em

Two very, very interesting stories

I actually really fucked with this

Oh this was so beautiful. “Go on in any case living,” because yes that's what we do

4.5

This book fell sooo flat for me. The concept of wanting to physically exfoliate the trauma out of your skin is sooo interesting but it falls flat when you consider Awad keeps the most interesting part of this story a secret...

If you deleted half the characters from here the story wouldn't change, I have no reason to root for anyone, and every villain seems like caricatures.

I feel like this would be been way more impactful as a short story or just a shorter novel....

I enjoyed !

Did not give a single flying fuck

“Her daughter watched in amusement. No one but me can love you, thought the woman laughing through her eyes; and the weight of that responsibility left the taste of blood in her mouth. As if ‘mother and daughter' were life and abhorrence.”

Some of Lispector's best work...

“You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope...I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own, than when you almost broke it eight and a half years ago...I have loved none but you...for you alone I think and plan.—Have you not seen this?”

It was quite amazing, actually, to read Tove's excitement about her first publication while reading a published work of hers (although not poems) after reading 200 pages worth of her longing to be a writer.

Idk it made me emotional, like girl just you wait!!!

Idk if it was the translations fault or if it was simply bad writing but this shir was ass

This reads like fiction despite not being so

2.5

A lot of the short stories here are missing the story element, I fear. It reminds me of how I would first start writing: all prose, no direction.

The Mouse, The Labyrinth, and Hejda are the stand-outs for me

4.5

Many thoughts. I think it's quite amazing how enamored Duras' writing made me feel even though this is (technically) a script; the notes Duras adds shook me out of the trance I was in to remind me of that. I think I liked this/ read this not for more context of “the North China Lover” but because I wanted to read more about Duras. I was so fascinated by the life she's led, the different society she knew compared to the one I know. I wanted to read “The Lover” without the prose and fluff. This book was very honest and I much appreciated that.

“I was never really myself when I wasn't running away.”

4.5

I just let out the deepest sigh ever. One of the best books I've ever read. It feels quiet in the sense that there is a lack of physical action, but Baldwin's writing is so human and true, it vibrates on page.

Oh god there is so much to discuss but for now I'll just say it has become one of my favorite books.



Six days later and I'm still thinking about “it's a miracle to realize that somebody loves you”

2.5

I feel like this novel could've done so much more.

I imagine this is what Jackie from yellowjackets went through when she decided to sleep outside before snow fell....

Anyway, this is definitely a book where the reader can project whatever interpretation of the book they had without the novel outright saying “correct” or “incorrect”. Idk if I'm that type of reader though!

I appreciate the story's unconscious way of writing.

Oh this was so good. I've read shitty memoirs before and this is nothing like that. I laughed and cried—gasped. I got emotional reading the vulnerability Wu conveyed in regard to her own emotions, it really inspired me to “make a scene.” Reallyyyy enjoyed


I will say, there was a bit of repetitiveness that was unneeded but I didn't mind, just noticed.

4.5

Damn.....great coming of age story

Mmmm I can definitely see the Lispector influence here, however I had a hard time following the vignettes in this book as half the time the subject of the vignette was revealed towards the middle/end so a majority of the time I'd be confused as to what was going on until Slate spelled it out of for me. Idk there were some really great parts in here (“Prayer”), and then others felt unnecessary? I didn't quite connect with the book as much as I would like to because I felt like an outsider to Jenny's story (what her story was? I still don't quite know) despite me desperately wanting an in. Idk half the time it felt like she'd come up with a great line, or metaphor, and just write around it—FOR it.

Anyway....

4.5!!!!

I've always had a hard time describing history/time and the way it moves; the best I can do is always “it blends together.” Here, Ernaux transforms my 2D “it blends together” into 3D.

When I first wanted to get into Annie Ernaux, articles online would recommend future readers to start their Ernaux journey with “The Years” as it's her magnum opus. While I agree it's her magnum opus, I disagree with starting with this book to get into Ernaux. One of the reasons why I enjoyed this book as much as I did is BECAUSE I was so connected with what I've read of Ernaux's life already—if I didn't it'd feel like an awkward meeting with a stranger.

Anyways, this was great!

Time dissolved every time I opened this book, I'd constantly find myself checking the time and being surprised how much had gone by because this book is that captivating

4.5

I took a class freshman year of college about women and “madness” throughout history and had plenty of discussions regarding Charcot and his patients/practices he and other male neurologist/ doctors of the time would use. And while I liked this ‘refresher' of topics I've learned about (I think Wells did it better than the author of our textbook Mad, Bad, and Sad), I find that I would've liked to read more fleshed-out experiences Wells had with her illness (I'm okay with not having answers; I just wanted more of what she was already giving us)

Great, great, great!