bloodbuzz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
vickybrewster's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
batbones's review against another edition
4.0
Falling in love with Oyeyemi's Mr Fox is a little like John Green's way of falling asleep: 'slowly, and then all at once' (The Fault in Our Stars). It starts off ordinarily enough, so ordinary, like a plain length of street, that, at first, the blurb that has so attracted its reader also leaves them with confused expectations. Her prose might be witty, but it doesn't display itself with enough of the fantastical to assure oneself that, yes, you have come to the right place, this is an amusing romantically-tinged magical realist novel as advertised on the back and the cover. Mr Fox does not welcome, invite or compel - it just is. Entering this novel is a bit like the pure fact of finding a door and just stepping inside. Go in, find a nice chair, sit down. After a moment, some vaguely interesting people pass by, talking, thinking, moving. You watch them with mild interest. The furniture starts seeming a little strange after a while, and even the people, why, they are hardly the substantial beings you expected them to be. They recur across what could be an anthology of different stories, a story about writing stories and living within stories, repeating their existences, connecting seemingly incongruous and far apart events and situations by the mere presence of their names. The unreal finds the hand of the real and clasps it tight. Your interest grows a little. You continue to sit there, and read, or watch, pausing with a held breath at turns when the writer's prose turns sparkling, languid, Jazz Age novel-esque, like this:
"She sniffled. 'Yes. I was pressing my divorce dress.'
Daphne had bought a divorce dress with my money. Even more interesting. I'd had her down as a starry-eyed idealist who didn't notice my flaws. I'd have to keep an eye on her."
Or reaches for the images of dreams, like this:
"When I looked out of the window sleep came down over it, steadily building black, softening my neck so my head lolled, gathering me up in its vapour so that I drifted above the cramped angle of my seat."
"He touched my wrist. Lightly, with just one finger, but I shivered. It wasn't that his hand was especially cold. I think it was a subtlety. If I hadn't been looking, I wouldn't even have noticed what he'd done. He took my pulse, I thought. Stole it."
Yet the sense of the ordinary never feels like it is competing with the magical/imaginary elements, both are perfectly woven into one exquisite garment, a dreamlike, sparkling garb for a cocktail party, realised, complete with tiny accidents, in which "[t]hey'd started out sipping genteelly from glasses, but as they got drunker the drinking grew more lavish, and was done straight from bottles. They played charades, very badly, and were unable to establish who had won."
"She sniffled. 'Yes. I was pressing my divorce dress.'
Daphne had bought a divorce dress with my money. Even more interesting. I'd had her down as a starry-eyed idealist who didn't notice my flaws. I'd have to keep an eye on her."
Or reaches for the images of dreams, like this:
"When I looked out of the window sleep came down over it, steadily building black, softening my neck so my head lolled, gathering me up in its vapour so that I drifted above the cramped angle of my seat."
"He touched my wrist. Lightly, with just one finger, but I shivered. It wasn't that his hand was especially cold. I think it was a subtlety. If I hadn't been looking, I wouldn't even have noticed what he'd done. He took my pulse, I thought. Stole it."
Yet the sense of the ordinary never feels like it is competing with the magical/imaginary elements, both are perfectly woven into one exquisite garment, a dreamlike, sparkling garb for a cocktail party, realised, complete with tiny accidents, in which "[t]hey'd started out sipping genteelly from glasses, but as they got drunker the drinking grew more lavish, and was done straight from bottles. They played charades, very badly, and were unable to establish who had won."
goodbetterbetsy's review against another edition
3.0
This was not quite as good as I expected it to be. It was interesting at times, though. Mr. Fox is a writer and Mary Foxe is his muse. They decide to play a game where they write different stories so the whole book is kind of a series of short stories linked together by what's happening with Mr. Fox, his wife, and Mary. I kind of hate short stories because I get really into a story and then it ends and moves on to something else. I was really into the beginning of the book (before I kind of realized it was a bunch of linked stories) and I was really sad when the first story ended. I wanted to see how that all ended. Not the best book I've read this year, but not a complete waste.
pineapple_queen's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jcpdiesel21's review against another edition
2.0
Features brilliant writing from Oyeyemi and is certainly witty and imaginative, but ultimately I don't entirely know what to make of the book and am left wondering what the point of it all is. While I applaud Oyeyemi for taking a risk with such an experimental writing style, the result is a mishmash of genres and formats with far too much navel-gazing and little emotional engagement. I would have preferred a more concrete collection of short stories and either contained everything directly related to Mr. Fox to one story or done away with it altogether, since I didn't care about or understand any of the characters involved. I may be unable to fully appreciate this book because I am not well-versed in the tales that Oyeyemi references; someone in the loop may find more to enjoy and appreciate.
leila's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-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
4.0
minty's review
2.0
Absolutely no idea what to make of this book. At the outset I found it charming, and I stuck with it over other books that I have on loan because of that. I enjoyed only the scenes with the Foxes and found the sub-stories tiresome. I tried to find meaning in those side stories, but my mind inevitably drifted.