Ratings16
Average rating4
'One of the most astoundingly original and necessary books I've ever read.' Guardian 'A landmark in twenty-first-century English literature.' Observer 'Compelling from its first pages to its extraordinary final scene.' New Statesman 'A perfect synthesis of form and content.' Deborah Levy A woman on a plane listens to the stranger in the seat next to hers telling her the story of his life: his work, his marriage, and the harrowing night he has just spent burying the family dog. That woman is Faye, who is on her way to Europe to promote the book she has just published. Once she reaches her destination, the conversations she has with the people she meets - about art, about family, about politics, about love, about sorrow and joy, about justice and injustice - include the most far-reaching questions human beings ask. These conversations, the last of them on the phone with her son, rise dramatically and majestically to a beautiful conclusion. Following the novels Outline and Transit, Kudos completes Rachel Cusk's trilogy with overwhelming power.
Reviews with the most likes.
The best parts for me were those that explored the way that people (families, couples) perform happiness or unity for the sake of others. And then those other people respond with envy, until it breaks down, either because the happiness dissolves for real, or because the envious person realizes that it's only an image.
I didn't like it as much when it dove too deeply into what I would call “writer stuff” - philosophical discussions about the value of literature and writing. It's too self-referential for me.
Featured Series
3 primary books4 released booksOutline is a 4-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2014 with contributions by Rachel Cusk.