madiinthehouse's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
writersrelief's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
medium-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
4.0
Jen Beagin’s third novel, BIG SWISS, promises an eccentric, raunchy, darkly hilarious time. Set in Hudson, New York—a haven for weird, artsy misfits—BIG SWISS is jam-packed full of intentional and memorable oddities. The main character, Greta, works as a transcriptionist for a sex therapist who calls himself Om and who loves to do sound baths with his clients. Through her work, Greta is privy to the deepest, strangest secrets of Om’s many clients (and boy, are some of them strange!). Even Greta’s home is notably strange: It’s an ancient farmhouse which she shares with her roommate, Sabine, who makes and sells edibles to the locals. The house is falling apart and there’s no insulation, but there are bees—thousands of them.
Although the relentlessness of Beagin’s quirky details can at times become tiresome, they certainly grab a reader’s attention. And while they don’t really stop or slow down, the oddities are eventually somewhat tempered by the very human traumas and experiences that begin to make themselves known as the darker underbelly of this oddball sex comedy starts to show itself.
Though Greta keeps her distance from Om’s clients, she can recognize them in the voices she hears around town and delights in the secrets she knows about these people. This isn’t a problem until Greta recognizes one voice in particular—that of a stoic, married woman Om has just begun seeing, and whom Greta is fascinated with. Greta introduces herself with a fake name and eventually begins a secret affair with the woman, whom she had previously nicknamed “Big Swiss” but whose real name is Flavia.
Flavia and Greta both have traumatic pasts. But, while Flavia is dead-set against leaving hers behind, Greta, even after moving across the country to get away, is constantly emotionally tortured by hers. Their vastly different approaches to trauma become clear through their relationship, and the book gives itself space to explore this theme. The layers of darkness, danger, and plot come together rapidly from here on out, following the story’s multiple plot threads to places you would never have seen coming. The quirky cast of characters, the intentionally strange setting, the witty dialogue, and the fairly fast-paced prose all help to lighten the heavy loads of Flavia and Greta’s horrifying backstories, keeping the book from veering into overly-sentimental territory. The result is an intensely entertaining read that manages to explore dark themes without becoming overpowered by them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Physical abuse, and Suicide
bbdelphine's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
avastras1's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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
3.0
I couldn’t deal with all the bugs but I did enjoy the dialogue as transcription
ad3ena's review against another edition
3.0
i don't know how i feel about this book ... but i feel very strongly about wanting baby donkeys now.
shinissa_kaur's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
3.75
chicalmodovar's review against another edition
5.0
I feel like I took my time with this book even when I felt like I couldn’t put it down. This is probably one of the stories I feel closest to that I’ve read this year.
I am an avid enjoyer of unlikeable female characters but in reality I think I just seek out these type of books because they offer a sense of normalcy for me. Sometimes my own thoughts that I deem too weird or the things I fixate upon are pretty similar to what these characters are thinking about.
Now on to the actual novel, I thought this would have less of a plot but it really did have a ton of ups and downs. I feel like if it weren’t for every single unlikely event, Greta would have continued to identify with her lack of emotion or emotional detachment (ED) as she calls it. Sometimes it takes a very closed off person to open us up to our own emotions, weirdly enough.
Flavia’s character was definitely more closely related to how I see emotionally unavailable people, and how they might actually be deeply invested in those around them but show none of it to the outside world and become offended when people think of them as robots.
All of these thoughts are very scattered but the point is I loved every word of this novel. An exploration of grief and human connection has never felt so personal to me.
I am an avid enjoyer of unlikeable female characters but in reality I think I just seek out these type of books because they offer a sense of normalcy for me. Sometimes my own thoughts that I deem too weird or the things I fixate upon are pretty similar to what these characters are thinking about.
Now on to the actual novel, I thought this would have less of a plot but it really did have a ton of ups and downs. I feel like if it weren’t for every single unlikely event, Greta would have continued to identify with her lack of emotion or emotional detachment (ED) as she calls it. Sometimes it takes a very closed off person to open us up to our own emotions, weirdly enough.
Flavia’s character was definitely more closely related to how I see emotionally unavailable people, and how they might actually be deeply invested in those around them but show none of it to the outside world and become offended when people think of them as robots.
All of these thoughts are very scattered but the point is I loved every word of this novel. An exploration of grief and human connection has never felt so personal to me.