I'll Take You There

I've fallen in love with the writing of Joyce Carol Oates. Normally I'm prone to skimming parts of even the best books - but this book had me relishing in every sprawling sentence, each piece of imagery, every metaphor, the philosophy... I took this in like the sustenance of an IV drip, directly to my veins. I will caution this is not everyone's cup of tea; rife with semi-colons (which is not everyone's favorite punctuation but clearly one of mine), the narrator's thoughts are constantly tumbling in psychological deluge. I would call this book a stream of consciousness, but so beautifully punctuated with imagery, pulling philosophical abstractions down to earth. I love philosophy, and definitely tend towards obsessive thinking myself - so while others may detest the narrator, I saw myself projected in her. I think any person who has ever felt like an outsider, “uncool,” but finds solace with words and thinking - then you'll relate.

I love the way this book deals with how we live our internal lives (it is actually like stepping into someone's brain) vs. our external lives - how that factors into our identity... how identity itself is so wispy and unclear. As we never see ourselves when we are most vulnerable (sleeping) - “we have no clear idea of ourselves, or mirror reflections reflect only what we wish to see, or can bear to see, or punish ourselves by seeing. Nor can we trust others to see us either. For they too see what they wish to see, with their imperfect eyes.”

However, by the last quarter or so of the book I did find myself getting a bit tired of the narrator's thoughts. And I didn't relate at all to the storyline of her father - so I wish it had ended with the end of her relationship to Vernor, by far the weirder/more disturbing and provoking plot line. Regardless, I really enjoyed the book and can't wait to read more JCO.