Scan barcode
silver_lining_in_a_book's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I am one in a row of specimens. It's when I try to flutter out of line that he hates me. I'm meant to be dead, pinned, always the same, always beautiful. He knows that part of my beauty is being alive, but it's the dead me he wants. He wants me living-but-dead.
This book took me by total surprise. If not for a friends recommendation and insistence on me giving this book a try, I don't think I ever would have. I am so glad I did; not because I enjoyed the reading experience or found the plot particularly entertaining, it was quite the opposite. It was the character building, exploration of class-structures in society and the portrayal of our obsession with all things superficial and beautiful that really stood out to me and made this book worth reading.
There is a lot of emphasis on a person's ability to create and to progress, our complex thoughts and actions being what makes us human and how the desire to hoard, capture and collect kills the beauty in whatever it is that you seek to preserve. I am certain that there is a lot in this book that I missed, but I certainly felt for the characters - Frederick disturbed me immensely and I absolutely loved Miranda and wanted her to be alright. Reading from her perspective made me feel more claustrophobic and near-panic than I have ever felt while reading a book. It is incredible to me that John Fowles was able to transfer her feelings and thoughts so vividly through pages, and as letter / diary entries no less.
It is very difficult to rate a book like this. As I have said before, it is not fun to read, but it is not meant to be; it is disturbing, triggering and ultimately very unsatisfying, but it is unique and incredibly successful in achieving what Fowles set out for it to accomplish. He deserves high praise, I doubt many writers would be able to create what he managed to here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Classism
Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Death of parent, and Alcohol
thesawyerbean's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-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
3.25
An interesting read.
The highlight of this novel for me was the dual perspectives - we begin with Fred’s point of view: his planning, experiences and emotions throughout the process of obsession, abduction and ‘possession’ of Miranda. It was an exciting spin on the Lolita-esque unreliable and morally-reprehensible narrator: the perception of events we had just read obliterated by the diary entries of the victim Miranda herself.
The stream of consciousness from Miranda, elucidating the thoughts and emotions behind her responses to her captivity interweaved with the context surrounding her life and romantic past, disintegrates the grotesquely endearing account by Fred in the previous part. It solidifies his evil firmly for the reader, emphasised further in the conclusion of the novel.
Despite this, it wasn’t all that enjoyable a read. Miranda’s diary entries were very convoluted, with constant switching between her memories and present day events, laced with political and class discourse. The discourse itself refers to the problematic aspects of gaining wealth, the apparent degradation of the ‘soul’ as a result, the class warfare between old and new money, the dilution of art, etc. etc.. Miranda is the classic rich artsy girl, Fred is the insidious ‘new money’. Fascinating, I suppose, but written in a way that wasn’t in fact fascinating. Especially when it was coming from the mouth of an absolutely heinous ‘love’ interest from her past.
The entire book was also riddled with weird grammar errors which interrupted the flow completely because I had to reread to confirm that I had no idea what was just said.
Overall this was an average read - it was not what I was expecting necessarily when I picked it up, but the architecture of the storytelling and the discourse I think warrant a read if you are so inclined.
The highlight of this novel for me was the dual perspectives - we begin with Fred’s point of view: his planning, experiences and emotions throughout the process of obsession, abduction and ‘possession’ of Miranda. It was an exciting spin on the Lolita-esque unreliable and morally-reprehensible narrator: the perception of events we had just read obliterated by the diary entries of the victim Miranda herself.
The stream of consciousness from Miranda, elucidating the thoughts and emotions behind her responses to her captivity interweaved with the context surrounding her life and romantic past, disintegrates the grotesquely endearing account by Fred in the previous part. It solidifies his evil firmly for the reader, emphasised further in the conclusion of the novel.
Despite this, it wasn’t all that enjoyable a read. Miranda’s diary entries were very convoluted, with constant switching between her memories and present day events, laced with political and class discourse. The discourse itself refers to the problematic aspects of gaining wealth, the apparent degradation of the ‘soul’ as a result, the class warfare between old and new money, the dilution of art, etc. etc.. Miranda is the classic rich artsy girl, Fred is the insidious ‘new money’. Fascinating, I suppose, but written in a way that wasn’t in fact fascinating. Especially when it was coming from the mouth of an absolutely heinous ‘love’ interest from her past.
The entire book was also riddled with weird grammar errors which interrupted the flow completely because I had to reread to confirm that I had no idea what was just said.
Overall this was an average read - it was not what I was expecting necessarily when I picked it up, but the architecture of the storytelling and the discourse I think warrant a read if you are so inclined.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Gaslighting
Minor: Rape
booksofautumn's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
More...