Once again Reid has placed us inside the mind of a fascinating unreliable narrator. Leaving more to the imagination than his previous novels, I think he's perfecting his personal brand of nuance and letting things sit unanswered, uncertain.
Lovely little book that, as others have mentioned, illustrates the mythologizing of our parents at a young age. I hate to use the phrase 'coming-of-age', but M's shift in perspective of her parents' lives and the world around her is a beautiful, melancholy realization.
All the saccharine platitudes start wearing on you about a third of the way in.
A real treat for fans of the gothic tradition and weird fiction. Truly a slow burn with excellent reward in the third act.
This emotive, meditative collection of pieces center on the color white, a woman's relationship with a family tragedy and its aftermath, and inhabiting the space of being in an unfamiliar place with her own unfamiliar self. Sparse and beautiful, I recommend for anyone who is a fan of more abstract takes on the idea of the novel.
Nothing could have prepared me for this book. It's singularly heart-wrenching, tragic, hilarious and horrifying, somehow all at once. I look forward to whatever twisted misunderstood characters Murata may share with us in the future.
Intense, brutal, heart wrenching and rich storytelling. I can't believe I've never read anything by this author before. Beautifully flawed characters and sympathetic antagonists. The only reason I couldn't give it five stars is because I'm a little too squeamish for the graphic, violent, and bloody nature of several scenes. That being said, I think most of it was absolutely, if not necessary, enriching to the story.
This is a lovely little book. Through her prose it is clear that the author is also a poet, and her relationship to nature is through her poet's eyes as well. Criticisms of these stories about being juvenile and clumsy nature writing may be missing the point--her treatment of her childhood and life stories intertwine with her admiration of the natural world, not through a naturalist's lens but through a lens of awe and wonder. This adoration ranges from childlike innocence to the somber respect of the harsh and sometimes cruel nature of both wild and human nature.
