rromanereads's review against another edition
4.0
aftermath (noun): the consequences or aftereffects of a significant unpleasant event.
in this humble, down-to-earth account, Cusk tells us about her separation from her ex-husband, the implosion of her family and the readjustment of her life. she speaks of her divorce as the extraction of a painful and compromised tooth, painful but necessary.
this book is like an intimate discussion with her, she puts into words the right, precise, calibrated and honest words about this period of her life, without really naming the whys and wherefores but rather stating the aftermath.
she puts words to things that are so impalpable, sinuous and hidden that we hadn't even realized they existed, but we find ourselves stunned by so much truth. her writing is exceptionally intelligent, and hits you right where it's sensitive, and you can't help but feel it. anyone who's been in a long-term relationship can see themselves in her words and the emotions she so aptly articulates.
cusk is one of the few authors with such literary prose that I'll be able to read over and over again. each of her works is a delicate pearl, perfectly balanced between anecdotes, metaphors and intimate thoughts. i really liked her essay-memoir works.
some of my favorite lines from a sea of underlined sentences:
“you could walk around in the sadness of her mouth and eyes, it was open to everyone”
“In the life of comportments lies the possibilities of unity, just as unity contains the prospect of atomisation”
“my mother may have been my place of birth, but my adopted nationality was my father’s”
in this humble, down-to-earth account, Cusk tells us about her separation from her ex-husband, the implosion of her family and the readjustment of her life. she speaks of her divorce as the extraction of a painful and compromised tooth, painful but necessary.
this book is like an intimate discussion with her, she puts into words the right, precise, calibrated and honest words about this period of her life, without really naming the whys and wherefores but rather stating the aftermath.
she puts words to things that are so impalpable, sinuous and hidden that we hadn't even realized they existed, but we find ourselves stunned by so much truth. her writing is exceptionally intelligent, and hits you right where it's sensitive, and you can't help but feel it. anyone who's been in a long-term relationship can see themselves in her words and the emotions she so aptly articulates.
cusk is one of the few authors with such literary prose that I'll be able to read over and over again. each of her works is a delicate pearl, perfectly balanced between anecdotes, metaphors and intimate thoughts. i really liked her essay-memoir works.
some of my favorite lines from a sea of underlined sentences:
“you could walk around in the sadness of her mouth and eyes, it was open to everyone”
“In the life of comportments lies the possibilities of unity, just as unity contains the prospect of atomisation”
“my mother may have been my place of birth, but my adopted nationality was my father’s”
cestelaine's review against another edition
5.0
I devoured Cusk’s Outline trilogy last year and was knocked for six by the brevity of her writing, the compelling narratives she weaved, and the deliberate spaces left amongst the story. I didn’t think anything could add to what I perceived as a trilogy of perfection.
And then I read Aftermath.
What a phenomenal ‘touché’ to accompany her fiction.
The brutal honesty of her writing, the raw feeling and complexity of coming to terms with an experience many baffle their way through - it draws everything together. The mirror of herself in the narrator of the Outline trilogy is stark in this slim memoir. Cusk has once more set the bar for a new standard of exquisite writing.
And then I read Aftermath.
What a phenomenal ‘touché’ to accompany her fiction.
The brutal honesty of her writing, the raw feeling and complexity of coming to terms with an experience many baffle their way through - it draws everything together. The mirror of herself in the narrator of the Outline trilogy is stark in this slim memoir. Cusk has once more set the bar for a new standard of exquisite writing.
lewis_fishman's review against another edition
4.0
man rachel cusk really cuts to the goddamn bone sometimes
sadiereadsagain's review against another edition
3.0
I sought this book out in my attempt to read about other women who have been where I currently am. I'm not sure I found that identification in this book. If I were the sort of person to highlight passages as I read, I think I'd have only underlined one or two paragraphs. But lack of connection doesn't make a book bad, and this is not a bad book. Much the same as I felt with her book on motherhood ([b:A Life's Work: On Becoming a Mother|522426|A Life's Work On Becoming a Mother|Rachel Cusk|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312001649l/522426._SX50_.jpg|930836]), Cusk is just too highbrow in how she expresses her emotions and interprets her situation for me to relate in any way. But that literary quality does make her a beautiful writer, with impressive ways of elevating what is sadly now a fairly normal life experience for so many into something less mundane. I did feel that this collection of observations and memories felt quite chilly, with her interpretation of the impact of her marriage breakdown on her children the only parts that felt emotionally charged. But desolation is absolutely part of the experience of heartbreak, and that she was able to portray that detachment and numbness is no doubt testament to her talent. It just left me also feeling a bit detached from the book.
intrepid815's review against another edition
4.0
Compared to Cusk’s usual output, Aftermath is a bit meandery and essayistic. The appeals to emotion are more direct, less inventive and unexpected. But B-grade Cusk is still better written than most authors’ A-level.
dismantled's review against another edition
3.5
I don’t know. This had the prettiest prose, but somehow I wasn’t hooked. It was beautiful but it was a chore to finish. I wasn’t very interested in the characters. The most interesting part was the last part, with the nanny. I just felt like I wasn’t reading about real people. There’s a lack of authenticity that I find to be ironic considering this is non-fiction. 3.5/5
mariavazquezsolaun's review against another edition
3.0
3,5
Una montaña rusa, así ha sido leer Despojos, un libro muy honesto sobre las secuelas de un divorcio reciente cuyas heridas aun sangran. Empieza y acaba muy bien, pero decae hacia el final antes de coger de nuevo impulso.
La propuesta de Rachel Cusk empieza fuerte. No tardé nada en simpatizar con la forma de escribir de la autora, muy ágil a pesar de las muchas reflexiones que traslada en las primeras páginas sobre el divorcio. Un proceso del que no sale limpia, sino con numerosas cicatrices que le obligan a cuestionar su vida. La vida que conocía y de la que ahora ha sido expulsada y esa nueva normalidad de la que debe hacerse cargo.
Soporte económico de la familia por acuerdo durante el matrimonio y madre de dos hijas, Rachel se siente en esta nueva etapa un fraude como feminista al descubrirse haciendo o pensando lo contrario a lo que tantas veces defendió. Es aquí cuando descubrimos la figura de su madre, la mujer que influyó en quién es hoy, a la que siempre ha juzgado y con la que hoy se compara para llegar a algunas de las reflexiones más importantes del libro.
"...está pidiendo que la anulen, que la devoren, está pidiendo pasar la vida perpetrando un nuevo fraude, fabricando otra nueva identidad falsa, solo que esta vez lo falso es su igualdad. O bien hace el doble de trabajo que antes, o bien sacrifica su igualdad y hace menos de lo que debería. Es dos mujeres o es media mujer. Y en cualquiera de los dos casos tendrá que decir, porque así lo ha elegido, que disfruta con lo que hace.
Así avanza el libro entre reflexiones sobre el divorcio, la maternidad o el feminismo, que Rachel a menudo relaciona con las tragedias griegas (algo que a algunos gustará mucho y a otros nada, me temo), para llegar a un último capítulo que no entendí o supe relacionar en una primera lectura, pero que me dejó un buen sabor de boca.
El victimismo de la protagonista me ha causado rechazo en momentos concretos, no os voy a mentir, y creo que al libro le sobran algunas páginas e incluso algún capítulo, pero me ha parecido interesante leerlo. Tiene, eso si, mas valor como testimonio que como historia.
Una montaña rusa, así ha sido leer Despojos, un libro muy honesto sobre las secuelas de un divorcio reciente cuyas heridas aun sangran. Empieza y acaba muy bien, pero decae hacia el final antes de coger de nuevo impulso.
La propuesta de Rachel Cusk empieza fuerte. No tardé nada en simpatizar con la forma de escribir de la autora, muy ágil a pesar de las muchas reflexiones que traslada en las primeras páginas sobre el divorcio. Un proceso del que no sale limpia, sino con numerosas cicatrices que le obligan a cuestionar su vida. La vida que conocía y de la que ahora ha sido expulsada y esa nueva normalidad de la que debe hacerse cargo.
Soporte económico de la familia por acuerdo durante el matrimonio y madre de dos hijas, Rachel se siente en esta nueva etapa un fraude como feminista al descubrirse haciendo o pensando lo contrario a lo que tantas veces defendió. Es aquí cuando descubrimos la figura de su madre, la mujer que influyó en quién es hoy, a la que siempre ha juzgado y con la que hoy se compara para llegar a algunas de las reflexiones más importantes del libro.
"...está pidiendo que la anulen, que la devoren, está pidiendo pasar la vida perpetrando un nuevo fraude, fabricando otra nueva identidad falsa, solo que esta vez lo falso es su igualdad. O bien hace el doble de trabajo que antes, o bien sacrifica su igualdad y hace menos de lo que debería. Es dos mujeres o es media mujer. Y en cualquiera de los dos casos tendrá que decir, porque así lo ha elegido, que disfruta con lo que hace.
Así avanza el libro entre reflexiones sobre el divorcio, la maternidad o el feminismo, que Rachel a menudo relaciona con las tragedias griegas (algo que a algunos gustará mucho y a otros nada, me temo), para llegar a un último capítulo que no entendí o supe relacionar en una primera lectura, pero que me dejó un buen sabor de boca.
El victimismo de la protagonista me ha causado rechazo en momentos concretos, no os voy a mentir, y creo que al libro le sobran algunas páginas e incluso algún capítulo, pero me ha parecido interesante leerlo. Tiene, eso si, mas valor como testimonio que como historia.
lucyewynn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0