We the Animals

I'm not sure I can adequately write a review of this book today. It's the kind of book that sits with you for a while and you find deeper meaning over time. It's not an easy book to read. Raw is the word that comes to mind first. It is very well written and I can see why it received the critical acclaim it has. For now, I'll say this. One of the things that I kept thinking about while reading it was that there are so many people out there who we just don't SEE. We don't see the lives behind the closed doors of their homes; we don't see who they are inside, or take the time to look for it; we don't see the struggles they face to ‘get out' or deal with their inner demons.

A potent, fiery novella about three brothers clawing their way through childhood in upstate New York, bound together by their hardscrabble circumstances. Told in the first person plural, the voice eventually whittles down to a single narrator, drawing attention to the way the author is imprinted and influenced by his family of origin, even as he carves out an autonomous identity. Each chapter tells a self-contained story, but the cumulative effect is powerful and enveloping.

Récit d’une enfance et d’un cadre familial compliqué, des petits chapitres courts et une écriture très fluide. On suit le narrateur dans son cadre familial dysfonctionnel jusqu’à la découverte de son homosexualité (comme souvent plus vite découverte par les bourreaux que par soi même, tristement). Assez poétique et touchant.

Regardez-nous, regardez notre dernière nuit ensemble, quand on était encore frères.