This Book Was Not What I Was Expecting
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- Though it's presented as a spy thriller this novel is about so much more including Neanderthals, Joan Crawford, political ideologies and the French countryside. Click ‘Show More’ for info.
--------------------
Join my bookclub: / thelonesomereaderbookclub
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
uk.bookshop.or...
--------------------
Get in touch
Book Blog: lonesomereader....
Twitter: / lonesomereader
Instagram: / lonesomereader
Facebook: tinyurl.com/hfk...
Goodreads: tinyurl.com/h8u...
LetterBoxd: letterboxd.com...
Tiktok: / lonesomereader
Email: lonesomereader@gmail.com
Im 100 pages from the end and so bored. She just compared feet squishing in mud to "overlubricated sex." 🙄 I have not been endeared to the writing style or characters. It might end up getting 1 star from me.
I agree with you…
You have the best 'traumatised by a book' face I've ever seen! Creation Lake was pretty much exactly what I expected. It's great writing, and no redeemable characters whatsoever!
😂
I was one of the book club readers who felt the point of this book was a bit unclear with the two halves not quite coming together for me. I felt it was a bit Emperors New Clothes and I was trying to see something that wasn't there.
I’m reading this book and struggling to finish it. My opinion is that Booker dropped the ball with this one…
It's worth trying to carry on to the end I think as several people in my book club thought about DNFing it but said they were ultimately glad to finish it. It's also been long listed for the National Book Award in America so it seems to be a book prize darling
In my opinion, they should have picked Enlightenment.
Your mention of Sadie, looking at the night sky made me think of this lyric from Billy Bragg’s A New England:
“I saw two shooting stars last night
I wished on them, but they were only satellites
It's wrong to wish on space hardware
I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care.”
I am about 100 pages in and don't know what I think. I don't love it but don't hate it. I'm just not gripped. I will keep going!
I'm reading it now. I like new structure, etc. but I'm 200 pages in and having a hard time caring what happens next.
Yes. It lacked a thematic center. Yes the end fizzled out. yet. She gave us this Sadie Smith character. Who I'll always equate with Becky Sharpe, Lady Eustace, etc., in my head.
I wouldn't be mad if it won. But I'm still kinda rooting for James.
I think the publisher did this book a real disservice by marketing it as a thriller. I did like the book, but I really had to take a minute to adjust my expectations. I found it more comic than thrilling, really. Sadie was such an idiot and I laughed at her throughout. I've been pondering how this book shifts in meaning if perhaps Sadie is viewed as an unreliable narrator, which she almost certainly was. There's a lot to ponder in this book, and that's why I loved it.
I still have no idea what this book was trying to say. I think I will re read it before the winner announcement.
I felt for you here trying to tie down this very unusual book, like your book club member I am still not sure what the main message of the book is but I quite agree that it probably does not matter. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel despite being slightly mystified by it, by the end and after some reflection I felt it well deserved its place on the Booker list as it is so unusual and really quite unique. I also felt despite some quite dark undertones it was frequently quite witty, the comment about the age of the French man and position of his belt was one that bought a smile to my face too as it is quite a truism! Thanks for the review.
Yes, a really engaging read! Glad you felt similar.
About what you said about Sadie enjoying having the upper hand in situations: I went to an event with Rachel Kushner this week and she said that Sadie likes to think she’s in a French film noir movie, but she isn’t of course 😂.
Haha! Yes, it’s very much like Sadie believes she’s in a film but she’s not and she isn’t good at the simulation - she’s just ruthless.
This is a good book club book because it generates a lot of conversation as people try to figure out the point of it.
Definitely! I’ve almost enjoyed the chat more than reading the novel itself. 😄
I liked the novel. The commune ostensibly wants to undo some of the ills of modern humanity (though it ends up as corrupt and disorganized as anything else) but maybe humanity itself was the mistake. Maybe the evolutionary accident that ensured our survival over neanderthals was where things went wrong. Except Bruno was wrong too and early homo sapiens actually weren’t all that bad.
Another wonderful video.
Thank you! 😊
💙
Hi Eric, I’m listening to Creation Lake and I’m experiencing it as satire?? Am I reading it wrong?
I was watching Who Do You Think You Are on BBC iPlayer. It was the episode with Olly Muirs. I was thinking of you as his father’s family came from Latina.
I don't think I'll attempt this one. Thank you.
Maybe Plato's description of the cave-dwellers in The Republic wasn't meant as a parable? What if they really were trogs?
It sounds like my kind of book. Thanks
Your excellent and fair appraisal confirms my response at page 142 of Creation Lake.
😊📚
A good review for a difficult book. Also like odays tee shirt. Robyn (a kiwi)
Thanks! 😊
Sounds a fascinating book, about infiltrating communes.