Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories by Lucia Berlin

4 reviews

owenwilsonbaby's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

"So what is marriage anyway? I never figured it out. And now it is death I don't understand. Not just Sally's death. My country, after Rodney King and the riots. All over the world, the rage and despair. Sally and I write rebuses to each other so she doesn't hurt her lung talking. Rebus is where you draw pictures instead of words or letters. Violence, for example, is a viola and some ants. Sucks is somebody drinking through a straw. We laugh, quietly, in her room, drawing. Actually, love is not a mystery for me anymore. Max calls and says hello. I tell him that my sister will be dead soon. How are you? he asks."

I keep changing my mind but I think my favourite read of this year is a tie between this collection of short stories and Alexander Chee's most recent essay collection.

Whilst some of Berlin's attitudes and language, particularly around race and orientation, can be hard to read, the stories in this collection are so moving and profound. She's not afraid to write about people often overlooked and marginalised, using truth and keen observation to draw out both the moments of beauty and ugliness in everyday life. Her imagery and use of little details create really evocative episodes. The insight into grief and addiction is incredible. My favourite stories were probably Strays, for its eerie and truthful portrayal of an early rehab programme, So Long, for its very painful portrait of grief and Let Me See You Smile for its stark depiction of addiction, police brutality and love. Berlin has an excellent knack for dialogue which makes her relationships feel organic and gripping - particularly in the titular story A Manual for Cleaning Women, all of her conversations with her husband ("I'll do macrame, punk!") are exquisitely funny and romantic. I'll forever be heartbroken by "Once he told me he loved me because I was like San Pablo Avenue." What a line. What a voice!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Xenophobia and War

inesmts's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Racism, and Toxic relationship

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

this collection contains numerous short stories by lucia berlin, and while my liking for each of them varies in degrees, a manual for cleaning women nevertheless demonstrates why berlin's work is considered a classic in american literature.

though the stories are a mildly discombobulating mix and read very slow initially, the book's second half is markedly compelling and more intense somehow, w/ some of my favorites being "grief," "let me see you smile," and "here it is saturday."

berlin's trademark of - as a review on the back cover puts it - "brutal one-liners and swift reversals" always keeps the reader subconsciously on edge, and even make me flinch on occasion when the ball drops. there are no obvious happy endings or resolution of plot points, as the stories are akin to snapshot of moments in time, yet they also ring true, noted in their emotional resonance that are never gratuitous. 

i also greatly appreciate the genuine portrayal and inclusion of society's marginalized, whether it be in terms of race, gender, class, the imprisoned, nationality, disability, etc. to be honest i was very surprised by how aware berlin is of all the aforementioned groups and issues, never reducing anyone to caricatures. esp considering the time period during which she wrote the stories, it seems like she's ahead of her time, and attests to the fact that pre-'woke' stories and literature can be diverse - it reflects the actual world, after all - and need not be blandly uniformed.

overall, i enjoy this book for its real stories, diverse rep (who would have thought?), unpredictability, though will have to reread it once im in the right headspace to more greatly appreciate the first half.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Xenophobia, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

milliebrierley's review against another edition

dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Self harm, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent