Scan barcode
will_gowling's reviews
75 reviews
Private Rites by Julia Armfield
4.5
I started off disliking this quite a bit, and honestly have no idea what happened at the end, but somehow just got completely swept away by it? The idea of an apocalypse occurring when you're in the midst of a personal crisis, casually pulling your city into the sea as you attempt to deal with issues relating to sibling rivalries, grief, relationships, sex is just such a fascinating idea, and the imagery and writing that Armfield delivers this with is just stunning. It reminded me a lot of Sally Rooney's famous chapter in Beautiful World, Where Are You? where she writes about how beautiful it is that the world came to an end because we were all too busy loving each other too much - this is a novel that proves that, yes, Armageddon does look a lot like a personal crisis on a super-scale, but also that our ignorance to it can be both a traffic and beautiful thing. The creepy elements of the gothic and the occult were a fabulous little touch as well.
The Changeling by Thomas Middleton
3.5
Even though I didn't understand all of this and had to keep the Wikipedia page open in order to digest it all, this is actually incredibly gripping and the two interweaving plots are both rich in character and theme - love how it speaks about the relationship between inward sin and outward beauty - looking forward to talking about it in my seminar and classes this week!
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
3.75
Not going to write too much about this as I'm in the process of doing a presentation on it, but really was impressed with how utterly singular this felt - cannot imagine the breadth of imagination it must take to create such a boldly grotesque novel. Don't love the writing style (a little overly descriptive and lacking in emotion at times for me) but really did feel the tragedy of the novel, and even if it took me a few essays and articles to untangle exactly what I thought it was doing, once I figured that out I really liked it.
'My father and mother designed me this way. They achieved greater originality in some of their other projects.'
'My father and mother designed me this way. They achieved greater originality in some of their other projects.'
Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth
4.0
Wow. Picked this up mainly because I adored the cover, but was not expecting such a grisly character study. The book is packed with so much pain and anguish, at first conducted through a thrashing lightening rod of black comedy, until in its final act it all just comes spilling out in stunningly destructive splendor. Won’t forget this character and her miserable, wretched mind.
The Pride by Alexi Kaye Campbell
4.5
I'm surprised that I hadn't heard of this until literally today because honestly it feels like a quintessential queer text. Campbell's play, more than anything, depicts how that ugly strain of shame and self-hatred that has the potential to live within any queer person carries itself across years, generations and bodies, how it effects our relationships, our sex, and our loves. Both storylines are not only moving (and in the case of the 2008 one, very funny) but also feel so deliberate, and the weaving of their themes together never feels heavy-handed or obvious.
These characters, who bear the same names as each other, are most definitely lost souls, drawn between the desire for lustful, physical intimacy and genuine connection, and the ways in which sexual attitudes manifest as a result of these feelings of shame and self-hatred is fascinating. The final moment, where the 1950s Sylvia returns to the stage to deliver the very prophecy heard by Oliver in the play's opening scene 'It will be all right, it will be all right, it will be all right', genuinely gave me chills.
I think I needed this play a little bit. Something I had become so aware of this year was that from an early age, the feelings of queerness, which I hadn't even really unearthed yet, had already rooted in me this feeling of complete and utter loneliness. For a queer person, the search for love begins early because it feels so drearily impossible at that time, and it can be hard to go through your life always feeling like you were spoilt in some way. The world will never stop telling you that you were born wrong.
But love has many uses, and one of my favourites is its power to reveal. The Pride calls for honesty, and there is the sense that if Oliver (2008) can truly commit to honesty in his relationship, then maybe he can locate that sense of pride smothered from birth.
Beautiful stuff, really hit me at the right time.
These characters, who bear the same names as each other, are most definitely lost souls, drawn between the desire for lustful, physical intimacy and genuine connection, and the ways in which sexual attitudes manifest as a result of these feelings of shame and self-hatred is fascinating. The final moment, where the 1950s Sylvia returns to the stage to deliver the very prophecy heard by Oliver in the play's opening scene 'It will be all right, it will be all right, it will be all right', genuinely gave me chills.
I think I needed this play a little bit. Something I had become so aware of this year was that from an early age, the feelings of queerness, which I hadn't even really unearthed yet, had already rooted in me this feeling of complete and utter loneliness. For a queer person, the search for love begins early because it feels so drearily impossible at that time, and it can be hard to go through your life always feeling like you were spoilt in some way. The world will never stop telling you that you were born wrong.
But love has many uses, and one of my favourites is its power to reveal. The Pride calls for honesty, and there is the sense that if Oliver (2008) can truly commit to honesty in his relationship, then maybe he can locate that sense of pride smothered from birth.
Beautiful stuff, really hit me at the right time.
The Glow by Alistair McDowall
3.0
Not sure how much this play script worked for me. While I was entranced by the timey-wimey psychological weirdness of X and loved how in that story McDowell seemed determined to write something completely unstagable - it was so unbound by its form - here, I found myself wishing for something stronger to grasp onto, something that expanded beyond the basic concept of the story. Immortality, death, time, names, all good starting points, but I wanted more.