Scan barcode
gianni_francis's review against another edition
4.0
My favorite part about Davis's 'break-up' novel is the emotional objectivism of the narrator. She states that arguments happen, things were said, consequences resulted, but never what the arguments were regarding, what precisely was said. In terms of a relationship, "consequences" of tactlessness takes time to fester anyway; all the potential readers needs to know is that they break-up. (This is revealed within the first chapter, no spoilers.)
Objectively reporting subjective memories, Davis skips the boring 'he said, she said' although the truthfulness of what happened is very important to her, as is relaying it accurately. Accuracy and thoughtful entertainment. For that reason the novel partially becomes about itself, and it is unclear (in a good way) how much of this novel is fictional.
Our narrator commits some insane 'break up' acts, like following her ex's white car only to realize its not him, entertaining the idea of him living in her garage etc. She is very funny, thoughtful, and becomes crazy when her pride is damaged by this much younger ex, like any normal person would.
Objectively reporting subjective memories, Davis skips the boring 'he said, she said' although the truthfulness of what happened is very important to her, as is relaying it accurately. Accuracy and thoughtful entertainment. For that reason the novel partially becomes about itself, and it is unclear (in a good way) how much of this novel is fictional.
Our narrator commits some insane 'break up' acts, like following her ex's white car only to realize its not him, entertaining the idea of him living in her garage etc. She is very funny, thoughtful, and becomes crazy when her pride is damaged by this much younger ex, like any normal person would.
margaret_adams's review against another edition
This is a book about a love affair that has ended, but it’s also a book about a narrator writing a novel about her own life, and it’s also a book about the incredible slipperiness of memory and perceived experience. It has no chapters and no dialogue, and that lack of clear delineations fits with the surprisingly lucid fluidity of the material. I’m pretty sure it’s straight fiction but I didn’t really care if it was or wasn’t.
I liked this. Odds were against it working. But I thought it did.
Quotes:
“A friend of mine once told me about a love affair he had had. [...] My friend told me he could not stop writing down certain things about it. He could not speak to her because she would not listen to him, so he wrote things about it that other people would read, so that she might read it, too, and be not only affected by it but more affected because it was public. If she was not, he would at least have the satisfaction of telling it all out loud, and also of turning that love affair, which had not lasted as long as he had wanted it to, into something that would last longer.”
“A part of me had grown into him at the same time that a part of him had grown into me. That part of me was still in him now. I looked at him and saw not only him but myself as well, and saw that that part of myself was lost. Not only that, but I saw that myself in his eyes, as he regarded me, as he loved me, was lost, too. I did not know what to do with the part of him that had grown into me.”
“By writing about him, I thought, I was taking him away from himself and doing him harm, even though he might never know it. This troubled me, not because I was doing him harm, but because I did not mind doing it.”
I liked this. Odds were against it working. But I thought it did.
Quotes:
“A friend of mine once told me about a love affair he had had. [...] My friend told me he could not stop writing down certain things about it. He could not speak to her because she would not listen to him, so he wrote things about it that other people would read, so that she might read it, too, and be not only affected by it but more affected because it was public. If she was not, he would at least have the satisfaction of telling it all out loud, and also of turning that love affair, which had not lasted as long as he had wanted it to, into something that would last longer.”
“A part of me had grown into him at the same time that a part of him had grown into me. That part of me was still in him now. I looked at him and saw not only him but myself as well, and saw that that part of myself was lost. Not only that, but I saw that myself in his eyes, as he regarded me, as he loved me, was lost, too. I did not know what to do with the part of him that had grown into me.”
“By writing about him, I thought, I was taking him away from himself and doing him harm, even though he might never know it. This troubled me, not because I was doing him harm, but because I did not mind doing it.”
dhaydon95's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
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
4.25
zibby's review against another edition
4.0
'and what I had written did not seem important.'
Reading this book is like a magic eye picture: you have to hold in your mind several contrary different versions of events, of characters or interactions. It is a love story, or rather a break up story but it is also a story about beginnings and endings, about the act of writing itself, as a record or memory - how inaccurate and difficult it is. The prose is dense and twists inward on itself but give it your time and this is an immensely rewarding read.
Reading this book is like a magic eye picture: you have to hold in your mind several contrary different versions of events, of characters or interactions. It is a love story, or rather a break up story but it is also a story about beginnings and endings, about the act of writing itself, as a record or memory - how inaccurate and difficult it is. The prose is dense and twists inward on itself but give it your time and this is an immensely rewarding read.
ololyga's review against another edition
5.0
her writing always seems to seep out of the page, contaminating everything I think and do. in this case, it made me anxious depressed & entirely too romantic. I’m surprised it didn’t ruin my whole vacation!
mslaura's review against another edition
2.0
I admire what the author did with this book and the way she captured the challenge of processing memories after the fact, of trying to reconstruct a logical timeline of events as they actually occurred, not how we have come to believe they happened or how we wish they had happened. It was definitely a unique book and was worth reading for that alone. However, the story itself just never grabbed my interest and I never felt at all invested in the characters or their actions, so in the end this book was just okay for me.
merixien's review against another edition
4.0
“Başka biriyle yaşamak kolay değildir, en azından benim için kolay değil. Nasıl bir bencil olduğumu o zaman anlıyorum. Benim için başka birini sevmek kolay olmadı ama giderek buna alışıyorum. Ancak bir ay süreyle kibarlığımı koruyabiliyorum ama ondan sonra yine bencilleşiyorum. Birini sevmenin ne anlama geldiğini anlamaya çalışıyorum. Hippolyte Taine veya Alfred de Musset gibi başka açılardan beni ilgilendirmeyen ünlü yazarlardan alıntılar not ediyorum. Mesela Taine, sevmek başka birinin mutluluğunu kendi amacın yapmaktır, demiş. Bunu kendi durumuma uygulamaya çalışmak isterdim. Fakat, birini sevmek onu kendimden önceye koymaksa, bunu nasıl yapabilirim ki? Üç seçenek var gibi görünüyordu: birini sevmeye çalışmaktan vazgeçmek, bencillikten vazgeçmek veya bencilliğe devam ederken birini sevmeyi öğrenmek. İlk ikisini başarabileceğimi sanmam ama ara sıra birini sevmeye yetecek ölçüde bencilliğimden vazgeçmeyi öğrenebilirdim.”
Kitap kendisini o kadar güzel anlatıyor ki ekleyecek pek bir şey yok. Yazarın öykülerini çok sevmiştim, bu sefer de romanıyla hayran oldum. Unutamadığı eski bir aşkına veda töreni gibi. Bir vazgeçişin sonucu. Yazar dairesel bir anlatımla ilerlediğinden, zaman çizgisini takip etmek ve olay sıralamaları karmaşık gibi görünebilir ancak kendisine alıştığınızda bu sıçramalarda ilerlemeyi de seveceksinizdir. Benim çok sevdiğim bir kitap oldu; her ne kadar bir kurgu- roman da olsa yazarın hayatından izler de taşıyan bir iç döküş-yüzleşme seansı.
Kitap kendisini o kadar güzel anlatıyor ki ekleyecek pek bir şey yok. Yazarın öykülerini çok sevmiştim, bu sefer de romanıyla hayran oldum. Unutamadığı eski bir aşkına veda töreni gibi. Bir vazgeçişin sonucu. Yazar dairesel bir anlatımla ilerlediğinden, zaman çizgisini takip etmek ve olay sıralamaları karmaşık gibi görünebilir ancak kendisine alıştığınızda bu sıçramalarda ilerlemeyi de seveceksinizdir. Benim çok sevdiğim bir kitap oldu; her ne kadar bir kurgu- roman da olsa yazarın hayatından izler de taşıyan bir iç döküş-yüzleşme seansı.