chickie who really elevates this as a whole

This is totally a me thing but I had a bit of a love-hate relationship with the use of dialectal Scots. On the one hand it's so important to me and found it really comforting, but on the other some of it was a bit obvious (she looked as wispy as the haar but was as strong as aberdonian granite) and some was a bit over used (everyone and everything is gallus). I think I just need to read more books in Scots

The writing style as well was a bit underwhelming from what I had imagined of a Booker prize winning author, but perhaps that prize isn't just for high-brow books

Alcoholism is one of the few things I find too difficult to engage with, and was actually totally fine with the level of it here. Felt realistic but didn't have me triggered, for lack of a better word

Edit: from researching, a shame to see him talk about how he had to elevate himself to middle class to be able to write working class books :(

Edit: also wow the cover is by the same guy that did the frank ocean blond album cover! I kind of get why you'd want this cover even if it's not really giving what the book is like

PS douglas stuart seems so obsessed with downy hair at the bottom of your spine ahahah

the cover is a little bit misleading, but got really into this after about a hundred pages <3

really enjoyed the character work here and there's some really great scenes. I think my favourite character was Poor Wee Chickie who really elevates this as a whole

This is totally a me thing but I had a bit of a love-hate relationship with the use of dialectal Scots. On the one hand it's so important to me and found it really comforting, but on the other some of it was a bit obvious (she looked as wispy as the haar but was as strong as aberdonian granite) and some was a bit over used (everyone and everything is gallus). I think I just need to read more books in Scots

The writing style as well was a bit underwhelming from what I had imagined of a Booker prize winning author, but perhaps that prize isn't just for high-brow books

Edit: from researching, a shame to see him talk about how he had to elevate himself to middle class to be able to write working class books :(

Edit: also wow the cover is by the same guy that did the frank ocean blond album cover! I kind of get why you'd want this cover even if it's not really giving what the book is like

PS douglas stuart seems so obsessed with downy hair at the bottom of your spine ahahah

the cover is a little bit misleading, but got really into this after about a hundred pages <3

really enjoyed the character work here and there's some really great scenes. I think my favourite character was Poor Wee Chickie who really elevates this as a whole

This is totally a me thing but I had a bit of a love-hate relationship with the use of dialectal Scots. On the one hand it's so important to me and found it really comforting, but on the other some of it was a bit obvious (she looked as wispy as the haar but was as strong as aberdonian granite) and some was a bit over used (everyone and everything is gallus). I think I just need to read more books in Scots

The writing style as well was a bit underwhelming from what I had imagined of a Booker prize winning author, but perhaps that prize isn't just for high-brow books

Edit: from researching, a shame to see him talk about how he had to elevate himself to middle class to be able to write working class books :(

Edit: also wow the cover is by the same guy that did the frank ocean blond album cover! I kind of get why you'd want this cover even if it's not really giving what the book is like

PS douglas stuart seems so obsessed with downy hair at the bottom of your spine ahahah

pretty good! I thought this was well structured and found myself interested in both strands of the story

the book is largely about the experience of immigration and being an immigrant and felt this was fairly well developed if a bit trite. I think generally the authorial voice was a bit basic and so this kinda applies to all areas

I found the symbolism regarding cats and snakes compelling, if a bit unclear. This is the first book for my new LGBT reading group so I'm glad we'll have lots to talk about :)

PS as this was for the reading group, I was a lot more consistent about getting through this than I otherwise would be