The Mookse and the Gripes discussion
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Build Your House Around My Body
Women's Prizes
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2022 WP longlist - Build Your House Around my Body
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David wrote: "Did anyone else struggle with the orientalism in this?"A bit but I kept in mind that the author is Vietnamese.
Aren’t fortune tellers often mysterious? Have you finished the book? I want to say something about the grandmother, but it’s a spoiler.
Haven’t quite finished.
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Hugh wrote: "I am not at all surprised that David Mitchell liked it...."David Mitchell is my spirit guide through the book world ;)
Finished. This got really silly at the end with all the body swapping.What’s your theory about the grandmother, Wendy?
David wrote: "Finished. This got really silly at the end with all the body swapping."Yep, me too! I just couldn't get on with this one at all which is a shame as it was on my radar before the longlisting.
That she was (view spoiler)The comment from Hugh, David, and RC are why I questioned if it was “good” or not. I knew I thought it was a fun, spooky book, and deserves a place on WP, but I don’t expect to see it on Booker or even Costa, although who knows, there are a number of ghost stories out now so maybe it will make the Costa.
WndyJW wrote: "That she was [spoilers removed]The comment from Hugh, David, and RC are why I questioned if it was “good” or not. I knew I thought it was a fun, spooky book, and deserves a place on WP, but I don..."
It was the precise and perfect way that the timelines were woven together that impressed me most, but I enjoyed everything else about it too.
I read this in audio. The narrator was fine, but I thought the book would never end. It was too long. While at the end I appreciated how everything was intertwined, I did not at all enjoy the first 2/3's of the book, so by the time I it was fitting together, I'd lost interest. Winnie was indeed annoying. The doctor dude was ridiculous, as was the police captain. Binh was the character I enjoyed. I was fine with the mystical and folklore elements. Snakes are among my least favorite creatures. It is too bad that Winnie was glue character, as I would have liked the book better without her and her drunken nights at the bars. My review -- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
It’s funny to say, but I agreed Linda, the protagonist was the worst part of the book.
I actually feel the opposite. Winnie was the only character that rang true and I HATED the last 1/3 of the book.
Winnie is the only sad sack in literature I can remember liking.
David wrote: "I actually feel the opposite. Winnie was the only character that rang true and I HATED the last 1/3 of the book."Dog swapping's not your thing aye?
I kept imagining the theme music from the Benny Hill Show playing while they all kept swapping bodies with the dog.
David wrote: "I kept imagining the theme music from the Benny Hill Show playing while they all kept swapping bodies with the dog."Oh my goodness - I'm unwell and my chest hurts when I laugh - it was worth it though!
Don't think I've ever seen (or for that matter) heard of the Benny Hill Show, but I liked the body swapping - certainly not what I'd imagined had happened and made for a more pleasant ending. Winnie will do, I hope, as Binh instructed.
This is a reenactment of the ending of this book, featuring dog, bike, and magical realism: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zat9CRf...
Very good, David! My dad and uncle used to love Benny Hill.
David wrote: "That’s a classic!"It's also one of Tex Avery's last cartoons - as a swansong it's strong!
How did you see Robert’s link, David? It tell me it’s not viewable in my country. Cleveland and Chicago aren’t that far apart.
I googled it and found it on another website. Don’t tell NBC Universal.
I won’t tell NBC, I can’t because I don’t know what video was linked.
I knew you could keep a secret.
I’m particularly good at keeping information I am unaware of to myself.
We may have derailed this thread. For those who liked the ending of the book, what did you like about it?
I just thought the whole spooky body switching was fun. This would have been a good October book.
That's totally fair. I think I was taking it too seriously, so when it went off the rails I was disappointed. If I'd read it without knowing it had been nominated for a literary prize, I might have enjoyed it more.
Right. The positive things about literary prizes is they get people reading, which is helpful to the industry, and discussing which books should and shouldn’t be nominated, which is fun; the unintended negative is that books we like or might otherwise have enjoyed we judge more harshly and look for flaws because we are looking for ways in which other books were better.
I really liked this book (my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) and I think it deserves to make the shortlist. I disagree that the writing was overwrought; that egg simile is not good but I didn't find it to be representative of the writing throughout the rest of the novel (it definitely felt to me like a classic example of a writer trying too hard to show off on the first page). While there were a couple too many body swaps for me at the very end (no need for the dog), the ultimate purpose of the swaps worked well, I thought. And yes, it did take too long to fit together but was so satisfying once it did. If it helps, I don't think the author took all this entirely seriously - I got the sense she was having fun (e.g. the blatant call out to The Ring!).
That’s a fabulous review. I lived your comments on Winnie which were so illuminating. At some point in this thread it would be good to get someone’s summary as to how they saw the threads pulling together at the end as I feel like I probably missed some of it.
Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "That’s a fabulous review. I lived your comments on Winnie which were so illuminating. At some point in this thread it would be good to get someone’s summary as to how they saw the threads pulling..."
I'd also love to know others' interpretations. I don't think I worked out all of it.
Excellent review, Laura. I agreed with everything you said.
WndyJW wrote: "Excellent review, Laura. I agreed with everything you said."Thanks so much, Wendy!
This subject always reminds me of one of my favorite satiric sentences in literature. It's from "The Sympathizer" by Viet Thanh Nguyen and conveys a contempt for Orientalism in such a blithe and biting way. The narrator, a Vietnamese, is describing a venerated white American scholar of Asian Studies:
"He had hung an elaborate oriental rug on his wall, in lieu, I suppose, of an actual Oriental."