SorrowSisters

An Untouched House | Willem Frederik Hermans

pick

Set during World War ll, this fever dream of a plotless novella has a Soviet Partisan soldier chancing upon an abandoned house. As the Nazis suddenly appear in his temporary sanctuary, he pretends to be the owner of the house—and the real owner shows up. The prose is beautiful in this Dutch classic, with startling moments of insight & imagery. The trauma of war, nihilism, & futility of the human condition makes it a tough & bleak read. #netgalley

batsy Translated from Dutch by David Colmer with a particularly insightful afterword by Cees Noteboom. 6y

TrishB Great review 👍🏻 6y

emilyhaldi Wow this sounds intense 😐 in a good way 6y

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batsy @TrishB Thank you :) 6y

batsy @emilyhaldi It is 😅 6y

Cathythoughts Great review... 💫💫💫 6y

ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled Wow - sounds unusual- I need to get this. Thanks! 6y

Centique Beautiful review S! 😍 6y

batsy @Cathythoughts @Centique Thank you, ladies ❤️ 6y

batsy @ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled Yes, it is and hard to tell who will like it. Hope you find it interesting :) 6y

saresmoore I stacked this so fast! 6y

RohitSawant Terrific review! 🙌🏻 6y

batsy @saresmoore So bleak, Sara. #sorrowsisters 6y

batsy @rohit-sawant Thank you :) 6y

BarbaraBB Great review. I love that you read one of my favorite Dutch authors 💜 (edited) 6y

batsy @BarbaraBB Thank you! And happy to hear he's your fave. I'm so glad this is available in translation via Archipelago, and that Net Galley made it available :) 6y

101 likes6 stack adds16 comments

batsy

My Year of Rest and Relaxation | Ottessa Moshfegh

readordierachel I like that! I'm curious to hear what you think of this one. 6y

saresmoore Can‘t wait to hear what you think of this one! I had to return mine to the library before I had time to read it. 6y

batsy @ReadOrDieRachel @saresmoore I'm surprised at how a story about a privileged, insular, rich, & pretty woman who just wants to sleep her life away is so gripping and readable 😆 Moshfegh really knows how to hone in on that subterranean existential darkness; I'm hoping it doesn't let me down! 6y

saresmoore “Subterranean existential darkness” #storyofmylife 6y

batsy @saresmoore Too relatable #sorrowsisters 6y

89 likes1 stack add5 comments

batsy

Convenience Store Woman | Sayaka Murata

pick

A slim novel with a quirky image, but it packs a punch & is darker & more subversive than it appears. In depicting a 36-yr-old likely neuroatypical woman, Murata skewers contemporary capitalist society & its obsession with competition & self-promotion. What if someone is truly content doing what others see is the bare minimum? How must self-autonomy be sacrificed in order to be seen as a functioning adult, to adhere to social norms? #spinsterlit

batsy This is a sly, artful book that also depicts how gender underlies the social outcast. In Shihara, she depicts an "incel" straight out of the manosphere. He believes he can exist on the margins of society by consuming women's labour for free. The protagonist Keiko, on the other hand, is an ideal capitalist subject who is comfortable being a cog in the machine. Ultimately a discomfiting read because freedom in an alienated society is its own trap. 6y

Bertha_Mason I've been wanting to read this! I'm buying it with my next paycheck now. 6y

TrishB You and @Cinfhen both reviewed this today 😁👍🏻 6y

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saresmoore Yes, please. 6y

Cinfhen Your review makes me want to read this book that I just reviewed and found overwhelming sad 6y

Cinfhen I obviously missed the hidden messages @trishb 😂😂😂 6y

batsy @Bertha_Mason @saresmoore I'm not sure if I read it right?! I read a blog review that said they found it quite cruel, and I can see that too... 6y

batsy @TrishB @Cinfhen Racing against the ARC expiry date, I believe 😁 6y

batsy @Cinfhen I did find it disturbing and sad, as well 6y

Notafraidofwords I‘m interested In reading this one. Mostly because I sort of relate to this concept. I don‘t strive for wealth and I detest competition. 6y

batsy @Notafraidofwords Me too. I was drawn to that aspect and found the character sympathetic in that sense. It's very hard to have meaningful adult relationships in a world that values wealth and status above all else and the book does depict the constant judgment of her peers. 6y

Notafraidofwords @batsy yes I agree. Everyone seems to be a connection and networking. 6y

emilyhaldi Very interesting review!! I can‘t wait to pick this one up 👏🏻 6y

youneverarrived I really want to read this now! Brilliant review 🙌 6y

batsy @emilyhaldi @youneverarrived Thank you! I'll be interested to know what you both think :) 6y

Blaire Wonderful review!! 6y

Centique This sounds so good. I want to drop the 7 books on my nightstand and switch to this now 😂😂 6y

batsy @Blaire Thank you! 6y

batsy @Centique I know that feeling! 😆 This is an odd book in that I don't think it's easy to tell how people will react to it but I'd love to know what you make of it 😊 6y

Suet624 Oooohhhh. Sounds just up my alley. 6y

rubyslippersreads “Disturbing and sad” usually warns me off, but this does sound interesting. And it‘s on Hoopla, so I can try it for free. 6y

Trashcanman I swear you write some of the best reviews on Litsy. 6y

batsy @Suet624 #SorrowSisters 6y

batsy @rubyslippersreads Oh, nice! 😊 6y

batsy @Trashcanman Thank you so much! This just made my day 💜 6y

GatheringBooks what an interesting premise. also begs the question of what constitutes mediocrity. 😍📚 6y

batsy @GatheringBooks Yes, I'm always interested in an interrogation of the ideas of success, "making it", etc. :) 6y

ElishaLovesBooks Sounds fascinating! 6y

batsy @ElishaLovesBooks It is! I'm still mulling it over and wondering how the characters will fare... 6y

Reggie In my early 20‘s, I went on this horrible date that inspired my seven bare minimum rules of dating. One of them was, he had to have a job. And in parenthesis I followed it up with (even if he works the Circle K, I don‘t care.) And I don‘t. I lived through well off relatives going to jail over money so that taught me a little something growing up. I have to read this book now. 6y

batsy @Reggie Yeah Reggie, the entitlement of the character who has identified the injustice in society but thinks he's above it all and can therefore live off others is all too real!! It's really straight out of some Reddit "men's rights" forum and the author does a good job depicting that type. 6y

Pruzy @batsy I feel like Shiraha was severely mentally ill rather than a “Men‘s Rights activist” (although he was definitely influenced by their rhetoric). I feel like the “activists” are more under the radar. They seem perfectly capable of functioning in society, but then if you get to know them well enough you‘ll hear them spout some sexist remarks about the ability of women to achieve/be in highly-trained or educated positions. 6y

batsy @Pruzy That's true, and I think it's a combination. There are lots of misogynists who are well-adjusted, but this book sort of blurs the line between mental illness and what's "normal". There's some element of social anxiety and maybe hikikomori syndrome blended into his character? So we kind of get an extreme version. I've looked at some incel forums where people talk this way and I guess I don't feel that mental illness explains his misogyny. 6y

Pruzy @batsy That‘s very interesting, I‘ve never thought about it from a hikikomori standpoint. And yikes! Brave you for actually wanting to look at incel forums. There‘s a good episode of the podcast Reply All called INVCEL that talks about the origins of the group. 6y

batsy @Pruzy There was a slew of articles on incels for awhile there and I honestly have a morbid sense of curiosity about these awful things. Like back when "negging" was a thinking that male pick-up artists were promoting online and I had a look at some blogs and forums about that... ? Thanks for the podcast, I'll check it out! 6y

batsy @Pruzy *thing 6y

Pruzy @batsy Yeah, I read some of the articles in the NYTimes. Just didn‘t want to experience it firsthand. The idea of negging has been around for a while, but why it would ever work is beyond me 🤷‍♂️. Seems rude! 6y

batsy @Pruzy Yup! Pretty much rude and cruel 🤢 6y

113 likes11 stack adds38 comments

Suet624

The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II | Svetlana Alexievich

Only a soul sister would know why I would want to read this. Many thanks and much love to @saresmoore for the late Mother‘s Day, early birthday surprise. I swear...my Litsy friendships have restored my faith in humanity.

batsy How lovely! @saresmoore is the best. I need to read this book too, seems like a necessary one. 6y

Suet624 @batsy seems like a classic for the #sorrowsisters 6y

batsy Indeed! 😆 6y

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Bklover @saresmoore You are wonderful!! 6y

saresmoore 😘♥️ 6y

erzascarletbookgasm Lovely 6y

LeahBergen Wonderful! 💕 6y

60 likes7 comments

batsy

Ethan Frome | Edith Wharton

Not quite sure if this is the shortest classic I've read, but it's definitely one of the saddest and most devastating; an impoverished landscape, an unhappy marriage, heartbreak. Going by that, it obviously has to be one of my favourites 😂 #DoomAndGloomFanclub

#shortestclassicyouread #maylovesclassics #litsyclassics @Sarah83 @Bambolina_81

saresmoore #DepressedisBest #SorrowSisters 7y

batsy @saresmoore 😂 You get me #RudeSadLadyReaders 7y

andrew61 Put me off sledging for life- great choice 7y

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LeahBergen I loved it, too. 😆 7y

merelybookish Such a great cover! 7y

readordierachel I have this same edition! Still tbr though... 7y

batsy @merelybookish I think so too 😁 Was pleased to find a 2nd hand copy of this. 7y

batsy @ReadOrDieRachel Would love to know what you think about it when you get around to it! Nervous about recommending it since after I did so to a friend all she said was, "Well, thank god that was short" ? 7y

batsy @andrew61 Haha, I know right. Thanks :) 7y

batsy @LeahBergen Yay! #GloomClub 7y

rubyslippersreads @batsy @LeahBergen @andrew61 Now you've all got me curious about this. 7y

batsy @rubyslippersreads In my opinion, can't go wrong with Wharton 😊💕 7y

LeahBergen @rubyslippersreads Oh, read it! ❤️ 7y

Suet624 Hahaha. You and Sara. And me too. I love that cover. 7y

batsy @Suet624 I love Sara's hashtag. We are the #SorrowSisters indeed 😆 7y

91 likes4 stack adds15 comments

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