Reviews

Gunk Baby by Jamie Marina Lau

sheisabicth's review

funny informative reflective

5.0

katiegraham00's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

2000s's review against another edition

3.5

I think the concept behind this book was intriguing, but the execution of it was just too uneven (in terms of character arcs and pacing), and I think there were too many loose ends by the time I finished it. 

cupidcove's review against another edition

dark funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Well, this was a strange read. I can appreciate a lot of things that this book was attempting, especially the way the author played with structure to create a text that replicated the monotony of middle-class work and the increasingly absurd reliance on a single company to define one's life, but I think the author tried to take on too many ideas at once. I was expecting the text to examine the juxtaposition between our protagonist's work, her support of Jean Paul's group, and the corporation that comes to define her, but the job that lends the book its title fades into the background about halfway through the book and fails to factor into the ending. There is a similar problem with many of the ancillary characters such as Farah. While I can understand that this was probably intended to mimic the absurdity of real life, within a novel it ends up coming off as disorganized and underdeveloped. Similarly, Leen's failure to engage with anything that is happening around her was an interesting choice and could have been executed well, especially given the ending, but ultimately it ended up forcing the reader to be distant from her. I would be curious to read more from this author because I think that she has a lot of really interesting ideas, but as it is, I'm not sure who I could recommend this book to. 

tevreads's review

4.0

Departing from the more inventive narrative form of her first work, ‘Gunk Baby’ by Jame Marina Lau provides a more deft social commentary on culture and place. The title lends itself to the Chinese art of ear-cleaning, an art passed down by the protagonist Leen’s mother. It’s fascinating how the shopping centre is used to depict a melting pot of consumerism, racism, violence and identity, Lau skilfully explores all of these issues in a fresh modern voice. It’s great to see an emerging younger Australian author like this, ‘Gunk Baby’ is the perfect book to recommend to a reader my age.

archytas's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 "I find I sometimes crave to be inconsequential physically, but simultaneously appreciated in energy. It is the Buddhist belief, anatman, or anattā, which speaks about the ‘non-self’. It suggests that the more the perception of self is rooted in the material, ‘solid’ objects – the name, the body, the interaction, the memory – the more we are entrapped in the relaying of impermanence. The more we become no-thing, the more we are able to experience life firsthand, unbiasedly. We stop relying on our exteriors to divulge to us, how we should treat ourselves."

 

There are lots of great lines in Gunk Baby, which also layers critiques of consumerism, alienation, wellness culture, working life and capitalism over a surrealist narrative set in a highly recognisable outer suburb and shopping mall. These characters, be they mall managers, rebelling workers, urban guerillas, drug dealers, wellness gurus or our slightly disconnected protagonist, all more or less fail to escape the central alienation of modern capitalism. Characters embrace or retaliate against KAG, a kind of Chinese Ikea, which promises minimalism while filling your house with ever exapanding goods, but on both paths they fail to meaningful connect with each other.

But while this is clever, it never really deeply engaged me: certainly not in the way Lau's debut Pink Mountain on Locust Island did. Whereas Pink Mountain fizzed with so much energy it was exhausting, Gunk Baby, imitating our protagonist, frequently lags so much it threatens tedium. The large number of interwoven plots/threads each moves slowly, adding to the sense of gradual entrapment. It's atmospheric, for sure, but not always fun to read. 

katyella's review against another edition

Thought I'd like this. I get the tone is intended as monotonous but feel like was done better in All The Names (Saramango) or Severance (Ma). Felt like some lines hit but a lot really dragged and was unbothered about the writing and the plot even as someone who is generally less plot focussed..

nicfromneptune's review

2.0

I enjoyed the writing but it took me so long to finish this because it just couldn’t keep me engaged. 2.5 ⭐️

sapphicreaderlucy's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Hyper-capitalist kooky dystopia with commentaries on mall culture, racial identity, the self care industry, architecture, and lifestyle philosophies. This book made me think critically about consumer culture and the lifestyle it creates for people. The writing was so well done especially with descriptions of architecture and technology. This book is perfect for people who enjoyed Animal Farm by George Orwell, but who would rather read an Asian women led, modern, cultural, kooky, capitalist commentary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Grief and Drug use

fendergender's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

3.0

oh my god the MONOTONY of the daily grind, the sleepy town, the daily drive being the only thing keeping you sane!
it's so crazy how leen ends up caught between the world of the cult-like revolutionaries and the seemingly well-off corporate managers- like girl you thought you won but you're just in a new kind of cage! especially towards the end of the book when her shared home slowly morphs into a Staged Branded Experience and every inanimate object gets referred to by it's product name....it's very unsettling, very reminiscent of certain aspects of horrorstor, even