Matrix
Ratings78
Average rating3.6
15
Ratings78
Average rating3.6
Inghilterra, Dodicesimo secolo. Marie, bandita dalla corte della regina Eleonora d'Aquitania, che ama di un amore ardente, è una ragazza sola, figlia illegittima di re, inutilmente colta, inutilmente appassionata, destinata com'è a una vita di clausura in un'abbazia che ha conosciuto giorni migliori, abitata da un piccolo popolo di donne inacidite dalla segregazione, dispettose, anche solo vecchissime. Però Marie riconosce in quell'enclave isolata, così importante per l'economia del contado, una possibilità di crescita, di potere, anche. E così prende le redini di un'impresa tutta da costruire che la porterà a scivolare in silenzio fuori dal raggio autoritario del clero locale, verso un'indipendenza di spirito e di azione destinata a trasformare l'abbazia in un cuore pulsante di energie, fervido di progetti, illuminato, vivo, in cui ogni donna ha il suo posto e la sua occasione di brillare. Ma da fuori premono l'invidia, le chiacchiere, la curiosità morbosa per quell'Utopia prima del tempo, tutta al femminile; e la badessa Marie è la prima a rendersi conto che libertà di pensiero e controllo della comunità sono a tratti inconciliabili, che il potere si conquista e si mantiene a caro prezzo, che le passioni, di qualunque tipo, sono pericolose. Tra autentiche credenti, reiette e bastarde, figlie cadette, ragazze sole al mondo gettate via come stracci, nobildonne radiose, la vita dentro le mura del convento, al centro di un labirinto progettato per isolarlo dalle brutture, è complicata quanto quella di fuori, forse anche di più. Lauren Groff torna al romanzo con una storia serrata e originale, che ha il passo dell'epica, la luce di una canzone d'amor cortese e lo scintillio tagliente dell'anima della sua Marie.
Reviews with the most likes.
Wow, this book. Much like The Nickel Boys was my top pick for 2020 and immediately shot to the top of my favorites, this book has done that for 2021. Loved the blend of subversion and charge with pastoral, plodding, and liturgical.
The Good. The quality of the writing is high. It is a very descriptive book and it appears to live imperceptibly in the first person without technically being there. We see everything through Marie's eyes and Groff's writing does her justice.
The Bad? Am I weird in thinking this book was too short? What was probably going to be the most critical part of Marie's life at the Monastery, the first 2 or 3 years, are totally skipped over. In fact she moves forward so fast we only the se the results of her life. We see what she built but not why. That is, until the last chapter when some of what drives her is revealed. I would have loved a few extra hundred pages...
It had a pretty good rating, so i started with enthousiasm. The blur on the back talks about female warriors and a prioress who teaches swordwork. Well it was not about female warriors. It was about a woman, who comes to the abbes and becomes prioress. She changes how things are done and gets different reactions for it. The beginning was okay, but I had to force myself to read it after a 100 pages. There are better books out there.
Matrix is a book about 12th century nuns. I realize this sounds impossibly boring, but Lauren Groff makes these characters feel present and compelling.
The novel follows the adult life of Marie de France, a royal-adjacent woman who is shipped off to be the prioress (sort of like the COO, as I understand it) of an English abbey at the age of seventeen. She is not religious and, unsurprisingly, isn't thrilled to be there. What follows is the story of her life at the abbey, her relationship to Eleanor of Aquitaine, and a peek into the High Middle Ages in England that feels relatable.
Groff's writing is enthralling, if a little heavy on the description. She is particularly skilled at writing about emotions and inner lives, even when writing mostly in the third person. What I liked most about this book was how feminist it feels, despite being set in a decidedly patriarchal time and place. The nuns undertake typically feminine pursuits such as spinning, weaving, and gardening, but also copy manuscripts (a job for monks), work the land, and engineer large infrastructure projects. These women live their lives without men, of necessity, and the picture Groff paints is of complete lives.
I enjoyed this book, and will look more at Groff's other work (this is my first read of hers).
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