so-soAs Anna Granite knows, "Every loneliness is a pinnacle". this truth shows itself through the the novel, as Justine and Dorothy's characters are fleshed out. It almost seems like the novel is all explanatory background info for the final scene, which could've stood as a short story on its own. Gaitskills singular skill in rendering prose and understanding the size and scope of very human personalities makes this book an easy page turner.
so-soSigh. Yangiharas powerful storytelling abilities make it easy to push through this 720 pg tomb of a novel. her treatment of the main character, Jude, does not. The sheer amount of suffering heaped on this poor character makes me way to cuddle and tell him all will be fine, but if I were to touch him he'd probably push me off anyway. come for the storytelling, stay for the masochism. I'd love to talk about this book w you, but too sad to recommend
pickweetzie bat is all 'surprise!' bright colors, large text, and YA genre aside. weetzie is so loveable, but the genie and the grandma under the sand roof-plus all the other, out of nowhere characters- make this book worth it. plus, a loving tribute to an old hometown for any former LA native
pickI fucking love you, CL. this book is perhaps one of the denser and tougher of hers, and I would not recommend it as a first CL to someone. still, reading is worth it- each sentence pounds, the way CL's usually do, and together the portrait of the viciously alive Joana is so full as to burst.
pickDillard's particular style and form meet each other beautifully in the sands where this book happens. in prose moving, mystical, & self aware, Dillard ponders those questions of time and human experience that plague us silly moderns- with enough self consciousness to make me trust her insights
