Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Aquário

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Aquário by David Vann

6 reviews

delinxw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

3.5

I have an extremely hard time rating this. It falls somewhere between 3 and 4 when I compare with other books on my lists.
I have such conflicting feelings about this book.

The book started too slow for my liking, so at some point I even thought it would be a DNF for me. Am I glad I finished? Yes and no. Yes, because the story was good, it made me feel all sorts of emotions and I’m ‘glad’ I got to see what happened. But no, because I don’t really see the point in the story ? (That may just be my issue). The ending felt short. Unfinished.
The writing wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t for me I think. Even though I felt ALL the emotions and bookmarked MANY pages, I still don’t feel like I got anything out of it.

I just genuinely don’t know how to feel about this one. I don’t want to rate it lower, because the book itself isn’t bad necessarily. I also don’t want to rate it too high, because I don’t think it’s great.

No matter what I rate it, the fact is that it’s a dark, emotional and horrifying read at times; but I could imagine this happening, even if I don’t want to. I can guarantee that one way or the other this book will make you feel something.

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slimychimera's review against another edition

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4.5

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chimera999's review against another edition

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4.5

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conspystery's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I listened to the audiobook version of this book, performed by Julia Whelan. Obviously, it was phenomenal, as all her work is. That’s the first thing I want to say.

Aquarium is a deceptive book, as many have noted. It begins with such understatement that it’s almost impossible to see how it could end up where it does. And yet the narrative falls, slowly at first and then faster and faster, into absolute turmoil, a complete upset of its premises in the best possible way. It is violent and striking and painfully emotive all at once, and we’re left to grapple like the protagonist Caitlin is with how rapidly her somewhat sheltered perspective about her upbringing shatters. Everything changes at once for her, and yet also nothing does except her awareness of it-- it’s the perspective change, the paradigm shift of realization, that guides this book, and I adored it.

This book is quite upsetting! The violence and the unfairness of the main character’s treatment translates directly to the reader in a way that is genuinely disturbing. I was in tears with this one a number of times. Stories about forgiveness do not often do what this book does-- whereas many tales of this kind build up to a grand reconciliation, this book examines the path to realizing there has been a wrong done at all, and it’s as exactly as earth-shattering and brutal and terrifying as it needs to be. There are a number of simultaneous forgiveness stories here: 12 year old Caitlin reconciling her mother’s unfair treatment of her grandpa, Sheri’s struggle to face her father for what he’s done, and present-day Caitlin grappling with how her mother acted towards her. All of this intense subject matter is presented with beautiful, evocative, emotional writing, drawing the reader in through the lens of Caitlin’s fascination with fish and the sea. The imagery and comparisons to the aquarium, along with the setting of the aquarium versus the strange bleakness of the world outside, were artful, and complemented the book’s dark subject matter in a way that allowed it effectively communicate it via contrast and the lack thereof. The effect of juxtaposition-- and the opposite, in unexpected places-- was very nice.

The characters in this book are beautifully written, and the ways they embody the book’s themes are thoughtful and interesting: Caitlin with her retrospective understanding of the importance of forgiveness, Sheri with her impossible hypocrisy but righteous anger, Grandpa’s too-late recognition of his errors but his attempts to fix them regardless, and so on. Most of all, I appreciate the lengths this book took with its characters to show that forgiveness and reconciliation are possible only by recognizing the crossing of lines, the responsibility involved. Forgiveness, this book makes clear, is an effort which all parties involved must be on board with.

The ending of the book did this especially well-- the scene with the burning of the contract, I think, solidified Grandpa’s character in my mind as this book’s thesis on forgiveness. He recognized that forgiveness would not absolve him of his actions, and also that this was not the point. His thoughts are not on absolution but reconciliation, which he tries for patiently and understandingly until they are no longer an option without outside intervention. The contract burning scene takes away the last fragments of the shameful egocentrism that lead him to run from Sheri and her mother in the first place. His priority is Caitlin then Sheri-- not forgiveness for absolution’s sake, but for the genuine well-being of the people he cares about. Even the thing he wants most, a chance to reconcile with his daughter, does not overcome how much he cares for Caitlin, who is herself a product of Sheri and, thus, a constant reminder of his mistakes. It’s not regret, but love that drives him. So good.

Overall, I loved this book, however upsetting it was. I think it did a great job of giving a nuanced perspective on the difficult subject matter it covered, as well as addressing a number of other issues thoughtfully in its subplots-- I applaud how this book treated homophobia and the question of how to forgive in the face of it, if at all, for one-- and did all this with an artful writing style as it continued, with just the right amount of dramatic emphasis and oceanic comparison to embody the main character Caitlin (who is herself incredibly genuine and real-feeling, both as a 12 year old living the story and her present self reflecting on it.) It was exceptionally hard-hitting and poignant, but hopeful in its own merit. A powerful read.

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desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

"The worst part about childhood is not knowing that bad things pass, that time passes. A terrible moment in childhood hovers with a kind of eternity, unbearable."

Die Menge an Traumen und Emotionen und Verwirrung hat mich komplett überrollt. Zwischen den Beschreibungen vom leben im Meer und Zeichnungen von Fischen hat sich so viel abgespielt. Ich konnte nicht aufhören zu lesen, es wurde so viel schlimmer und ich konnte mir kein Ende vorstellen.
Was man von diesem Buch lernen kann würde ich so zusammenfassen:
Generationsübergreifende Traumen sind nach Möglichkeit zu identifizieren und zu durchbrechen. Systeme (Sozial-,Schul- und Gesundheit-) der USA sind ziemlich mies. Arm sein ist Mist. Menschliche Beziehungen und reden kann Leuten helfen. Verstehen zu wollen ist eine Entscheidung. Fische sind cool.

"Maybe this is as near as we can come to forgiveness. Not the past wiped away, nothing undone, but some willingness in the present, some recognition and embrace and slowing down."

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confusedmuse's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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