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A review by sucreslibrary
Matrix by Lauren Groff
3.0
while this had flashes of brilliance that broke through, I mostly dreaded slogging through this book. the final day where I read 80 or so pages was a trial. it's a shame, because I do think this has a lot of interesting things to say, the writing just didn't engage me enough.
I do like how the author brought climate change and conservation to the forefront in smaller ways, such as describing the animals forced from their homes (and some driven to extinction) due to the expansion of the abbey. I don't agree with a female-only utopia, but can understand somewhat the author's desire for one. she talks of "subverting" the expectations one has when it comes to a person that runs a closed off utopia like the abbey, but I'm not sure how subverted any of that was other than that Marie is a woman.
Marie herself is a fascinating character, but I felt very removed from her. her switch to becoming devout and then an accomplished mystic were strange to me, and I wish I had a better understanding of her reasoning. there's great leaps of time that are skimmed over (we are covering 60+ years of Marie's life!) which only added to the detached feeling. I do like spending so much time with her when she's older and post-menopausal. there are many women in this work that are older and still accomplished and it was refreshing to read. unfortunately because there are so many women, many of them are not given rich interior lives (though this is possibly because the work is so focused on Marie, who herself has trouble with relating or imagining the lives of the people she rules over).
I did get lost with the sheer amount of characters and names that get mentioned. there are so many, and so many of them die, and it could be hard to keep track of them all. a few stand out by nature of being with Marie from the beginning, but a lot are introduced over the decades that appear only once or twice. I did quite enjoy the small section with the girl who aimed to rule the abbey herself, and only wish it had been longer and involved more mind games.
all in all, this is not my usual genre, but I can see a lot of the merit in this work. it just wasn't enough to engage me or make me excited to pick up the book to finish it.
I do like how the author brought climate change and conservation to the forefront in smaller ways, such as describing the animals forced from their homes (and some driven to extinction) due to the expansion of the abbey. I don't agree with a female-only utopia, but can understand somewhat the author's desire for one. she talks of "subverting" the expectations one has when it comes to a person that runs a closed off utopia like the abbey, but I'm not sure how subverted any of that was other than that Marie is a woman.
Marie herself is a fascinating character, but I felt very removed from her. her switch to becoming devout and then an accomplished mystic were strange to me, and I wish I had a better understanding of her reasoning. there's great leaps of time that are skimmed over (we are covering 60+ years of Marie's life!) which only added to the detached feeling. I do like spending so much time with her when she's older and post-menopausal. there are many women in this work that are older and still accomplished and it was refreshing to read. unfortunately because there are so many women, many of them are not given rich interior lives (though this is possibly because the work is so focused on Marie, who herself has trouble with relating or imagining the lives of the people she rules over).
I did get lost with the sheer amount of characters and names that get mentioned. there are so many, and so many of them die, and it could be hard to keep track of them all. a few stand out by nature of being with Marie from the beginning, but a lot are introduced over the decades that appear only once or twice. I did quite enjoy the small section with the girl who aimed to rule the abbey herself, and only wish it had been longer and involved more mind games.
all in all, this is not my usual genre, but I can see a lot of the merit in this work. it just wasn't enough to engage me or make me excited to pick up the book to finish it.