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k_aro's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
While I don't think I Love Dick is exactly revolutionary fiction in what it's ruminating on (Lonely girl phenomenology, akin to Fleabag or the Mitski/Lana del Rey complex of music), it's also a really fascinating take on it. For one, it takes parasocial fiction and makes it uncomfortably familiar, and more than that takes seriously the position of the parasocial object responding to the person in the unrequited relationship. Dick doesn't even really have to be present for Chris to feel like he's there.
Spin it with continental/post-continental theory that honestly makes me both feel smart for recognizing and being able to name check but also legitimately engaging with it makes for a fascinating read. Some aspects make me grimace a little, but it's also a book about being in love with your husband's coworker, so naturally I don't think it ought to shy away from the way things feel in order to be presented. The way that levels of reality are played with (as noted in the afterword)—the displacement of language onto Dick, the un/reality of how Dick behaves, makes for a very good read.
I will say, slow to get going, but once over the hump of Chris having sex with Dick, the book really starts its theoretical roll.
Spin it with continental/post-continental theory that honestly makes me both feel smart for recognizing and being able to name check but also legitimately engaging with it makes for a fascinating read. Some aspects make me grimace a little, but it's also a book about being in love with your husband's coworker, so naturally I don't think it ought to shy away from the way things feel in order to be presented. The way that levels of reality are played with (as noted in the afterword)—the displacement of language onto Dick, the un/reality of how Dick behaves, makes for a very good read.
I will say, slow to get going, but once over the hump of Chris having sex with Dick, the book really starts its theoretical roll.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Alcohol
Minor: Death and Drug use
While I would not characterize the "real" situation of the book as psychotic/schizophrenic in nature, Kraus does reflect on schizophrenia as a thought pattern for a good portion of one of the chapters.potterpav's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
i would’ve never read this by choice (the name would’ve sent me running in the opposite direction) but thanks to my “diverse” and “modern” uni course , it was required reading .. credit where credit is due , some parts of this book were rlly interesting & thought-provoking and i genuinely enjoyed reading it (the parts abt schizophrenia and chris’s thoughts on feminism especially) but the rest of it was dull and sooooo creepy😭 dick’s final letter is so much kinder than i would’ve put it if some random lady i met once wrote 250 pages of letters abt how she’s in love w me . strange and emotive but lots and lots of underlined quotes - “you are trying to find some way of living you believe in. i envy this” say it louder chris babes !!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Eating disorder and Racial slurs
Minor: Abortion
angrangy's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
It‘s a nope for me.
Absolut unangenehm zu lesen. Ein fremder Mann, der real existiert, wird übersexualisiert, gestalkt, belästigt, auch wenn er mehrfach zu verstehen geben versucht, dass er nicht interessiert ist und ihm die ganze Sache unangenehm ist. Nach den ersten Seiten wollte ich schon das Buch abbrechen, allerdings wollte ich auch den Hype ums Buch verstehen und warum es mir mitgegeben wurde.
In der zweiten Hälfte wird es etwas aufgelockert und die Berichte über Kunst und Künstler*innen sind wirklich gut und interessant. Hätte es nur aus diesen Texten, ganz ohne Dick, bestanden, wäre es gut geworden. So ist es einfach nur ein Stück Egoismus und Belästigung in Literaturform.
Absolut unangenehm zu lesen. Ein fremder Mann, der real existiert, wird übersexualisiert, gestalkt, belästigt, auch wenn er mehrfach zu verstehen geben versucht, dass er nicht interessiert ist und ihm die ganze Sache unangenehm ist. Nach den ersten Seiten wollte ich schon das Buch abbrechen, allerdings wollte ich auch den Hype ums Buch verstehen und warum es mir mitgegeben wurde.
In der zweiten Hälfte wird es etwas aufgelockert und die Berichte über Kunst und Künstler*innen sind wirklich gut und interessant. Hätte es nur aus diesen Texten, ganz ohne Dick, bestanden, wäre es gut geworden. So ist es einfach nur ein Stück Egoismus und Belästigung in Literaturform.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
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