perimenopause

All Fours | Miranda July

pick

Nearly didn‘t read it, glad I did. This is not *the* mid-life novel; the protagonist‘s life bears no resemblance to mine, nor that of any other woman I know. She is the most self-absorbed, self-indulgent person you‘ll probably ever hear from yet despite that I found this utterly compelling, with a knowingness I suspect you‘ll recognise if you too are mid-40s. I also found the absurdity quite good fun in a way I didn‘t expect.

BarbaraBB Great review! 3w

Cathythoughts Yes, great review. I havnt been drawn to it , but your review is tempting me. 👍🏻❤️ 3w

JillR @Cathythoughts I was exactly the same, I only read it because it was on the WP short list and I could get it from the library. Nice to be surprised! 3w

JillR Thank you @BarbaraBB ! 3w

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CSeydel

All Fours | Miranda July

so-so

I had a lot of issues with this book but as you can see I also marked a LOT of sentences/passages for future reference. I ran out of book darts and had to start using Post-it flags! I‘m still not completely sure this wasn‘t satire - the MC was so comically pretentious and self-absorbed that I think she may have been intended as a sly parody of a certain type of artsy hipster grappling with middle age. In that light it almost worked.
#shelfsweeper

CSeydel I just couldn‘t relate a woman feeling the way she did with a child as young as hers - 7 years old. It‘s one thing when your kids are grown and you turn 50 and suddenly realize that not only are you no longer “mom” but it‘s also too late to go back to the sexual image you had of yourself before becoming mom/wife. But she has her child‘s whole life ahead of her and she‘s not at all interested - she‘s solely fixated on her sexual identity. 3w

CSeydel I also found it off-putting the way she milked the drama of her child‘s traumatic birth. She has this whole thing about not knowing whether the baby would live or die, and in that moment reality split and she had two babies, one alive and one dead, and she “refused to play favorites” between them. But her child didn‘t die. She doesn‘t seem to care about the actual child, just the attendant trauma as a formative thing that happened to *her*. 3w

CSeydel In other words - she‘s shockingly ungrateful for all the blessings and privileges she has had in her life. This is common of course, we all take so much for granted, but someone as navel-gazing as this unnamed protag should at least recognize all these good things, even if she can‘t emotionally connect with gratitude. 3w

See All 17 Comments

RaeLovesToRead It's difficult to tell with autofiction how much of the writing is a caricature and an outlet for the unpalatable aspects of their character, how much is self-aware satire, and how much is in earnest. This one felt like all the awful crap that society tells women (voiced concisely and depressingly in Susan Sontag's On Women, for example) came to life in an explosion of awfulness. Which I found mesmerising and despair-inducing. 3w

TrishB Well done on finishing for all the reasons outlined. 3w

RaeLovesToRead If you want to torture yourself further with a narcissistic, sex-obsessed MC whose antics make you feel grotty, I recommend The Pisces by Melissa Broder. You won't thank me 🤣🤣 3w

CSeydel @RaeLovesToRead Oh, I like how you put that! It is rather hard to pin down and that‘s an interesting lens through which to view it. I‘ll be pondering it, certainly, even though I can‘t say I enjoyed it. It was at least well-written. And I‘ll keep The Pisces in my back pocket for now - I‘m in need of a palate cleanser next, but who knows? Maybe I‘ll read it later, just to see 👀 3w

CSeydel Thanks @TrishB ! I couldn‘t help myself - I had to find out where it was going 3w

TrishB I can‘t remember at what point I bailed- I just knew wherever it was going I wasn‘t going! 3w

charl08 I'm about two chapters in and got distracted by other shiny new books. Nor sure if I'll pick it up again before it's due back at the library... 3w

BarbaraBB Kudos for finishing it and all the notes taken. Great review. I totally agree on the mc being selfish and unlikable yet I was also strangely intrigued by her. I think Miranda July has been able to write a book that affects everyone who read it in one way or another and I admire her for that 3w

RaeLovesToRead Hahaha I was joking... do NOT read the Pisces haha. It will make you feel even WORSE than All Fours. NO PALATES WILL BE CLEANSED! 3w

CSeydel @BarbaraBB Absolutely! It was certainly well-written, and thought-provoking. (edited) 3w

CSeydel @RaeLovesToRead 💀 3w

Lesliereadsalot I really liked this one, crazy as the story was. Great review! 3w

CSeydel @Lesliereadsalot Certainly a lot to think about! 3w

Sparklemn @cseydel As much as I despised the character for the many of the reasons you stated, I found that I liked the version of her after the time jump at the end of the book. Time and distance had helped her grow to some degree. Not much. Just a little. 😁 1w

55 likes17 comments

CSeydel

All Fours | Miranda July

#whereareyoumonday

Still in Monrovia with the sociopath narrator of this tedious nonsense

bookandbedandtea "Tedious nonsense" ? 4w

CSeydel @bookandbedandtea I keep waiting for her to realize that her unhappiness is because she‘s pathologically self-absorbed, but she hasn‘t yet 4w

dabbe I bailed on this one during Camp Litsy last year for reasons you just described so well. 🤣 4w

See All 33 Comments

CSeydel @dabbe I‘m so tempted to bail but my book club is discussing it Thursday night and I want to be able to defend my low opinion of it. And … maybe? .:. it gets better? My husband wisely bailed after 50 pages 4w

CBee @CSeydel I bailed during #camplitsy last year too. It was making me feel physically ill 😂 4w

5feet.of.fury 😂😂 4w

TheBookHippie I‘ve never hated a book as much as this one.. 😵‍💫 4w

fredthemoose @CSeydel it does not get better 4w

dabbe @CSeydel Life's too short! I bet you already have enough to defend your position. Sometimes a bail sends a powerful message, too! #hailthebail! 😍 4w

willaful yet another camp bail here! 4w

DGRachel Adding my vote for “save yourself and bail”. I am another Camp Litsy bail. 4w

BarbaraBB Lol, I loved it! 4w

CSeydel @TheBookHippie It‘s truly terrible. The MC seems to think she‘s the only person in the world who has ever had an original thought. The rest of humanity exists only as either her audience, support staff, or pawns in whatever emotional games she‘s playing with herself. 4w

CSeydel @CBee @5feet.of.fury @fredthemoose @dabbe @willaful @DGRachel Thank you all for your support! I was happy to have read far enough that she acknowledges that “there is something very wrong with me” and starts to take accountability for some of the bullshit she‘s making up in her head and attributing to everyone around her. That she‘s been ridiculously unfair about older women. But it‘s just so boring listening to her natter on. 4w

TheBookHippie @CSeydel It was such an insult to women as a whole, let alone the immense privilege it shows ad nauseam and insult to my intelligence. I think it‘s an extremely harmful book. It shows why I don‘t like most women that‘s for sure. Just YUK. (edited) 4w

CSeydel @BarbaraBB A lot of people do! When I‘m done I‘ll check out your review and look forward to seeing it from a different perspective 🤞🏻 4w

CSeydel @TheBookHippie I hope most women aren‘t as full of themselves as this one. Somehow she manages to be completely absorbed by her own inner fantasy world - “mind-rooted,” as she calls it - living entirely in her mind yet shockingly un-self-aware somehow. She views her entire life as a piece of performance art and everyone else is her supporting cast, and can‘t understand why they don‘t also see themselves that way 4w

FashionableObserver I tried so hard to get into this book. I really did. I think I made it a few chapters in before bailing. I usually hold onto my books with a death grip, but I swear I try to pawn that thing off on people all of the time. 🤣 4w

CSeydel @FashionableObserver I hear you. It‘s a slog for sure. 4w

5feet.of.fury @CSeydel is this the same book club that picked Lost Apothecary? 😅 4w

TheBookHippie @CSeydel I always have that hope. 4w

FashionableObserver @CSeydel I don‘t understand the rave reviews. It flew off of the shelves—I picked up the last copy my tiny bookstore had. All of the ladies in the store were raving about it, too… 4w

Ruthiella If it‘s worth anything, I am enjoying your complaints! 😂 So thank you for reading! 4w

RaeLovesToRead 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 4w

RaeLovesToRead I thought the book was brilliant, but I also agree with everything you say 🤣🤣🤣🤣 4w

CSeydel @5feet.of.fury haha - No! Can you believe it? Two book club meetings happen to fall in the same week and they both picked loser books 😩 4w

5feet.of.fury @CSeydel 😩🤪 4w

CSeydel @Ruthiella Thank you! That‘s one good thing! I had seen some bad reviews and I hoped even if it wasn‘t good, it would at least be “fun to hate.” But it‘s mostly tedious listening to someone go through all these emotional calisthenics to rid themselves of a stupid misconception that I don‘t share (that sexuality is everything, and women are worthless after menopause). Like: I just don‘t care, and I‘m not learning anything 💀 4w

CSeydel @RaeLovesToRead LOL!! 😂 4w

BarbaraBB I also love the controversy surrounding this book 😂 3w

CSeydel @BarbaraBB Absolutely! At least we have that 😆 3w

CarolynM You comments sum up my feelings exactly. She‘s appalling. 3w

CSeydel @CarolynM Glad I‘m not the only one 😬 3w

63 likes33 comments

CSeydel

All Fours | Miranda July

Far too hot for a warm beverage tonight, and I had ice cream earlier, so I‘m just kicking back without refreshments for tonight‘s #HyggeHourReadathon

TheBookHippie, jenniferw88, Chrissyreadit, AllDebooks

TheBookHippie It‘s almost lemonade weather time here - can‘t wait! 4w

CSeydel @TheBookHippie 💛🍹 4w

AllDebooks Lovely x 4w

Chrissyreadit ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ 4w

CSeydel #shelfsweeper #4Elisabeth 3w

56 likes5 comments

CSeydel

All Fours | Miranda July

I‘ve got a bad feeling about this…

So I know this book is polarizing. I went in expecting shock, expecting transgressive attitudes about sex, gender, and aging, expecting discomfort in the name of probing implicit attitudes and assumptions about propriety and morality. But so far it‘s just exhausting. It‘s like listening to your most neurotic friend monologue about her chaotic and obsessive thoughts, which are entirely self-oriented

CSeydel She‘s kind of pretentious and while she thinks she‘s studying and interpreting the world around her, she actually living in a fantasy world constructed in her mind and projecting it onto the people around her. 1mo

Leniverse Yes, you're spot on. You will get some of the transgressive stuff you were expecting. And the second half of the books is better than the first half. Overall though, I found her ridiculous and privileged, and I really wished for the story to be about someone less unlikeable. There are some decent themes in there, and I wanted to be able to identify with the struggle but that was impossible. 1mo

CSeydel @Leniverse Oh, gosh. I was hoping it would get better in that respect. I have found a lot of interesting lines, like aphorisms peppering her incessant over-analyzing and rationalizing, that I think are pithy and incisive and capture some truth about human existence. But on the whole, yes, she‘s ridiculous. Which would be fine! Except that I think we‘re supposed to take her as seriously as she takes herself. 1mo

See All 7 Comments

Tamra Hmmmm 🤔I haven‘t been compelled to stack this one and you are making a good case against it. Doesn‘t sound like I‘d fair any better. (edited) 1mo

CSeydel @Tamra No, I don‘t think this would be up your alley at all. The MC is over-privileged, chronically discontent, and rationalizes her extreme self-absorption with tortuous philosophical justifications. About 50 pages in, I started to suspect that the book might actually be satire, and now I can‘t help but read it in that light. Whether I‘m right or wrong, it‘s much more entertaining that way. (So far.) 1mo

Tamra @CSeydel excellent plan B that might actually prove to be entertaining. You could be right! 1mo

CarolynM I think she was probably aiming for satire, but it was a big miss for me for the reasons you have given. 1mo

47 likes7 comments

vlwelser

All Fours | Miranda July

so-so

I found this protagonist super annoying and probably should have given up at the halfway mark but it does get somewhat better.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 2mo

44 likes1 comment

britt_brooke

All Fours | Miranda July

pick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Mostly loved the beautiful, smoothly flowing writing, but this story made me feel a bit icky. A relatable recurring theme was fitting people into boxes, and that was very thoughtfully handled. I‘m torn. Almost brilliant. Docking a star for the several foul bodily descriptions for shock value which kinda stole the show. Not in a good way. The writing was so freaking good, that shit was not needed.

RaeLovesToRead I both loved and hated this book 3mo

BarbaraBB Fab review! 3mo

britt_brooke @RaeLovesToRead Yes!! That‘s a good way to put it. Same. 3mo

britt_brooke @BarbaraBB Thank you! 🩷🩷 3mo

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marleed

All Fours | Miranda July

so-so

I was not rooting for this MC - her need for discovery was almost insufferable and she lost me with the tampon episode. The writing is quite good though.

ChaoticMissAdventures This one is so controversial! And on so many lists, hard not to pick it up. 3mo

marleed @ChaoticMissAdventures My thoughts exactly, and I was curious which side of the fence I‘d land on. I guess I‘m sitting on the fence🤣 3mo

ChaoticMissAdventures @marleed me too! I feel like I can appreciate her writing and bravery to just go there, I had it as a pick I think because I liked it more than most, but it really isn't my thing, I will not really recommend it and will not pick it up again. 3mo

GidgetsTreasures75 I liked it in some ways but it was definitely difficult to like the MC. 3mo

68 likes1 stack add4 comments

bio_chem06

All Fours | Miranda July

I know this was a big book that everyone was talking about but when I really looked into the reviews, it was all over the place, so I don‘t feel bad for hate reading it right now. I think I‘ll finish it because it‘s a quick read, but I just don‘t care about the narrator. Being so self aware and self assured in my 40s makes the midlife crisis hard for me to understand. Not a humble brag, just an observation.

Hooked_on_books It hated this book 3mo

bio_chem06 Thanks for sharing @Hooked_on_books. It was recommended by a friend, but I am hating it too. I think it‘s going to the DNF pile. Life is too short to force myself to read something awful when I have a TBR pile just staring me in the face. 3mo

Hooked_on_books Amen to that! 3mo

8 likes3 comments

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