omg please tell me what you thought! I felt like there was a lump in my throat the whole way through - but also, I was laughing out loud? It captured that blend of the banal and the profound, and how they co-exist in such ridiculous proximity in our lives. I kept thinking about classical theatre tropes - how comedy and tragedy are so close to one another. And the role of 'The Fool', a character who seems comic, but in fact sheds light on the truth of situations. It also felt like a collective feminine exhale. Sure, it was very raunchy in parts, but I think it reads as more shocking because we're not used to see women's sexuality so explicitly written on the page, especially where it doesn't concern men (sex between women, self-pleasure).
It was certainly a roller coaster, and my sympathy (or lack thereof) for the narrator waxed and waned as the story continued. The tension with Davey was excruciating! To me, the book deserves a place in the canon of literature on women in midlife. Have you read the memoir More? A good pairing in my opinion!
I think we are in the era of the Unlikeable Female Protagonist! For me, the intense subjectivity of the story made it hard to feel like I had any true sense of the other characters. It was like looking at them through a fisheye lens - I couldn't really make sense of their proportions, and I wondered if I met them in real life if they'd bear any resemblance to how I saw them through her eyes. I found the overall effect fascinating and disorienting.
this is influencing me to give into the All Fours hype
join us
I read All Fours! It requires a massive book club session!
omg please tell me what you thought! I felt like there was a lump in my throat the whole way through - but also, I was laughing out loud? It captured that blend of the banal and the profound, and how they co-exist in such ridiculous proximity in our lives. I kept thinking about classical theatre tropes - how comedy and tragedy are so close to one another. And the role of 'The Fool', a character who seems comic, but in fact sheds light on the truth of situations. It also felt like a collective feminine exhale. Sure, it was very raunchy in parts, but I think it reads as more shocking because we're not used to see women's sexuality so explicitly written on the page, especially where it doesn't concern men (sex between women, self-pleasure).
It was certainly a roller coaster, and my sympathy (or lack thereof) for the narrator waxed and waned as the story continued. The tension with Davey was excruciating! To me, the book deserves a place in the canon of literature on women in midlife. Have you read the memoir More? A good pairing in my opinion!
And no I haven't read More! I'll put it on the list. Thank you
I think we are in the era of the Unlikeable Female Protagonist! For me, the intense subjectivity of the story made it hard to feel like I had any true sense of the other characters. It was like looking at them through a fisheye lens - I couldn't really make sense of their proportions, and I wondered if I met them in real life if they'd bear any resemblance to how I saw them through her eyes. I found the overall effect fascinating and disorienting.
I haven’t read into it yet but it would be interesting to explore whether Miranda July considered any part of the book autobiographical…