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Greek Lessons by Han Kang
“The lit fuse of the chilly explosive primed in her heart is no more. The interior of her mouth is as empty as the veins through which the blood no longer flows, it is as empty as a lift shaft where the lift has ceased to operate.” In a clinically detached prose Han Kang examines…
3.5 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, ambivalent mood, belonging, books about writers, cold tone, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), disabilities, divorce/separations, female authors, Germany, Greek Lessons, GRIEF, Han Kang, introspective, Korea, korean author, language, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, MEMORY, mental health, otherness, psychological, published in 2011, read in 2023, teachers, the body, the female malaise, unnamed characters -
Idol, Burning by Rin Usami
“Everything about him was precious. When it came to my oshi, I wanted to offer him everything I had.” Rin Usami’s Idol, Burning gives readers insight into fandom culture and celebrity worship through the lens of Akari, a high-school student whose thoughts are always on Masaki Ueno, her oshi, a former child actor who is…
1st pov, 2.5 STARS, adolescence, Adult, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, ANGST, anxiety, boybands, bullying, cold tone, coming of age, Contemporary, DEPRESSION, desire, ennui, entertainment industry, fandom culture, female authors, feverish, HIGH SCHOOL, Idol Burning, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, LITERARY FICTION, musicians, navel gazing, published in 2020, read in 2023, Rin Usami, social media, subject over characters/story, the body, the female malaise, TRANSLATED FICTION -
The Symmetry of Fish by Su Cho
I will admit that my motivations to read The Symmetry of Fish were rather superficial: I thought the cover design was stunning and the title itself intrigued me. In the last few months, I have been making an effort to read more contemporary poetry and so far I can safely say that I love Ada…
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Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi
“Inside of me, there’s another person, with a form all his own, moving around as he pleases. It’s like my own body has become foreign to me.” The premise for Diary of a Void promised a ‘surreal and wryly humorous cultural critique’ and I am afraid that while the commentary within this novel is fairly…
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Caucasia by Danzy Senna
“It’s funny. When you leave your home and wander really far, you always think, ‘I want to go home.’ But then you come home, and of course it’s not the same. You can’t live with it, you can’t live away from it. And it seems like from then on there’s always this yearning for some…
1970s, 1980s, 1st pov, 5 STARS, ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE, activism, Adult, ALIENATION, ambivalent mood, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, atmospheric, beautiful prose, belonging, bildungsroman, Black & Black heritage authors, Booklr, BOSTON, bullying, California, CHILDHOOD, class, coming of age, Danzy Senna, desire, divorce/separations, elementary school, family, favourite authors, female authors, gay side characters, girlhood, growing up, HISTORICAL FICTION, i don’t think happiness is for me, identity, introspective, it’s about the *yearning*, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, Massachusetts, middle school, mothers & daughters, new hampshire, otherness, paranoia, passing, PRIVILEGE, psychological, published in 1998, queer side characters, queer subtext, queer undercurrents, RACE, re-reads, read in 2021, read in 2022, read in 2023, road trip, school setting, SEXUALITY, SISTERS, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, strong sense of place, the body, the female malaise, toxic relationships, YOUNG ADULT -
Symptomatic by Danzy Senna
“Every day in this new city I was trying to live in the purity of the present, free from context. Contexts, I knew, were dangerous: Once you put them into the picture, they took over.” As with her latest novel New People, Symptomatic presents its readers with a claustrophobic and disquieting narrative that becomes increasingly…
1990s, 1st pov, 20th century, 4 STARS, Adult, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, America, American, cold tone, colorism, Contemporary, Danzy Senna, dark, domestic thriller, doubles, existentialism, favourite authors, female authors, female doubles, feverish, grotesque, hallucinations, illness, introspective, jealousy, journalism, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, madness, mental health, MYSTERY, NEW YORK, obsession, office, passing, psychological, published in 2004, RACE, re-reads, read in 2021, read in 2022, stalking, surreal, Symptomatic, terrific prose, the body, the female malaise, toxic relationships, unnamed narrator, work culture
luce [is reading] 