bthnywhthd's review against another edition
2.0
I love Rachel Cusk's novels and I love reading essays, but this was just not digestible. These commentaries are whiny and really unpleasant and do not reveal a new way to see the world. I wanted to like them and to like Rachel Cusk as a person, but it just didn't work for me.
andforgotten's review against another edition
note: I did not read the essays concerning art or literature I'm not familiar with
unfortunately the first section and the other two really don't seem to make much sense in this combination, pairing criticism with extremely personal essays. the attempt was made to reconcile the two through a feminist theme but in my opinion it wasn't nearly strong enough to offer a real sense of cohesiveness.
unfortunately the first section and the other two really don't seem to make much sense in this combination, pairing criticism with extremely personal essays. the attempt was made to reconcile the two through a feminist theme but in my opinion it wasn't nearly strong enough to offer a real sense of cohesiveness.
bt329's review against another edition
5.0
I'm sort of not really finished with this book yet, as I skipped the essay on *The Age of Innocence* for the time being- it's on my summer reading list and I want to approach it unsullied! Having said that: this is hard to rate as one piece as it's really a short collection of personal essays followed by a short collection of cultural and literary criticism.
The personal essays are absolutely incredible. I borrowed this book from my school's library but I may just buy a copy so that I can annotate and highlight and dog-ear to my heart's content. If you're a feminist, you gotta read this section.
With regards to the final category of essay in this collection: as with a lot of literary criticism, if you haven't read the texts being described, then Cusk's essays aren't going to be as gripping as they might have been otherwise. I really enjoyed her scathing read of *Eat, Pray, Love*/*Bridget Jones' Diary*, her thoughts on the use of art in *Never Let Me Go*, and her praise of Françoise Sagan's novels *Bonjour Tristesse* and *A Certain Smile*. I haven't read the last two (but I love the film adaptation of the former) so I'm looking forward to picking those up this summer.
Anyway, this is, again, hard to rate as a single text, but the writing is incredible and Rachel Cusk is clearly completely brilliant.
The personal essays are absolutely incredible. I borrowed this book from my school's library but I may just buy a copy so that I can annotate and highlight and dog-ear to my heart's content. If you're a feminist, you gotta read this section.
With regards to the final category of essay in this collection: as with a lot of literary criticism, if you haven't read the texts being described, then Cusk's essays aren't going to be as gripping as they might have been otherwise. I really enjoyed her scathing read of *Eat, Pray, Love*/*Bridget Jones' Diary*, her thoughts on the use of art in *Never Let Me Go*, and her praise of Françoise Sagan's novels *Bonjour Tristesse* and *A Certain Smile*. I haven't read the last two (but I love the film adaptation of the former) so I'm looking forward to picking those up this summer.
Anyway, this is, again, hard to rate as a single text, but the writing is incredible and Rachel Cusk is clearly completely brilliant.
betweenbookends's review against another edition
4.0
“Every so often, for offenses actual or hypothetical, my mother and father stop speaking to me. There’s a funny phrase for this phenomenon in England: it’s called being sent to Coventry.”
In her new collection of essays, Cusk is in her glittering finest. It’s incredibly difficult to distill down the essence of these essays which are so varied in subject and scope. The collection is broken into three sections. In the first part, which was by far my favourite, Cusk explores personal topics inspired by her own life experiences. In the second she tackles literary form/structure, feminism in literature, and novel writing. The third part presents Cusk’s literary criticisms of popular works including Age of Innocence, Never Let Me Go, Natalia Ginzburg’s works, and the like. What’s interesting is that in dissecting these other works, she doesn’t necessarily review them in the traditional sense or even provide her opinion. Rather, she just breaks these works down objectively, examines the themes it explores, and the impact/influence it has on the reader. But enough said on that. For the purpose of this review, I’m going to focus on the essays from the first part, which were simply superlative and kind of stole the show for me.
The collection opens with an incredibly strong essay titled, ‘Driving as a Metaphor’. And this essay is exactly that, it explores driving as a metaphor for the nature/behaviour of people. Cusk observes, “Once inside a car it becomes permissible to comment on those outside it, to remark on their appearance or demeanour, with a brazenness absent from most social situations.” She adds: “Perhaps the soldiers of the past, in their suits of armour, felt similarly disinhibited and more capable of violence.”
In another essay, titled ‘On Rudeness’, Cusk tows the fine line between being brutally honest and being discourteous. In the essay, ‘Lions on Leashes’ she examines being a single parent to two teenage daughters, the space they inhabit and cleverly subverts the common complaint that teenagers treat their homes like hotels. She writes instead, “In fact, I quite like the idea. A hotel is a place where you can come and go autonomously and with dignity; a place where you will not be subjected to criticism, blame or guilt; a place where you can drop your towel on the floor without fear of reprisal, but where, hopefully, over time, you become aware of the person whose job it is to pick it up and instead leave it folded neatly on a chair.” In the title essay, ‘Coventry’, she examines the nature of the silent treatment, being ignored/or not spoken to as a form of ultimate disapproval.
With Cusk, subtlety is the key. Her essays do not broadcast their intention. They meander and flit around, presenting a topic from different angles, like a photographer experimenting with different views until he lands on the best shot, an alchemy of light, angle, poise and elegance. The end result is something that is brimming with artistic finesse, a pact between the photographer and his muse, the writer and her subject, revealing just enough to inspire, intrigue and enlighten.
In her new collection of essays, Cusk is in her glittering finest. It’s incredibly difficult to distill down the essence of these essays which are so varied in subject and scope. The collection is broken into three sections. In the first part, which was by far my favourite, Cusk explores personal topics inspired by her own life experiences. In the second she tackles literary form/structure, feminism in literature, and novel writing. The third part presents Cusk’s literary criticisms of popular works including Age of Innocence, Never Let Me Go, Natalia Ginzburg’s works, and the like. What’s interesting is that in dissecting these other works, she doesn’t necessarily review them in the traditional sense or even provide her opinion. Rather, she just breaks these works down objectively, examines the themes it explores, and the impact/influence it has on the reader. But enough said on that. For the purpose of this review, I’m going to focus on the essays from the first part, which were simply superlative and kind of stole the show for me.
The collection opens with an incredibly strong essay titled, ‘Driving as a Metaphor’. And this essay is exactly that, it explores driving as a metaphor for the nature/behaviour of people. Cusk observes, “Once inside a car it becomes permissible to comment on those outside it, to remark on their appearance or demeanour, with a brazenness absent from most social situations.” She adds: “Perhaps the soldiers of the past, in their suits of armour, felt similarly disinhibited and more capable of violence.”
In another essay, titled ‘On Rudeness’, Cusk tows the fine line between being brutally honest and being discourteous. In the essay, ‘Lions on Leashes’ she examines being a single parent to two teenage daughters, the space they inhabit and cleverly subverts the common complaint that teenagers treat their homes like hotels. She writes instead, “In fact, I quite like the idea. A hotel is a place where you can come and go autonomously and with dignity; a place where you will not be subjected to criticism, blame or guilt; a place where you can drop your towel on the floor without fear of reprisal, but where, hopefully, over time, you become aware of the person whose job it is to pick it up and instead leave it folded neatly on a chair.” In the title essay, ‘Coventry’, she examines the nature of the silent treatment, being ignored/or not spoken to as a form of ultimate disapproval.
With Cusk, subtlety is the key. Her essays do not broadcast their intention. They meander and flit around, presenting a topic from different angles, like a photographer experimenting with different views until he lands on the best shot, an alchemy of light, angle, poise and elegance. The end result is something that is brimming with artistic finesse, a pact between the photographer and his muse, the writer and her subject, revealing just enough to inspire, intrigue and enlighten.
steinbeckbookclub's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.25