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Skeeterisme

Genuine Fraud | E. Lockhart

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😳

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Sharpeipup

Genuine Fraud | E. Lockhart

I love laundromats - it‘s dedicated reading time!

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KatieRose23

I Killed Zoe Spanos (Export) | Kit Frick

“Anna? We‘re recording.”
The camera pans up from a long crack in the linoleum floor to rest on the hunched-over frame of a girl.
#FirstLineFriday
@ShyBookOwl

1 like

andrew61

The Accident | C. L. Taylor

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@BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cinfhen @alisiakae
I picked this psychological thriller from my tbr pile for an easy post Xmas read + it was a roller coaster read + starts my #booked2023 with a #twist.
Sue is a mother whose 15yr old dtr is in a coma after what appears to be an apparent suicide, when sue finds Charlotte's diary she suspects something is wrong which triggers memories of her life 20 yrs earlier.

Cathythoughts Sounds like a good one 👍🏻 1y

Cinfhen This does sound twisty!!! 1y

44 likes2 comments

batsy

Basic Black with Pearls | Helen Weinzweig

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This book, published in 1980 when the author was 65, astonished me. It won the Toronto Book Award in 1981, but the book or the author are not well-known. Weinman in her afterword calls it an "interior feminist espionage novel", & because the protagonist Shirley, alias Lola, travels from city to city to meet her mysterious lover who works for an international organisation called The Agency, I thought this would be Graham Greene-esque territory.

batsy It was not. Instead, it was reminiscent of domestic gothic, & it was existentialist & absurdist. A kind of feminine Waiting for Godot, but with the conversation largely being between a woman & herself; the plot a sequence of events that is a fever dream of memory & imagination. Perhaps reality is always just that. It's a slim book at 146 pages but its scope feels large. I admire how Weinzweig played with the form of the novel to produce this work. 2y

batsy There is also a deliciously discreet but ironic sense of subversive humour running through it all, best summed up for me in this line: "I was about to expatiate on the phenomenon of paradox, when I remembered that my philosophizing causes Coenraad to lose his erection." Truly a gem that I'm glad I read with the #NYRBBookClub @vivastory 2y

TrishB Wow 😯 what a review! Brilliant as always. 2y

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batsy @TrishB Thank you! ❤️ 2y

Graywacke Terrific review! 2y

Cathythoughts Great review 💫 2y

The_Penniless_Author This book sounds like something I would love. Stacking immediately 😀 2y

batsy @Graywacke @Cathythoughts Thank you! 💜💜 2y

batsy @The_Penniless_Author If you give it a try, I hope you like it! It's definitely a unique read 🙂 2y

MicheleinPhilly That is a line indeed! 😂 2y

LeahBergen Fantastic review … but I still didn‘t like the book at all. 😆😆 I think I was in a cranky headspace when I was reading it and the absurdist element got on my nerves. 😆😆 2y

charl08 Intriguing! 2y

Billypar I really like the description "fever dream of memory and imagination" - that sums it up so nicely. Great review! 2y

CarolynM Your quote made me laugh out loud🤣 Not sure if I could stomach a whole book of it, though🤔😆 2y

batsy @MicheleinPhilly 😆 2y

batsy @LeahBergen Thank you! 💜 I understand completely! I do wonder if I wasn't in the right mood if I would have struggled with it, too. 2y

batsy @charl08 Yes! 2y

batsy @Billypar Thank you! I love that it was such an interior novel played out entirely on the "outside" spaces, the streets, cafés, galleries. 2y

batsy @CarolynM It's a good one, I couldn't resist 😆 But no, it's not a novel full of lines and quips like that. The humour is a lot more subtle 🙂 2y

Hamlet Fantastic, nuanced review! This looks like quite a break from your Greek tragedy line up. You grabbed my interest; thanks for all you do here on Litsy! 2y

batsy @Hamlet Thank you so much for your kind words 💜 I'm so glad to have read this with the #NYRBBookClub, I've discovered a lot of great titles that way. And yes, I'm doing all of the Greek plays this year based on an idea I saw on a blog I frequent, so it's one play a week 😅 I'm enjoying it! 2y

Suet624 I‘m with @hamlet. Thank you. 💕 2y

batsy @Suet624 And thanks to you, as well; I derive great pleasure from your posts 💕 2y

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DrexEdit

Basic Black with Pearls | Helen Weinzweig

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Thanks #NYRBBookClub for another really good read! This is definitely not a book I would have picked up on my own. While it's hard to say that this story is “enjoyable“ I did enjoy the feverish paranoid quality of the characters stories and imaginings. I started out trying to sort out what was true and what wasn't and then realized it would be better just to go with the flow. A truly unique and mesmerizing read.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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vivastory

Basic Black with Pearls | Helen Weinzweig

#NYRBBookClub
And the final question:
According to Weinman's afterword, Weinzweig struggled with the ending of her novel for over a year. Did you find the ending satisfactory?

GatheringBooks The open-ended nature of the ending, the many questions it engenders, and the bated breath that seemed to follow it is fitting I thought for such a surreal narrative. 2y

vivastory @GatheringBooks I completely agree. I found the ending appropriate & immensely satisfying, despite the “closure“ 2y

sarahbarnes I did like the ending as well. To me it seemed to signify that she had found a relationship in which she could be her authentic self rather than meet societal expectations. 2y

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DrexEdit I did like the ending. The choice of a new dress with color and her choosing a new relationship (probably) where she wanted to be seemed satisfactory to me. Like things were going to get better. 2y

Sapphire I thought the color of dress was interesting as well. But for me it seemed like another “put on personality “. Maybe a more sustainable one. It does hint at the schizophrenia potential. But also a more feminist comment on the roles women are forced to take on for survival or belonging. 2y

quietjenn It did feel fitting to me. And, even the change of dress does mean that she'll be embracing some other alternate identity, it was enough to make me hopeful that this one may be more satisfying and “true.“ 2y

batsy @GatheringBooks @vivastory Yes, I agree! The ending was fitting & it held both hope & possibility, but a sense of potential unease, as well. Is Shirley able to incorporate her various fragmented selves or will it fracture into another identity? I was really taken by how Weinzweig maintained the sense of mystery till the end without having to resort to trite resolutions. 2y

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vivastory

Basic Black with Pearls | Helen Weinzweig

#NYRBBookClub
It has been posited that Shirley is suffering from schizophrenia, but as was the case in the April NYRB selection, it is evident throughout the book she has a curiosity in & appreciation for art. Do you think this was autobiographical? Or do you think there was something else at work?

GatheringBooks If it was autobiographical, then Weinzweig managed to create a feminist metafiction filled with allusions, lyricism, and sufficient obscurity to enable her to disclose her heart without revealing specifics or identities, elevating her experience to one of poetic form. 2y

sarahbarnes I think art is one way to transport yourself to a different reality, away from the one you are faced with. Maybe she appreciates art for the same reasons she is wandering around the world - seeking a different reality. 2y

vivastory @sarahbarnes Well said 👏 👏 It definitely offered a freedom for her. I *almost* watched Children of Paradise yesterday. I watched a different movie. I now wish I had watched Children of Paradise. (edited) 2y

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sarahbarnes @vivastory yes! And I haven‘t seen the film but am definitely intrigued now having read this book. You can still watch it! 😃 2y

vivastory @sarahbarnes I plan on it this week. Looking forward to it! 2y

Sapphire @GatheringBooks wow. What a fascinating and intriguing comment. Just wow. Stopped me. 2y

quietjenn I definitely think that she incorporates a lot of what is familiar to her. Is that enough to make it autobiographical? 🤷🏽‍♀️ 2y

merelybookish Wow I like what @GatheringBooks posits! 🤔 Raises this book to a whole new level. I think she drew on aspects of her life. She was married to a renowned musician in Canada 2y

merelybookish Sent send too soon. 🙄 They stayed married but who knows if she was happy with him tho? She definitely wrote a real Toronto! I have only been a few times but I can recognize it. I wonder who all the gentrification plays into her own sense of shifting identity. 2y

vivastory @merelybookish I agree. I also really like @gatheringbooks comment & I read a similar statement in a review (I forget which one now) From the little that I read, it seems like she had some dissatisfactions with her marriage but nothing terribly dramatic. It seems like there were autobiographical elements incorporated into her fiction, but I wouldn't call them autofiction. 2y

batsy Well put @GatheringBooks ! There seem to be some definite autobiographical elements, like the bit about growing up in poverty & Shirley's projection onto the girl in the painting. I also shared this tweet with @Billypar earlier when he was musing over the painting scene https://twitter.com/AEAkinwumi/status/1363917510626709506?t (I'm really taken with the fact that she produced this at a late age—the "late bloomer" aspect of it is v uplifting!) 2y

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vivastory

Basic Black with Pearls | Helen Weinzweig

#NYRBBookClub
Shirley has several unusual encounters in a series of vignettes throughout the book. What did you make of these encounters? Are there any that struck you as particularly memorable or unusual & how did they change your expectations of the novel?

GatheringBooks Perhaps the most poignant for me was her memory of her childhood - the sense of isolation, misery, despair and abject indifference from people who are supposed to nurture her and care for her. 2y

vivastory @GatheringBooks I read a few reviews & it seemed to me that there was war trauma underlying the book, but it didn't really show up in hardly any reviews I read. I found that really surprising...the lack of discussion about her experiences as a child 2y

sarahbarnes I think for me the most memorable was the scene in the bakery. When she throws the coins onto the floor and then helps the woman pick them back up. And then leaves the bread she bought there in the bag. It was poignant how they seemed to understand one another. 2y

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vivastory @sarahbarnes That was a fascinating scene! It made me uncomfortable at first, when Shirley was throwing the money on the ground but by the end of the scene it was for sure one of my favorite moments in the book. As you say, an understanding. 2y

DrexEdit The encounter with the painting was the first turning point for me in suspecting not all that was happening was actually happening. The scene at the costume shop with the opera singers was a deja vu moment for me because when the singers started I recognized it as an opera I had seen. She doesn't identify it as a Bartok opera (Bluebeard's Castle) until the end of that scene. So then I decided she was communicating with me in code. 2y

DrexEdit It was hard not to get paranoid in that way while reading this book. Every art or book reference she made seemed to mean something. If I had had more time while reading I would have been done a serious rabbit hole! 2y

Sapphire @DrexEdit that is an interesting comment. If the author could make you feel that, then there was an effectiveness of mood! I wish I had more cultural references points for those details to have been clearer to me. 2y

Billypar @DrexEdit I agree about the experience of reading some of those passages dense with references. The more surreal scenes also had me in one of those reading states where I forget everything going on around me because I'm so wrapped up the book, so it didn't seem far removed from Shirley's experience. 2y

Billypar The scene with the crying woman was a flashback but it still reminded me of some of those other scenes. It also seemed like a rare moment that she mentioned the war, and the interaction with Coenraad that follows makes me wonder how much the trauma of her history plays a role in her delusions or paranoia. 2y

quietjenn Like @sarahbarnes, the encounter in the bakery was the one I found most impactful, and it's the one that I most remember weeks later. I did love the costume shop scene when I was reading it, but it hasn't stayed with me the way that one did. 2y

merelybookish Yes to the bakery scene! @sarahbarnes @quietjenn I also found her daily interaction with the waitress at breakfast weird and striking. She just never seems to belong anywhere or with anyone. 2y

sarahbarnes @merelybookish yes! I‘ve wondered what the deal is with her and the waitress. 2y

sarahbarnes Also, your comment @merelybookish reminds me of her occasional encounters with waiter types who seem to have been expecting her. Is this also a figment of her creation, part of the story she is building? 2y

merelybookish @sarahbarnes I don't know? There's also that scene where she's the only woman in the restaurant. 2y

Megabooks @sarahbarnes @vivastory I think the interaction with the bakery worker will be what sticks with me from this. So much was communicated- from frustration to anger to compassion to companionship. A really great passage. 2y

Megabooks The interaction with the actors made such vivid pictures in my mind. They seemed so much more real than her. 2y

vivastory @Megabooks I agree. The passage in the bakery was one of my favorite scenes in the book, as was the scene with the actors rehearsing Bluebeard. 2y

batsy I loved the painting scene. It felt a little bit Yellow Wallpaper to me, & it also seemed to speak back to a trauma. (& of course, it was interesting to learn the autobiographical connection to that period of being "almost kidnapped" by her father). I also liked her interactions with the waitress, & her statement elsewhere that she's always always drawn back to poverty. It does suggest that Shirley has been trying to escape her past. 2y

39 likes18 comments

vivastory

Basic Black with Pearls | Helen Weinzweig

#NYRBBookClub
In the Chicago Tribune, Kathleen Rooney writes, “Perhaps better than any spy thriller, it invites readers to contemplate the mystery of how, in a society where the pressures and expectations put on wives and mothers are great enough to drive anyone mad, maybe so-called sanity itself is the greatest deception and putative normalcy the flimsiest disguise.“ Do you agree with Rooney's statement?

GatheringBooks Wow with “putative normalcy” - I don‘t even know what that means! 🤷🏽‍♀️lols. But just to attempt my two cents‘ worth, perhaps normalcy is overrated. Maybe Shirley‘s audacious adventures with all the codes and face-reading and lover-hunting-down-Canada is the way to go to transcend life‘s moribund drudgery 🌸🌸🌸 2y

vivastory @GatheringBooks I agree. Normalcy IS overrated & I can't help but wonder how gendered ideas of normalcy it is too. I think that Shirley is not suffering from schizophrenia or any other mental illness, rather she is a sort of domestic Walter Mitty. 2y

sarahbarnes Wow. 🤯 I think this is spot on and agree with you both - I don‘t think Shirley was any more “mad” than any other woman given that label then, when they reached a breaking point with the responsibilities and burdens laid upon them. 2y

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vivastory @sarahbarnes One of my favorite aspects of the novel is how few pages are devoted to her home life. A lesser writer might have been tempted to have her return home sooner. 2y

Billypar I think the idea of the insane being sane and normal life being insane is a little too neat for it to fit as a core theme. That may not be what Rooney meant, but I do think what @GatheringBooks said about normalcy being overrated is closer to what I was thinking. And towards the end, I think Shirley realizes that her new life isn't as different from her old one as she thought, since both require her to wait for her man to dictate her actions. 2y

Billypar I'm watching the show Killing Eve now, and this quote from Villanelle seems relevant to Shirley's situation: "Most of the time, most days, I feel nothing. I don't feel anything. It is so boring. I wake up and I think, again, really? I have to do this again? And what I really don't understand is how come everyone else isn't screaming with, with boredom, too, and I try to find ways to make myself feel something." 2y

vivastory @Billypar I agree with your point about at the end Shirley realizing that her new life isn't as different, since it is still dependent on a man. What intrigued me was the idea of a fantasy life vs conventional ideas of mental health. I think Shirley found freedom in the act of constructing her fantasy that was lacking in her domestic life, even if there were somewhat similar outcomes. 2y

vivastory @Billypar Definitely a case where the adaptation is leaps & bounds better than the source material. 👏 2y

vivastory @Billypar On the point of normalcy being overrated, in the afterword Weinman mentions that it has been pointed out that Weinzweig was influenced by Margaret Laurence. When I read that I was pretty sceptical bc I didn't see any influence, but that *is* one area they have in common for sure 2y

DrexEdit @Billypar That's a good point about her new life not being as different as the one she left. I wonder why the author did that though? She called herself Lola Montez. She could have been anyone, and she reinvented herself as a woman who is still waiting on a man? So is this really a feminist novel? Because Shirley seems just as repressed looking back at her relationship with Coenraad as she is married to Zbigniew. 2y

Sapphire I kept waiting for the fact she was in Toronto to have some revelation beyond she thinks Conraed brought her back home to say goodbye. But that is when I thought she really had gone all the places the postcards represent. But hometowns as characters can be significant commentary on what restricts and what frees us, individually and societally. 2y

vivastory @DrexEdit Although she is waiting on Coenraad, it did seem to me that Lola enjoyed more freedoms (visiting bars, art galleries, the movies) than Shirley did in her domestic space. Both were certainly trapped by the expectations of the men in their life, but IMO she had more freedom in her fantasy world 2y

vivastory @Sapphire That is a good point. There is that line in the novel about you can never go home again, which is actually revealing in hindsight 2y

Billypar @vivastory I haven't read Laurence before but I did think that the comparison to Wittgenstein's Mistress was spot on. Not in the sense that Markson was borrowing from this novel, but just a slight overlap in themes and style. 2y

Billypar @DrexEdit I did see it as a feminist novel but one that critiques a more simplistic version of feminism- like, women should just emulate men, so if men can have affairs, women should too. But if someone chooses a relationship at all (which is too often forgotten as a choice), it's the more subtle dynamics within a relationship that make more of the difference for feminism because they're more linked to individual freedom. 2y

quietjenn While I do think that normalcy is overrated and that there is much to be had from a pretty rich interior (fantasy) life, I'm not convinced that that's all it was for her. As pointed out, we get so little view of her “real“ domestic life and I guess, for me, what we do see isn't repressive enough to create a fantasy this elaborate, without something else going on. 2y

vivastory @quietjenn I think there might be some war trauma that also contributes. 2y

quietjenn @vivastory I suspect you're right about that. 2y

merelybookish That is interesting that she was inspired by Laurence! I think maybe because she's trying to write truthfully about women's lives? Even if the style is different. Although characters in Laurence also have rich fantasy lives, so maybe she just opted to stay in that realm. I think there were several suggestions that Shirley had experience abuse and/or trauma. She seemed so attune to it in others. 2y

merelybookish Oops meant to tag you Scott 👆 @vivastory 2y

Liz_M I absolutely agree that sanity is a construct, defined by society/culture - not only what we think of as insane, but also how the disease manifests. American schizophrenics hear voices that are threatening, but African and Indian schizophrenics typically hear voices that are playful. So, it doesn't surprise me that the fantasy world Lola creates has many of the same constraints and gender roles as the culture she comes from. (edited) 2y

vivastory @Liz_M If I remember correctly Yaa Gyasi speaks about the cultural aspect of schizophrenia in Transcendent Kingdom. (I might be misremembering). 2y

Megabooks @DrexEdit that is an excellent point that she chooses to reinvent herself as someone still waiting on a man. Although she did have more freedom with Coenraad @vivastory but I just still wonder how much of that life with C was 💯 imaginary. 2y

batsy I like Rooney's statement and think there's a lot of truth to it, especially for women in that particular generation. Most were raised to fulfil certain gendered expectations of normalcy, but 2nd wave feminism was showing a different way of being. I'm wondering if Lola was a role she could slip into and thus enable a different side of herself to energe (perhaps a self that Shirley wasn't ready to quite accept?) 2y

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