The Piano Teacher | 
so-soOne of the more disturbing stories of a mother-daughter relationship I‘ve read, and an intense account of a woman‘s self-destruction. It was a bit too much for me at times, but I do admire Jelinek‘s bold approach. I‘d still like to see the film at some point.
#VolumesAndVocals
Day 4. Shivers
Per Goodreads: “The Piano Teacher is a shocking, searing and aching portrait of a woman bound between a repressive society and her darkest desires.”
Definitely felt like this fit the bill for “shivers”. Erika, the piano teacher definitely has *issues*, and watching everything unfold in this novel made me shiver. The synopsis on Goodreads did not prepare me for it at all.
#Shiver
pickThis book is tough to read. It will not appeal to most. It takes all the wounds and injuries we inflict on each other in the name of love & presents them as a physical reality. Erika Kohut is a possession. She has associated love with submission and pain. In the hands of a competent Dom, she would have blossomed. Often, in our desperate need for a connection, we end up repelling others. Such a sad book. ⚠️ Self-harm, violence 212/1,001 #1001Books
pickA love story completely without catharsis of any kind, for anyone involved. Two people trying desperately to break out of their loneliness, both thrust violently back into it. Human connection and desperate life-urge both brutally thwarted by the sheer crossedness of the two people's purposes, the sheer depth of their mutual misapprehension. I'm stoned, sure, but this book is brilliant. I'm off to go cry forever now.
"Klemmer, in the gray zone of his immense anger, is looking for someone who won‘t contradict him—in other words, someone who won‘t understand him."
"The woman easily forgets herself in love because too little of her is there to be remembered."
A BPD mood.
"The much-used press of her lust crushes her wishes. The sap runs red."
"Tell me in advance that I‘ll be beside myself with bliss when you treat me brutally but thoroughly. The twins Brutality and Thoroughness are hard to raise, and they scream whenever someone tries to separate them. Like Hansel and Gretel when Hansel is in the witch‘s oven."
"That is why Mother murmurs a prayer to Jesus; the prayer is heard by no one, including the addressee."
"Feelings are always ridiculous, especially when unauthorized people get their hands on them."
"She yearns for a long, intimate embrace, so that, once the embrace is over, this marvelous woman can regally push him away."
Yes, girl. Tear him to pieces.
"The last bit of daylight crumbles like leftover cake in clumsy fingers."
"Her nether region and her fear are two allies of hers, they usually appear together. If one of these two friends drops into her head without knocking, then she can rest assured: The other cannot be far behind."
"The vaginal lips of the two old women have turned into siliceous stone. Rattling dryly, their snatches snap like the jaws of a dying stag beetle, but catch nothing."
"An old woman has just gotten into the trolley, but she doesn‘t notify the conductor. She thinks she can keep her presence a secret. Actually, she got out of everything long ago, and she knows she did. Paying is too much trouble. She‘s already got her ticket to eternity in her handbag. The ticket must be valid in a streetcar, too."
"Her body is one big refrigerator, where Art is well stored."
Today in odd metaphors.
""Someone stepped on my toes," and a deluge of foul language gushes from a mouth. Who did it? The First Viennese Trolley Court, infamous throughout the world, is in session in order to issue a warning and pass a sentence."
"Time around Erika is slowly turning into a plaster cast. It crumbles the instant her mother strikes it. At such moments, Erika sits there, with remnants of time‘s brace around her thin neck."
I'll admit I'm mostly reading this because of Isabelle Huppert.
My book for Austria in my reading women around the world challenge
After spending an extra week in Amsterdam because of my missing passport, I‘m finally ready to move on to Germany and The Neverending Story! I did use my extra time wisely, and got some of my “tickets” for the other countries I plan on visiting on my #BackpackEurope tour 👍
#LibraryHaul
@ErinSueG #crimesagainstcovers Day 5: I really hated this book. I've read some weird shit but this one was disturbing beyond reason 🤢
Maybe I could put it under a leg of a wobbly table? Nah, couldn't bring myself to do it, lol!
Today we are in Salzburg and climbed Kapuzinerberg to look down on the castle. #backpackEurope @JenP @BookwormM
"The daughter doesn't yet know whether she will commit murder or throw herself at the man's feet and kiss them." #fallatyourfeet
When it comes to this novel I can never make up my mind, the characters are a dizzying whirl of contradictions. The fragile line drawn between love and hate throughout the text becomes part of my response as a reader. No one gets off lightly under Jelinek's shrewd gaze.
#MarchintoOz
You'll never think of #piano-playing in the same way ever again. The movie is genius. Michael Haneke and Isabelle Huppert 🙌🏽
I should read the book.
#150PnPCoverParty @CrowCAH @LeahBergen
"How easily a lover imagines he has advanced into the deepest regions, where no secret is left to reveal."
Every day, a piece of music, a short story, or a poem dies because its existence is no longer justified in our time. And things that were once considered immortal have become mortal again, no one knows them anymore. Even though they deserve to survive.
pickThis is definitely not an easy read. The writing is peculiar and very dense, with what dialogue there is retold, so that every page is a massive block of text. It takes some getting used to, but if you do soldier through, it's a fascinating read! If you just want the story, the movie is equally good.
"He says: A woman like you don't have to do this. She is not ugly, after all. She has no visible physical defects, except for her age. Her teeth are real." (The teeth comment ?) (Also, this is sad, not at all funny.)
I keep seeing the movie in my head as I read this, and I think I prefer it to the book! (But then Haneke is a genius.) While googling the movie, I stumbled upon this screenshot, which is pure gold, and I was also reminded of the awesome final scene, WHICH I HAD FORGOTTEN!
"While teaching, she crushes one free will after the other. Inside herself, however, she feels a strong desire to obey. That's what mother is for."
"You can gain control over any woman with the consciousness of her physical inadequacy." I really wonder what the original German is for this, and how it has been translated into other languages!
After the last book I read (not yet on Litsy), a horrible sappy disaster of a story about WUUUUV between "broken people", I need something darker. The awesome French movie based on this book is one of the most disturbing I've ever seen, and I love anything disturbing, so I'm super excited to finally read this book (in Norwegian because my German is still crap) ???
This ain't no typical summer beach read... And I love it! 😎📖 #literarylounging
