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horourke's reviews
78 reviews
The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood
3.5
The tale of a completely passive woman, floating through life merely allowing things to happen to her. She trudges through her job, friendships, and relationships as though she doesn’t care about any of them. Even her engagement comes about almost like an accident. Any time she comes close to discovering her own desires, she runs away - literally - and nothing is solved. Every character in this novel is unbelievably selfish, especially Duncan, the loser grad student she chooses (somewhat bafflingly) to have an affair with. She has the worst roommate in the world and even her married friends only care about themselves. It’s a wonder it took her so long to completely lose her mind, and even then she can’t muster up the nerve to do anything to change her circumstances.
In some ways, her friends represent the choices she has as a woman. She could be married and overrun with children, as Clara is; single, chaotic and pregnant like Ainsley; or single, virginal, and gainfully employed as her office-mates are. She outwardly despises all three options, and thus struggles with her engagement and the implications of becoming a wife. All this is further complicated by Ainsley’s obsession with femininity and the rejection of it. Her morals are complicated (and largely nonsensical), yet she pushes them on to Marian nonetheless.
Only in the final pages do we see Marian making decisions for herself, though at first they are largely symbolic. However, that is the style of Margaret Atwood - she excels in the symbolic, using fiction as a vehicle for her second-wave feminism.
Overall, an interesting read, with some points still salient in the 21st century. Mostly left me feeling glad I did not have to suffer through life as a woman in the ‘60s.
Penance by Eliza Clark
3.5
an ambitious novel narrated by a true opportunistic scumbag, Penance is full of teen angst, girlfailures, and girlfascists. I enjoyed the (somewhat rudimentary) commentary on the nature of true crime, but found the narrator a cheap avenue in which to explore this theme. I also wish we heard more of Dolly’s perspective and the details of that night. kinda shitty for the narrator to have so much buildup to … nothing.
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
5.0
One of the most profound works of fiction I’ve ever read. Nora making the comparison of WWI and its after effects to the AIDS crisis really struck me. Might say more later but wow
Rest and Be Thankful by Emma Glass
3.0
chapter titles were unnecessary and the writing felt very MFA, but overall a decent read. wish we knew more about the character’s life but I guess that’s the point of a short novella. really thought she would kill herself and was surprised by the ending when she didn’t
The Very Nice Box by Laura Blackett, Eve Gleichman
4.0
Extremely fun and creative. I loved how fast paced it was and easy to read. Gave me similar vibes to “I have some questions for you.”
Poor Deer by Claire Oshetsky
2.75
Prose was incredibly stilted at times. I typically don’t enjoy novels written from a child’s perspective and this was no different. Reminded me a lot of “The First Day of Spring” which I also disliked.
The switch between third and first person narration was jarring and awkward, and I still don’t understand why the whole thing was told as a story-within-a-story, with some stories not even actually happening. I feel like it would’ve been better if the accident with Agnes was obscured instead of plainly describe in the first few pages - there was no mystery to the rest of the book.
The switch between third and first person narration was jarring and awkward, and I still don’t understand why the whole thing was told as a story-within-a-story, with some stories not even actually happening. I feel like it would’ve been better if the accident with Agnes was obscured instead of plainly describe in the first few pages - there was no mystery to the rest of the book.
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark
4.0
I looove when the narrator of a novel is just a straight up piece of shit. Did not expect the twist either and thoroughly enjoyed Irina’s descent into madness.