The Book Thread Book • Page 189

It’s really good. Obviously a bummer he couldn’t finish it, but I think it’s still worth reading.

 

Have you read Lispector before?

 

Nope

 

That should make for an interesting introduction. Not in a bad way, fyi. Just be prepared for something untraditional.

be sure to check out the following, maybe in this order (or not!) if you enjoy it:

The Passion According to G.H.
Hour of the Star
Near to the Wild Heart
An Apprenticeship, or The Book of Pleasures
Água Viva

I still need to read her others as everything she wrote is essential!

 

Hey Chorus fam. It’s my bday and there’s nothing I would love more than selling a few of my books today. You can get one here:

jonathankoven | Instagram | Linktree

 

happy birthday!

 

Happy Birthday Ooty!

 

I didn’t like Babel very much, but the premise of Kuang’s new book sounds fun. Has anybody started it yet?

 

It’s getting ROASTED in a lot of early reviews. Seems like all of the problems I had with Babel were amplified.

 

certainly not rushing to read it tbh

 

Hated Babel. Loved the premise but wont ever read another one of her books

 

I did enjoy The Poppy War when I first read it, but the more time that goes by, the less I like it tbh

 

What’s the issue with that author?

 

Not speaking for those here, but in other places it usually boils down to one of the following 4 points, or some combination of them all.

1. She's a woman
2. She started her career young
3. She's an Asian American
4. She's successful

That's the perfect recipe for a loud portion of the internet to hate her. Many other (male) authors are given a much longer leash by fans to find their footing and to overlook a book that might not be perfect. In Kuang's case, if each book isnt absolutely perfect people will tear it to shreds.

 

That's funny, because I almost never see criticism of her that falls in those categories.

I loved The Poppy War trilogy, but the grimdark nature definitely makes it hard to return to. Babel was pretty good, but to me didn't live up to the hype/praise it received because of how heavy-handed it ended up being. Like, it stops just short of breaking the fourth wall and going, "So, do you get that racism is bad yet?"

She writes as if she knows she's the smartest person in the room (because she IS incredibly intelligent and well-educated) and everyone else is too dumb to understand, so let's just make sure we drive home that point again and again. I've watched a few of her panels and interviews and she's very articulate. I still wish her all the success in the world, but after four books, I knew I could tap out.

And less about actual writing style, but I also have a problem with someone whose high school tuition cost more a year than I make in six months telling me how hard it is to be poor. It's pretty disingenuous.

 

This was my big problem with it too. It feels like it's written for the comments section that can't separate depiction from endorsement.

 

Babel was incredibly heavy-handed. A lot of it could boil down to colonialism = bad. I did like the magic system.

I also did not know she was 19 when she wrote The Poppy War, that's pretty crazy

 

I’d never really heard anything about the actual books, just the hype before the release. This latest one sounded interesting and was a pretty looking book so I picked it up. Don’t know when I’ll get to it

 

I've seen it often enough that it's stood out to me and others.

People complain that The Poppy Wars is too grimdark, but will also celebrate Joe Amercrombie, Mark Lawrence, John Gwynne, etc al no problem. Like you say, Babel is complained a lot about being too heavy handed in its themes, when the entire book is meant to be a takedown on imperialism, capitalism and how the educational institutions plays directly into it. Like that's the whole point of the book and what she intended to do. It's the equivalent of if people complained that Percival Everrett was too heavy handed in how he handled racism in James.

And honestly, in a genre that does have its issues with race and racism, and the glory days and most heralded books being extremely eurocentric, maybe you do need to be a little heavy handed at times.

I haven't gotten to Yellowface or her new one so I can't comment on those yet.

 

I liked yellowface but it stressed me out. Just because my greatest fear is like getting in trouble and I have nightmares where I get caught in a big lie and that's like the entire book and I was about to have an anxiety attack the entire time lmao. Haven't read anything else by them tho

 

I thought Kuang’s prose in Babel was good, but I found the characters and tonal shifts extremely frustrating, and yes, I recall also feeling like it was too heavy handed. It’s been a long time since I’ve read it so I don’t really remember more detail beyond that, but I definitely didn’t dislike it enough to bail or write off reading her new book - but nor did I enjoy it very much.

I finally finished Emperor of Gladness last night. I thought it was very good; quietly sad, yet warm, if not also hopeful. I really appreciate the trajectory it took. It’s the most novel-y book I’ve read in a while and I’d like to find something similar.

I think today I’m finally going to start Eimear McBride’s new one. The Lesser Bohemians is a favorite of mine, but I haven’t been in a rush to start A City Changes Its Face because most of my reading lately is done in bed and her prose isn’t exactly sleepy time material.

Finished Juvenilia by Hera Lindsay Bird. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this one as much as I did - it’s just fun, silly, stupid and often poignant poetry.

Owls and Other Fantasies by Mary Oliver was beautiful and I started Devotions as soon as I finished.

Also reading: Cruelty by Ai, Brute by Emily Skaja, Pink Elephant by Rachel McKibbens

 

Reading Emperor of Gladness right now. So different from On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, took me a bit to recalibrate. Now I’m very much enjoying it.

 

Because The Lesser Bohemians is one of my all time favorites, I decided to buy a physical copy of A City Changes Its Face. Instead of just ordering it online, I went into Barnes and Noble for the first time in years, and I cannot believe how packed full of people it was. The one by me is also just massive. It was kind of cool!

 

On the last 1/3 of the Stranger Beside Me and it's so creepy because her description of her conversations with Bundy talking about his innocence and his rationales for all the evidence is so chilling because it reminds me of some folks I've worked with and I'm like

 

Wasn't loving Heart-Shaped Box at first. Got like 120 pages in and set it aside to plow through Project Hail Mary. Just started it again and it seems to be picking up. Did not expect a My Chemical Romance mention.