E.H.’s review of In the Dream House > Likes and Comments
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ancientreader wrote: "I've been avoiding this book since the first time it was recommended to me, and on a number of occasions since. I think the streak will continue unbroken.
Re: The Book Review Is Over. Isn't one always and inevitably an unreliable narrator of one's own life? (Aren't all narratives in some sense unreliable?)"
It's a lot, as books go. The writing is interesting, but I'm not sure I would recommend it, honestly.
About being an unreliable narrator...there's a weird tension between complaining that it's hard to get people to believe what happened to you was abuse and foregrounding that you are somehow an unreliable narrator of your own life. I feel like it's supposed to be a reminder of the effects of being gaslit, but it also makes one look at the text and wonder what you were unreliable about...
After more thought: it just feels like a literary move ("look, some of this might not be right") vs a "I am making an archival record for history" move. Not that archives are necessarily reliable, but...I don't know. Like obviously I didn't get an MFA from Iowa, but...
E.H. wrote: "After more thought: it just feels like a literary move ("look, some of this might not be right") vs a "I am making an archival record for history" move. Not that archives are necessarily reliable, ..."
Well, I've edited a fair amount of Iowa-ish fiction but read very little of it for pleasure. 'Nuff said, probably.
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ancientreader wrote: "I've been avoiding this book since the first time it was recommended to me, and on a number of occasions since. I think the streak will continue unbroken.Re: The Book Review Is Over. Isn't one always and inevitably an unreliable narrator of one's own life? (Aren't all narratives in some sense unreliable?)"
It's a lot, as books go. The writing is interesting, but I'm not sure I would recommend it, honestly.
About being an unreliable narrator...there's a weird tension between complaining that it's hard to get people to believe what happened to you was abuse and foregrounding that you are somehow an unreliable narrator of your own life. I feel like it's supposed to be a reminder of the effects of being gaslit, but it also makes one look at the text and wonder what you were unreliable about...
After more thought: it just feels like a literary move ("look, some of this might not be right") vs a "I am making an archival record for history" move. Not that archives are necessarily reliable, but...I don't know. Like obviously I didn't get an MFA from Iowa, but...
E.H. wrote: "After more thought: it just feels like a literary move ("look, some of this might not be right") vs a "I am making an archival record for history" move. Not that archives are necessarily reliable, ..."Well, I've edited a fair amount of Iowa-ish fiction but read very little of it for pleasure. 'Nuff said, probably.
Re: The Book Review Is Over. Isn't one always and inevitably an unreliable narrator of one's own life? (Aren't all narratives in some sense unreliable?)