When Playing House appeared in 1973, Publishers Weekly hailed it, “A probing descent into madness that will fascinate the same ...
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reviews
May 05, 2010
Danielle
rated it: 
Alright, here's the thing: this was a sort of personel dare for me. When I saw a post on BookBlogs about how they were distributing review copies of Playing House, I was a bit hesitant. This is completly out of my comfort zone--hell, it's probably out of everybody's comfort zone. It's about an unnamed women, living in a haze of what was once real life after years of a slightly abusive, sexual relationship with her brother. The prose is hard to describe...a combination between childlike confusion
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Nov 07, 2009
Morris
rated it: 
Playing house is a book that is hard to describe. I read the synopsis of the book and had an idea what I was going to be reading about before I started. But, reading it, I realized it went a few steps beyond what I had expected. The subject matter is intense and dark at times. But your mind will be engaged the entire time you read this.
The main character is a woman that began having sex with her brother when she was younger. However, you do not feel sorry for her. In fact, she compar More...
The main character is a woman that began having sex with her brother when she was younger. However, you do not feel sorry for her. In fact, she compar More...
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Sep 28, 2009
Dixie
rated it: 
When I began this book I wasn't quite sure what to expect.
I knew it was about incest.
I quickly realized that I needed to put other thoughts aside to be able to fully grasp the story.
If you've ever read I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, or even to some extent, The Catcher In The Rye then you'll know what I'm talking about.
This novel is a first person narrative told by someone with a shattered psyche.
You hear the child and the woman's voices interwoven throughout th More...
I knew it was about incest.
I quickly realized that I needed to put other thoughts aside to be able to fully grasp the story.
If you've ever read I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, or even to some extent, The Catcher In The Rye then you'll know what I'm talking about.
This novel is a first person narrative told by someone with a shattered psyche.
You hear the child and the woman's voices interwoven throughout th More...
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(1 person liked it)
Sep 25, 2009
Sensitivemuse
rated it:
Playing House is about a woman who's had an incestious relationship with her brother when she was younger. At first, you'd think, she would struggle against this sort of thing. It's obviously not normal and it's certainly psychologically devestating. However, things starts to take a darker twist as she starts to accept this, and actually like it. As she grows older, and has different relationships with other men, she still has her mind on her brother and compares these men to her brother. As you
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Sep 02, 2009
Christine
rated it:
To be honest, I had not heard of this novel by Fredrica Wagman. I had run across it on a few sites since it is the 35th anniversary of it’s original release and it seemed so compelling, I decided to embark on the reading journey. I must say, it is truly a….disturbing book? This may be a harsh word but it is how I felt as I was reading it and for quite a while after I finished. The unnamed main character was involved in a incestuous relationship with her brother from a young age. This did no
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Nov 13, 2009
Greenfairylv
rated it: 
Its a older book I have never heard of and is celebrating its 35th anniversary. I knew this book was going to be about incest, but boy I was not prepared for what I was about to read. The story is told in first person by the victim of incest by her brother. We never learn her name. The characters are not named, besides "turtle", the main characters husband. And I guess there is really no need for their names.
This sick, disgusting book is written almost lyrically. It is almost lik More...
This sick, disgusting book is written almost lyrically. It is almost lik More...
Sep 30, 2009
Shellie (Layers of Thought)
rated it:
Synopsis:
This is a narration of a woman’s movement in and out of various stages of madness, linked to both choice and circumstance. The key factor in her descent is her incestuous relationship with her older brother. There is also a history of familial mental illness, and instability. It is a complex and multilayered tale where the main character tells of the many convoluted and morally questionable reasons why she has “lost her grip with reality”.
The story is told in the firs More...
Apr 21, 2010
Michelle
rated it:
"Warning - this book is NOT for the faint of heart or squeamish! Honestly, there were times where it was almost too much for me (and I read Lolita and Lady Chatterley's Lover with no problems whatsoever and spent two days wandering the Red Light district in Amsterdam and loved every minute of it). I found that the madness of the main character was so intense that I could only read a few pages at a time. However, I was equally disturbed and fascinated by the tumultuous mind of the heroine
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Mar 03, 2010
Erin
rated it:
Review published on www.luxuryreading.com on October 15, 2009
Sibling incest is forbidden because “impressionable children” having “passionate unions so all-encompassing and exclusive” will cause “life after the age of twelve [to:]…be a frenzy of nostalgia for those who have known the bliss of such transgression.” So says Phillip Roth in the Foreword of Playing House. Originally released in 1973, this tale of a woman’s insanity brought on by consensual incest as a child is both grip More...
Sibling incest is forbidden because “impressionable children” having “passionate unions so all-encompassing and exclusive” will cause “life after the age of twelve [to:]…be a frenzy of nostalgia for those who have known the bliss of such transgression.” So says Phillip Roth in the Foreword of Playing House. Originally released in 1973, this tale of a woman’s insanity brought on by consensual incest as a child is both grip More...
Dec 13, 2009
Mishel
rated it: 
I really thought I'd like this novel but I had such a hard time reading it. Incest is not a troubling subject matter for me to read about. But the layout of the story was very confusing for me. I realize it may very well be that way on purpose because of the nameless main character's state of mind. The effects of her sexual relationship with her brother consume her entire life. I appreciate the honesty in Wagman's writing but I found myself literally scratching my head after each page I read.
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Oct 16, 2009
Falling Off The Shelf
rated it:
This review was originally posted on my review blog : Falling Off The Shelf. I received this book for review from FSB Media, as compensation for my honest opinion.
This book was really confusing to me. I usually like to put into my own words what the book is about before I go on to say my feelings about it. I can't do that with this book. The only thing I can tell you is that this book disturbed me a great deal. I've read so many books in my short life, but I've never been as disturb More...
This book was really confusing to me. I usually like to put into my own words what the book is about before I go on to say my feelings about it. I can't do that with this book. The only thing I can tell you is that this book disturbed me a great deal. I've read so many books in my short life, but I've never been as disturb More...
Jun 07, 2008
Bob
rated it:
It's a febrile nightmare of a book, with no real narrative drive and no characters that I cared much about. The whole is suffused with an atmosphere of madness and despair. I suppose some people like that sort of thing.
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