Is there any better way to hot girl summer than read devastating French literature? If title and cover aren’t enough, consider the author:
Simone de BeIs there any better way to hot girl summer than read devastating French literature? If title and cover aren’t enough, consider the author:
Simone de Beauvoir epitomized the French bourgeoisie, was a brilliant student at the Sorbonne, became a famous controversial feminist, and contributed to the discussion of women’s problems as a prolific writer of novels, essays, biographies, autobiographies, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and social issues.
Worth a deep dive, she is best known for her trailblazing work in feminist philosophy and was not without scandal. Beauvoir never married, had no children, and maintained a prominent open relationship with Jean Paul Sartre, another famous French philosopher.
At times reading *The Woman Destroyed* felt like an inside look at Beauvoir’s private diary, infused with tidbits from lives led and breathtaking insights into universal truths of the human condition.
Published in 1967 when Beauvoir was 59, the book is divided into 3 short stories, all vignettes of women past their first youth and wrestling with lives that haven’t turned out the way they expected, moments of upheaval, and transition.
Her writing transcends time and brings up the age old question, can you separate the art from the artist?
“My overflowing leisure handed me the world and at the same time prevented me from seeing it. Just as the sun, filtering through the closed venetian blinds on a hot afternoon, makes the whole magnificence of summer blaze in my mind; whereas if I face its direct harsh glare it blinds me.”
“It was an odd experience, this bringing to life of pages born of my pen and forgotten. From time to time they interested me—they surprised me as much as if someone else had written them; yet I recognized the vocabulary, the shape of the sentences, the drive, the elliptical forms, the mannerisms. These pages were soaked through and through with my self— there was a sickening intimacy about it, like the smell of a bedroom in which one has been shut up too long.”...more
I actually kind of loved this, even though I REALLY didn't like Taddeo's nonfiction Three Women.
Brutal, raw and urgent, this book wants to scandalize I actually kind of loved this, even though I REALLY didn't like Taddeo's nonfiction Three Women.
Brutal, raw and urgent, this book wants to scandalize you with unadulterated depravity. It is disturbing because of how real we all know it is—an unflinching look at human nature.
"May you not go around the world looking to fill what you fear you lack with the flesh of another human being. That’s part of what this story is for.”
“One time on an island I swam in a green lagoon and saw through the clearness of the water the simple fact of my limbs. I watched the purple, red, and blue fish moving around my body and I paddled to keep myself afloat for a long time. Afterward, I lay down on the sand and concentrated on the warming my kneecaps and my shoulders. I can count moments like that on my hands. My dream is for you to have many such moments, so many that you notice only the times you slip into your own brain and recognize those instances for the traps that they are.”
“She said women are considered strong these days only if they didn’t talk about things they loved that didn’t love them, if they didn’t get hurt or allow themselves to be occasionally humiliated at their own hands, when, really, strength was being unashamed to want what you want.”...more
**UPDATE: Knocking it down a star after giving it some breathing room. Way over hyped and very cringe. Felt salacious/scandalous for the sake of atten**UPDATE: Knocking it down a star after giving it some breathing room. Way over hyped and very cringe. Felt salacious/scandalous for the sake of attention / "social commentary." Pass.**
A dark, modern version of Lolita. In fact, Nabakov is referenced frequently throughout, and the titular name even comes from him (see below).
If you had the brass to make it through the entirety of Lisa Taddeo's Three Women, you'll find many similar points in Russell's book paralleling a true version of a teacher/student "love" story.
Grotesque at times, towards the end I just wanted it to be over. Still, I completed it in one weekend.
Come and be worshipped, come and be caressed. My Dark Vanessa, crimson-barred, my blest My Admirable butterfly! Explain How could you, in the gloam of Lilac Lane, Have let uncouth, hysterical John Shade Blubber your face, and ear, and shoulder blade?
Season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale was a bit of a chore, torture porn can only go so far and the repeated cycles2.5 rounded up ... because ... nostalgia?
Season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale was a bit of a chore, torture porn can only go so far and the repeated cycles were exhausting.
Similarly—this book feels superfluous. Did we need a sequel? We wanted one, but oh be careful what you wish for.
It was a quick read, even if by the end I was just trying to get it over with. Eye roll moments galore.
If I didn't know it was the same author, I would have guessed this book was fan-fiction.
Much of it was based off the Hulu screen adaptation, making it hard to tell what was Atwood, and what was the show. She must be a huge fan. I can't imagine trying to understand this book WITHOUT having seen the show, in fact, if the show hadn't been made, I guarantee there wouldn't have been a book. Almost feels like Atwood was trying to cash in on a moment, and while I can't blame her, it definitely took the spark and originality out of the writing.
A good example of art imitating art? Maybe my expectations were too high....more
*The consequences of living in a world built around male data can be deadly.*
From safety features in caEvery woman needs to read this book. Full stop.
*The consequences of living in a world built around male data can be deadly.*
From safety features in cars, to medicinal doses and typical signs of a heart attack—all data is by default based on men and the average male physique.
Criado Perez does an excellent job addressing the male cultural bias, delineating the data gap in our male centric world, and tackling the myth of meritocracy.
Fast and furious, Bangkok sex trade/American sniper version.
Almost as good as the first Livia Lone book, The Night Trade continues Lone's hunt for theFast and furious, Bangkok sex trade/American sniper version.
Almost as good as the first Livia Lone book, The Night Trade continues Lone's hunt for the men who trafficked her as a young child. Dox, a lovable former Marine sniper, is a welcome addition.
This series is officially my new obsession, and I'm currently reading the third book, The Killer Collective.
At this rate, I feel like I may have to read every single one of Barry Eisler's books. After reading his Wikipedia page, I can see how his personal character and life experiences bleed through into his books. This snippet alone reminds me of several elements in the Livia Lone series:
"After completing law school, Eisler joined the CIA, where he trained for three years afterward and held a covert position with the Directorate of Operations. In 1992, he resigned after becoming disillusioned with the bureaucracy and joined the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges. In 1994, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to work for the firm's technology licensing division, then left to work in Japan for Matsushita."...more
Have a strong desire to take a shower after reading this book—and feel almost like a pervert-voyeur-sicko for bUgh. Dirty, sickening ... entertaining?
Have a strong desire to take a shower after reading this book—and feel almost like a pervert-voyeur-sicko for being so engrossed in it for the past five hours.
🤢
The ending is almost an insult to the reader, major eye rolls.
🙄
***UPDATE: Will NOT be continuing this series.***
Overall Summary: Like watching a train wreck, hard to look away but you still feel guilty about it.
(Basically, the entire book requires you to leave logic at the door. For an epic spoiler quiz, do check out Leah Bayer's review.)...more
*Morbidly entertaining privileged white girl ennui.* 😴💊 Excellent for anyone who is passionate about sleep, or has dabbled in sleep as therapy for life.*Morbidly entertaining privileged white girl ennui.* 😴💊 Excellent for anyone who is passionate about sleep, or has dabbled in sleep as therapy for life.
"There was a fine mathematics for how to mete out sedation. The goal for most days was to get to a point where I could drift off easily, and come to without being startled. My thoughts were banal. My pulse was casual. Only the coffee made my heart work a bit harder. Caffeine was my exercise. It catalyzed my anxiety so that I could crash and sleep again."
This book is a literary train wreck. It grabs your attention and even though you should look away your gaze lingers. By the end, you feel guilty for your interest and quickly turn away/finish the book.
The first 3/4ths HAD me—scarily relatable. Last quarter dragged as what was at first mildly humorous (/tragic) behavior continued on ... and on.
Could have been about 50-100 pages shorter, but still an entertaining “popcorn” read. /Listen, it would have been extremely taxing to read this one.
The terrible psychiatrist (Dr. Tuttle) was probably my favorite character—this book provides an amusing (/borderline depressing?) presentation of mental health and prescription drug abuse.
"Ativan would be nice, I thought. And strangely I was craving lithium, too. And Seroquel. A few hours of drooling and nausea sounded like cleansing torture before hitting the sleep hard—on Ambien, Percocet, one stray Vicodin I'd been sitting on."
Finally, the ending combines 9/11 in an uncomfortable way:
"There she is, a human being, diving into the unknown, and she is wide awake."
I went in knowing only the basics, a) I loved the title, and b) it’s a cult feminist classic. Surprisingly funny, Chris Kraus explores her psycho-sexuI went in knowing only the basics, a) I loved the title, and b) it’s a cult feminist classic. Surprisingly funny, Chris Kraus explores her psycho-sexual obsession with the eponymous “Dick” by crafting her own brand of “confessional literature” she dubbed “lonely girl phenomenology.”
Maybe it’s because I’m also pushing 40, or maybe it’s because I had a somewhat similar situationship (to some extent) once upon a time. Although not entirely one-sided, there is no denying the mega load of cringe I poured into passionate emails to someone I was more enamored with as an idea, rather than an actual person.
To love or crush from afar can be a trip, an emotional rollercoaster, and when given enough time can take over your headspace and ignite extensive existential introspection. It’s also much easier to project onto an infatuation from a distance, as Kraus documents in *I Love Dick.*
Uniquely written it is a disjointed epistolary novel with autofiction elements blurring the lines of fiction, essay, and memoir. Kraus is her own antiheroine, evolving through self aware revelations hard won from an intense parasocial relationship.
A story of identity and finding oneself whether it’s within or without a relationship, *I Love Dick* is a complicated, multilayered deep dive on female obsessiveness and social place. Occasionally beautiful, difficult and uncomfortable often, Kraus called it part rom-com, part anthropological case study.
At times, it left me gasping—and I’m sure part of the reason I enjoyed it was due to my ability to commiserate. Controversial and polarizing, you'll either love it or hate it.
*Synopsis*
When Chris Kraus, an unsuccessful artist pushing 40, spends an evening with a rogue academic named Dick, she falls madly and inexplicably in love, enlisting her husband in her haunted pursuit. Dick proposes a kind of game between them, but when he fails to answer their letters Chris continues alone, transforming an adolescent infatuation into a new form of philosophy.
A literary sensation when it was first published in 1997, it is widely considered to be the most important feminist novel of the past two decades.
"'I'm always this color," I said. 'Because I used to be made of stone.'"
In general, I am not a big fMasterful, feminist retelling of a Greek myth.
"'I'm always this color," I said. 'Because I used to be made of stone.'"
In general, I am not a big fan of short stories. This book is an exception to the rule.
Circe and Song of Achilles were so achingly beautiful I wish I could read them both again for the first time—they were also two of my favorite books of 2018. Because of those two books, I will read anything that Madeline Miller ever writes.
Clocking in at 29 pages, this novella packs a powerful punch. Told from the perspective of Galatea, the stone statue carved by the sculptor Pygmalion and brought to life by Aphrodite, the main theme explores women as objects.
Perfect for a short reading window, this tale will leave you ready to fight the patriarchy. ...more
After closing out 2018 with a hefty amount of nonfiction, I was looking for a fun in-between book as a palate cleansMy first book and review of 2019!
After closing out 2018 with a hefty amount of nonfiction, I was looking for a fun in-between book as a palate cleanser.
The Other Woman is an entertaining "popcorn thriller" — not flawless, but super fun and a quick 300 pages. Pammie/Pamela was a great "villain" and I was mostly (/almost) surprised by the ending, though I had begun to suspect things were not as they seemed.
For some reason I've been enjoying irritating books lately, and some of the characters (/plot line) in this book are the perfect dash of vitriol.
“It’s Lagos noir—pulpy, peppery and sinister, served up in a comic deadpan." —PARUL SEHGAL, NEW YORK TIMES
A super quick read, thatNigerian Femme Fatale
“It’s Lagos noir—pulpy, peppery and sinister, served up in a comic deadpan." —PARUL SEHGAL, NEW YORK TIMES
A super quick read, that cuts right to the heart. How far can sister love go?
I'm *kind of* obsessed with sister books, and this one was extremely unique.
It reminded me of the TV show Scream Queens ... except set in Nigeria. A mix of drama/comedy/horror/thriller, this is a fun read. Loved the inclusion of social media and the unapologetic, guilt free (?) approach to murder.
“The most loving parents and relatives commit murder with smiles on their faces. They force us to destroy the person we really are: a subtle kind of murder.”
“It takes a whole lot longer to dispose of a body than to dispose of a soul, especially if you don’t want to leave any evidence of foul play.”...more
“I left my smiles and happy laughter at home. I’m not a woman; I’m a man. I’m a man with a woman’s face. I'm a woman with a maConvoluted. Relatable.
—
“I left my smiles and happy laughter at home. I’m not a woman; I’m a man. I’m a man with a woman’s face. I'm a woman with a man’s mind. Everybody says so.”
—
Not for the faint of heart, this book makes you work for it. You have to be on your toes to keep up, and suspend logistics at the door.
Beyond the mere words lies a greater truth and sadness permeating from reality into the multiverse of imagination.
Russ deftly masticates on the implications of being man or woman, the repercussions transcending into the collective.
This book is as much a relevant commentary on the social norms of the 1970s as it is 2019.
What is identity and how does sex shape our perception of the world, each other?
Often infuriating, Russ strikes a chord as she needles out ingrained cultural limitations tied to “males” and “females.”
Days after finishing this book, I’m still thinking about it. Worth an investigation.
[Edit: 17 days later, and moments of intensity still surface in revery of this unique novella. Nights spent reading till the early hours The Female Man, not wasted.]
*** “There was a very nice boy once who said, ‘Don’t worry, Laura. I know you're really very sweet and gentle underneath.’”
*** “I am a telephone pole, a Martian, a rose-bed, a tree, a floor lamp, a camera, a scarecrow. I’m not a woman.”
*** “When I say Them and Us I mean of course the Haves and the Have-nots, the two sides, there are always two sides, aren’t there? ‘I mean the men and the women.’”
*** “You don’t want me to lose my soul; you only want what everybody wants, things to go your way; you want a devoted helpmeet, a self-sacrificing mother, a hot chick, a darling daughter, women to look at, women to laugh at, women to come to for comfort, women to wash your floors and buy your groceries and cook your food and keep your children out of your hair, to work when you need the money and stay home when you don’t women to be enemies when you want a good fight, women who are sexy when you want a good lay, women who don’t complain, women who don’t nag or push, women who don’t hate you really, women who know their job, and above all—women who lose.”...more
Wow. Not something I’d normally gravitate toward, but completely wonderful and amazing.
My word! So sweet!!
In some ways it reminds of The Curious InciWow. Not something I’d normally gravitate toward, but completely wonderful and amazing.
My word! So sweet!!
In some ways it reminds of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and one of the reveals was very similar to a reveal from The Woman in the Window.
Eleanor is a very special character, and there is definitely a heartfelt journey here. Only teared up about 5-8 times!
TLDR: Quirky and Endearing
**2020 Update** Almost 2 years later and I still find myself thinking about and recommending this book to people. Might have to revisit it one of these days. ...more
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