Welcome to Litsy!

little scratch tells the story of a day in the life of an unnamed woman. The stream of consciousness and non-linear style of expressing her internal monologue and her physical surroundings simultaneously was unique and added to the power of the story.

Creative format suits the stream of consciousness writing IMO. Just read this passage this morning before I head up to start work... seems fitting.

Poetry? I think. Not sure.

The formal experimentalism of the novel will get a lot of attention, & it should, but I fear that people might think it's just a gimmick. This book, true to its title, got under my skin. It's clever & poignant & heart-rending in its own way. The rhythmic prose, almost like poetry, is an attempt to depict inner voice & its interaction with the world. Underlying it: the brutalities of wage labour & its intersection with patriarchy & misogyny. 4 ⭐

November Round Up 1: Little Scratch was probably the one that surprised me the most out of this bunch. I had so much fun with Thursday Murder Club, Sadie and The Once and Future Witches. Haunting of Ashburn House is my favourite Coates so far and will keep me reading more.

If I didn‘t start this one so late last night I probably could‘ve read it in one sit. It‘s a small book and it‘s sometimes a challenge to follow because of the experimental nature of the narrative, but it is powerful. I am pretty blown away.

And now for something completely different. I haven‘t read an experimental novel in a good long while.

This stream of consciousness novel really picks up in intensity. Well done.

Really interesting layout of thoughts on a page so far.

This is a strange little book. The inner thoughts of one day in the narrator's life. The formatting shows how thoughts run together, in and out of one another, and is quite innovative. Subject matter could be triggering for some

I read a manuscript so no pic on this

Post-modernist brilliance. Watson uses rhythm and form to recreate the transitory nature of the inner monologue. Our skips, it falters, it reassesses and add it goes a silence builds in the centre. The one thing our narrator can't (not) think about. Very moving, very raw and very, very clever.

Rhythm of language=rhythm of rider cycling, breathing. Reader is so happy for protagonist‘s moment of joy, physical exertion providing release from anxiety, getting her out of her head and hands busy, unable to scratch. But it‘s momentary. It flickers. This is maybe what is frustrating about whole book—nothing sustained, everything flickers.

199 alone with my head attempting to not think about anything too full-on

Use of form & physical qualities of page to convey multiple sensory experiences at once, 360 degree view of scene. Some sections subjective (narrator questions why a man who ignores a nearby child would be holding a stuffed dog on a metro train) but other more objective—sounds, onomatopoeia, right hand side capturing surroundings and then the blare of the train announcements in the center. Effective, cinematic. Beckett, Woolf, concrete poetry.

Experimentations with form to convey sensory experience and a mind in distress. A young woman‘s Friday interior monologue as she wakes, goes to work, goes for a drink w/ bf. Mounting distress, self-harm due to suppressed trauma. Some lovely tender details like calling bf “my him.” Takes some patience and concentration. Some sections more successful than others—the banality of daily life remains banal even in agitated language. But memorable. 2020

A novel about being inside the head of a young woman, an aspiring writer/office worker/girlfriend/daughter as she goes about her Friday. You hear what she thinks and what she says. Slowly you start to grasp what she doesn't want to think about but can't stop thinking about.
A 21st century descendent of Woolf's novels. Experimental in style & structure (see page 1 👆). It required some intial patience, but once I got the rhythm, it flowed.

This is WEIRD but intriguing. The prose looks likes stream-of-conciouness shape poetry. But I've been reading so much nonfiction lately I think my brain is geeking out over something that is not informational.
Storyline? No clue. So far, a woman has woken up, ridden the subway and arrived at work.
If you like experimental writing, give it a go!