The Tattooed Girl

by Joyce Carol Oates

Joshua Seigl, a celebrated but reclusive author, is forced for reasons of failing health to surrender his much-prized bachelor's independence. Advertising for an assistant, he unwittingly embarks upon the most dangerous adventure of his privileged life.

Alma Busch, a sensuous, physically attractive young woman with bizarre tattoos covering much of her body, stirs in Seigl a complex of emotions: pity? desire? responsibility? guilt? Unaware of her painful past and her troubled personality, Seigl hires her as his assistant. As the novel alternates between Seigl's and Alma's points of view, the naïve altruism of the one and the virulent anti-Semitism of the other clash in a tragedy of thwarted erotic desire.

With her masterful balance of dark suspense and surprising tenderness, Joyce Carol Oates probes the contemporary tragedy of ethnic hatred and challenges our accepted limits of desire. The Tattooed Girl may be her most controversial novel.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literature, Literary Fiction, American, Novels, Adult

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

About the author

Joyce Carol Oates is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde (2000), and her short story collections The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014) were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel Them (1969), two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the Jerusalem Prize (2019).
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.

Reviews

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve owned this book for years. My desire to read it elevated for two reasons.
1- A close friend, a master scuba diver, died two weeks ago. His body was covered with tattoos of sea creatures.
2- Our daughter is a tattoo artist. She designed Ed’s tattoos: inked his body with colorful underwater fishies. 🐠 🐟🐬🦑🐙🐡.

Every once in awhile - I like to read a novel about a girl with tattoos in honor of our Jewish-tattoo artist daughter. I don’t personally have any tattoos, but Jewish law on tattooing is slippery.
Jews with tattoos today is a growing trend. The ban had weightier implications ever since the holocaust. Orthodox Jews still follow the strictest interpretations of halakhah, but reform Jews no longer follow many of those laws.
Joyce Carol Oats - who is in her 80’s, has an interesting background with Judaism. Her grandmother was Jewish. She didn’t learn this information until after 1970.
After immigrating to America, her ancestors hid their Jewish Heritage from the rest of the family.
She was quoted saying,
“I’m very interested in that culture and identity... and trying to see how I can write about it”.

In this book - Oats tattoo protagonist - Alma Busch isn’t Jewish. She’s a victim to an ugly tattoo on her face - and other tattoos that cover much of her body- ( she doesn’t know who gave them to her.. but we suspect rape and abuse from a group of men).
Alma says over and over again that she “hates Jews”. Alma’s hatred grows stronger from the influence of her Jew-hating abusive boyfriend, Dmitri.. who Alma is constantly trying to impress.

“The Tattoo Girl”, is
filled with profanity and ugliness, with a couple of very un-likable complex characters.

Before I say more about this novel, - it’s characters - plot and prose -
I notice patterns about books written about tat-women.
I’ve yet to read any novel about a tattoo girl that is considered wholesome, honest, traditionally educated, demonstrating moral inspiration to society.
Yet, I know several.
Instead - in our novels, we have tattoo hackers, abused tattoo girls, illiterate tattoo girls- strippers, dishonesty, poverty, drug users, thieves, and killers.
Personally - I’m starting to tire of stereotyping of tattoo girls.
That said... this book ( with understandably mixed reviews), is incredibly well written.
I can’t say I ‘liked’ this story for the story itself - as its a very disturbing tale- but I found it also completely mesmerizing thought-provoking - and important.

Joshua Seigl - is a reclusive 39 year old man - ( considered middle age?/!)....known especially for a book he wrote years ago called “The Shadows”. It’s a story based on his grandparents experiences in Germany during the holocaust.
Josh is considered attractive. He’s an academic - and an independent bachelor. He realizes he needs to hire an assistant due to his failing health. He was diagnosed with a nerve disorder. He needs to use a cane - as sometimes he falls. His health goes through changes and is as mysterious as the understanding as to what makes everyone tic as they do in this novel.
Josh interviews dozen of qualified men for the personal assistant job - but each one has some characteristic flaw that bugs the hell out of Josh.

When Josh meets Alma - the young one day in a cafe - he’s intrigued by her. She has more flaws than all the men combined that he interviewed to be his assistant- yet he hires Alma - and doubles the salary she has been earning.

Their relationship - not sexual - ( Oats didn’t go there thank goodness)- is so darn odd - the reader can’t help but ponder each of their characteristics.
Josh sees Alma as a more persecuted victim than any of the Holocaust victims in his novel. He feels protective of her. Offers her a room in his house. He loves the girl and trusts her.
Alma is ungrateful- conniving- steals from Josh. Secretly hates everything about Mr. Seigl.
Alma’s inner voice of him is so distasteful- I absolutely hated her myself. I found it hard to pity her... even though she slowly comes to respect him. ‘Slowly’ is the word.

We meet, Jet, Josh’s sister, a character with emotional scars. Josh and Jet have disturbingly relationship. Her visit with
Alma in the house doesn’t go well.
We meet few of Josh’s friends - an old lover... his lawyer... and Alma’s pimpy-boyfriend...
but the heart of the story focuses on Josh and Alma.

The story is disturbing. The characters disturbing...
and the ending disturbing.

Oats ( in my opinion), wanted her readers to think about the contrast of our
historical scars and our present every day scars.

Guilt, shame, anxiety, blame - resentment- hatred > these are all painful scars of humanity.
Anything that numbs emotional scars - such as anger & resentment that we see in Alma - and history -undermines healing - corrective behavior- therefore perpetuates suffering.

Lots of suffering - scared characters - scared history-makes this book devastating and fascinating!
Also - very engrossing reading!

4.5 stars

[Fabian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really must get going on J. C. O. She's arguably the best woman writer we have. Joyce Carol Oates is simply... JUICY!

I have previously only read "Zombie" and fell in love with her anarchistic style of writing.... makes Chuck Palahniuk look the fraud he is. There is some of that here, intermingled with almost young-adult reader-friendliness. This is a dark tale, on the same scale as Stephen King's "Apt Pupil".

There is The Jew Seigl, a strong character that reeks of academia, and then his twisted two-fold shifty nemesis: Punk and Doomed Princess/Tattooed Girl, in one sturdy battle lasting a good 200+ pages. Seigl is a sad character as is his foe. This duality inspires many thoughts in an otherwise oblivious reader. There is something underneath. There are touches of masterful horror here, as well as an undercurrent of severe sadness. The characters... well, they kind of don't make it all in one piece at the end. There is something sickly morbid and Diane Arbus-like in almost anything Carol Oates sets her brain to. Must get hands on some more!!

[LA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Rochester, New York’s posh, hilly suburb is home to some secrets.

Here is the shadowy story of Joshua Siegl, a 39 year old writer, translator of Greek classics, poet, and playwright. He is born into affluence, and while he does not flaunt or even really notice it, his large tips and largesse in general are evidence that he's never had to read a price tag in his life. The enormous house left to him by his parents and most of his wealth came to him through no effort on his part.

Joshua is revered, however, in the literary and academic world primarily for his first - and last - novel. It is a short volume where he reimagines characters similar to his paternal grandparents who were captive in Dachau concentration camp. His fans and his sister (who egocentrically proclaims herself his muse) ardently ask for a sequel to his holocaust novel, but he refuses. Translating Virgil is more to his tastes.

Siegl is the stereotypical academic, even if he does not work at a university. He plays chess at a local café a few times a month, usually picking up the tab for his opponents' cocktails. He is kind to everyone, and aside from leading on the affections of a female friend who wants more from their relationship, Joshua is pretty wonderful. The guy is a mensch.

Enter Joshua's regular waiter at the café. Dmitri (whose last name is pronounced MEAT) is well polished and poised in the restaurant, perfectly attentive to Joshua who tips him extravagantly for his efforts. The waiter anticipates his every need, protects him from tipsy literary-fan-girls, and seems to hold Joshua Siegl in high esteem.

Except that he doesn't. Dmitri hates Joshua's Jew face, his Jew lips, his Jew everything. He is obsequious only to secure the cash that so easily falls from Siegl's hands. The author here gives us immediate reason to dislike this character and then cranks up this discomfort when, finally, the tattooed girl enters Dmitri's spell.

Let me stop right here and say that there is some seriously awful stuff in this novel. If poor (and that's an understatement) treatment of women is a trigger for you, maybe shy away.

So, to the girl...her name is Alma. Her last name is pronounced BUSH. She is lovely, somewhat rubenesque, but has no self confidence whatsoever. Slap her across the face. Do it again. And again. She will not so much as put up her hand to stop you. As a man, suggest that she sleep with another to prove her love. She will do it.

Alma speaks simply, averts eye contact, and her voice is crusted with a nasally twang. And yet somehow, she outbids at least half a dozen young men with post graduate degrees to be hired by Joshua Siegl as his research assistant. While he does find her lovely, despite the reddish blemish on her cheek - a birthmark? a tattoo? - he does not have predatory intentions to her. Joshua is a trusting, good hearted man and merely wants an assistant who will not read or judge his literary works in progress.

This book is full of dark surprises, some of them truly repulsive, so I do not want to spoil your time with it by revealing more of the plot. I will only say that Alma becomes more and more important to Joshua as he has health problems crop up, and while he is incredibly generous to her, she is in love with the anti-Semite Dmitri. You will wonder where her loyalties lie.

Maybe you have a favorite wait-person at a local restaurant who you consider nearly a friend. Perhaps the gent who checks in your dry cleaning is incredibly affable each time you stop by. The Tattooed Girl will have you wondering exactly what it is that those in service jobs really think of you, their 'favorite' customer.

Not a happy book, but pretty mesmerizing for me. Five stars.

[Michela De Bartolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un romanzo crudele e spietato . La caratteristica della Oates è quella di saper delineare psicologicamente i suoi personaggi. Il protagonista uno scrittore , solo , di origine ebreo , il suo romanzo “le ombre “ incentrato sugli orrori dell’ Olocausto. Un senso di macabro e di violenza percorrono ripetutamente all’interno di questo libro. Le prime 100 pagine si perdono in interminabili turbe mentali del professore protagonista, sul suo percorso di vita sul suo egocentrismo e solitudine. In seguito c’è lo sviluppo della trama quando lo scrittore incontra Alma che diventerà la sua assistente. Alma un personaggio ambiguo dal passato devastato da droga e sesso , a tratti sgradevole in altri aspetti sembra affascinante e piacevole . Lei odierà profondamente il suo “ Salvatore “ , forse perché ebreo , forse perché ricco e spendaccione, forse perché è l’unico uomo che ha mostrato nei suoi confronti affetto ed empatia . La conclusione sarà crudele come tutto il romanzo. Morboso e spiazzante sono le emozioni che ho provato .

[cj · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found something hostile and unpleasant and misanthropic about this, but I can't deny that it is smart, complex, compelling storytelling. In many ways, it reads like a thriller (with a healthy dose of the gothic); violence and doom are lurking right from the start, and I found myself sort of helplessly rooting for the protagonists to overcome their apparently inevitable fates, despite having very little sympathy for either of them.

But its themes are Serious Business (violence, prejudice, history, language, who has the right to claim suffering - etc) and its ideas keep working on you long after the novel is finished. It is also highly literatate and intertextual and contains all sorts of stuff for the academic to sink their teeth into - hurrah. However, my four-star rating is slightly misleading, because while I thought it was, in a lot of ways, excellent, it would not be fair to say that I 'really liked it'--it was just too pitiless and brutal for that.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has to be one of the worst books I have ever read. The only reason I finished it was because it was a book club pick. The whole book is filled with anti-Semitic slurs. I couldn't care less about any of the characters. It was difficult to find a redeeming quality to anyone. Also, certain facts are never discovered (what was Seigl's disease and who tattooed the girl and why???) I really wonder if the person who wrote the blurb on the book cover read the same book that I did. It was nothing like the book at all. Unfortunately, this was my first Oates book and to be honest, it may be my last. I would most definitely pass this book up.

[Laura Zurowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many negative reviews of this book that for a moment I thought I had made a wrong selection! I'm a huge JCO fan and IMHO this title did not disappoint. True, the characters are deeply flawed, broken, and ignorant - but that's what her books are all about. You want a romance story between a writer and a girl with tattoos go pick up that other book that was wildly popular a few years ago. In this story, what resonated strongly for me is that the relationship between Joshua and Alma represents our ability to "mis-know" another by projecting thoughts, stereotypes, and fantasies onto them. I don't know about you, but isn't that your greatest fear? Scary, page-turning stuff indeed.

[Thomas Stroemquist · Rating 3 out of 5]

I debated with myself whether to recommend this book or not. It is well written and a very good and insightful story about what happens when a number of people (foremost the wealthy and distinguished author/professor Siegl and the poor and horribly abused Alma (girl of the title), who is hired as his assistant) are brought together. The characters are for the most part believable and complex, with a lot of issues. The story is very dark and unrelenting, however, and I read the entire book with dread, anticipating an unhappy and crushing end. Not that I am a sucker for Hollywood endings, but I do like some redeeming values, happenings, actions in a book. The book feels rather cut short also. So, despite all its good parts, this one goes without recommendation, but if you feel up to it (and especially if you enjoy the authors other work) do not hesitate.

[Snotchocheez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps I'm biased, but JCO hasn't ever written a bad book, in my opinion. The reviews for "The Tattooed Girl" were somewhat lukewarm, at best. I think it is probably one of her better books. With some of her longer material, she has a tendancy to run on and on, covering the same ground again and again. Not so with short books like "The Tattooed Girl". An economy of English is exhibited; and it's all killer, no filler. (pun intended, sorta) Oates' tale of the inked girl and her life as she hooks up with an abusive man while in need of succor, and her eventual secretarial/housekeeping stint with an eccentric, wealthy writer is a morality tale, a taut thriller (at times), and a psychological exam, all in one. I'm not sure that I like the ending all that much, but it's not terrible and doesn't really take away from the enjoyability of the book.

[فریبا ارجمند · Rating 2 out of 5]

دومین کتاب از خانم اوتز که شروع کردم و اولینی که تا آخر خوندم.
کتاب قطعا اونقدر کشش داره که نیمه‌کاره رهاش نکنید، و در توصیف و زبان روایت هم قوی است. اما چیزی دیگری نمیشه درباره‌اش گفت.
به نظرم اوتز از اون نویسنده‌هاست که اگر ندونی نمی‌فهمی زنه

[Alaíde Ventura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tons sí se puede escribir "pilitiquiminitinquirricti", con prejuicios, estereotipos, misoginia, de todo, si está bien armado y dialogizado. Qué genia esta señora, eh.

[Aliza · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first Joyce Carol Oates book and I am quite pleased with the writing, but not too devoted to this particular plot or, for that matter, the characters. For the writing I'll say this: Oates sprinkles in metaphors and similes and makes allusions to Biblical and Greek works with the steady, knowing hand of a seasoned chef preparing their own specially created dish. I wasn't ever overwhelmed by metaphors and I didn't feel the need to look up passages from Virgil. She's very matter of fact about things, not esoteric at all, which is refreshing.

About the characters: Well. I didn't judge the book by its cover, per se, but I did have a certain expectation based on the title. I thought the tattooed girl was going to be edgy and raven-haired, à la Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Wrong. This character is slow and dim, described as having straw hair and fat, a girl with a fierce desire to be loved, so fierce that she's often abused by men who she "loves" in the hopes that they shall lover her back. She *does* have tattoos but, and even the other characters in the book expressed the same confusion, they look like little mistakes and aren't edgy or sophisticated or artsy. Oates describes them as little lines of lace all on her arms and hands and neck and one under her eye that looks like a moth, or a bruise. Of course, we aren't really given a proper background story on where these tattoos came from and what they mean, but I've learned that this is just a classic Oates plot device.

The male character, the author of a riveting Holocaust novel, is older, wiser, smarter, and of course wants to take care of Alma (the tattooed girl) in the act of providing her with a job as his assistant, even though she is so clearly under qualified. That part probably irked me the most. He seems like someone who wants to help other people realize their potential, but doesn't want to be with someone who is capable of doing that on their own because they have the brains to expect more things out of him. Anyways.

Their relationship is strange and precarious. The author is attracted to Alma but also turns snappish and repulsed sometimes, though part of that is just mood swings from his neurodegenerative disease. Alma is attracted to pretty much any man; attracted to men who hit her because they do, and attracted to men who don't hit her because they don't. I feel like the reader is supposed to like Alma more in the end, fawn over her redeeming qualities, blah blah blah. I didn't. I found both characters to be frustrating in their own way (Alma exceedingly so). But the writing is lovely I look forward to reading more of Oates's works, hopefully some with characters I won't immediately dismiss from my head.

[Lois Bouchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really disturbed me and grabbed me at the same time. There was a lot to think about. The author skilfully weaves a tale of such sadness, anger, poignancy, and pure evil that it took my breath away. The way she introduces the true natures of each of the characters was great. Alma was antisemitic without having any real idea of why except that her less-than-savory family had been bigoted against Jews. But, hey, isn't that quite true of most bigotry? Her self-loathing had obviously been spawned by the same wonderful family. Her pathetic need to cling to the nasty Dimitri with no understanding of her real allure gave way to the start of a deep affection for Joshua Seigl and the basis of a real understanding of herself.

Joshua was as ignorant of his own inner self as Alma was. He was in love with Alma on some level practically from the first time he met her, but didn't really have any idea of what to do with his feelings. What his actual disease was didn't seem too important to me. He really didn't have any help in dealing with it psychologically. Not that he probably would have accepted that help anyway. The dark climax of the book left me stunned. Joyce Carol Oates has my vote.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

One sometimes wonders, with contemporary American novelists, if they have ever left their homes and interacted with an actual human being.

[Rosaria Battiloro · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stelline

[Elisso]

«Το κορίτσι με το τατουάζ» είναι ένα βιβλίο που περιγράφει τη σύγχρονη τραγωδία του φυλετικού μίσους αλλά και την απέχθεια που μπορεί να προκαλέσει η διαφορετικότητα ενός ατόμου.

Διαβάζοντας κάποιος το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο της Όουτς ίσως αισθανθεί ότι διακατέχεται από μισανθρωπισμό και όντως έτσι είναι. Είναι όμως ένα χαρακτηριστικό που πηγάζει από τη γραφή της συγγραφέως για να αναδείξει ακριβώς τα συναισθήματα που νιώθουν οι πρωταγωνιστές της ιστορίας της ο ένας για τον άλλον, για τους γύρω τους, για το περιβάλλον μέσα στο οποίο ζουν και αναπνέουν. Είναι μια γραφή που φτάνει στα όρια του κυνισμού και της ειρωνείας προκειμένου να μεγιστοποιήσει τη βιαιότητα, τις προκαταλήψεις, τα στερεότυπα, τις σκέψεις των ανθρώπων της εποχής μας που ζουν μέσα στην καθημερινότητα μιας τυπικής και συμβιβαστικής ζωής και κάθε τι που αποκκλίνει της ρούτινας τους τούς αποδιοργανώνει και τους ταράζει. Το διαφορετικό που εισβάλλει στη ζωή τους τούς σοκάρει και τους ωθεί στα ψιθυρίσματα πίσω από την πλάτη του άλλου, στην εξαπόλυση ύβρεων και άσχημων εκφράσεων, στην ταπείνωση και υποβίβαση του ατόμου που διαφέρει με αποτέλεσμα να του προκαλούν οργή και αγανάκτηση.

Η Άλμα Μπους είναι το κορίτσι με το τατουάζ και η εμφάνιση της στο Κάρμελ Χάιτς προκαλεί ποικίλα συναισθήματα στους κατοίκους του. Ένα κορίτσι με ένα σκοτεινό και οδυνηρό παρελθόν και μια διαταραγμένη προσωπικότητα. Ο διάσημος συγγραφέας Τζόσουα Ζιγκλ θα προσλάβει την Άλμα σαν βοηθό του παρόλο που θεωρεί ότι δεν έχει ανάγκη τη βοήθεια κάποιου. Η καταπονημένη υγεία του όμως δεν του αφήνει και πολλά περιθώρια.

Ο Ζιγκλ και η Άλμα είναι δύο χαρακτήρες πολυσύνθετοι και έχουν πολλά θέματα ο καθένας τους. Ο Ζιγκλ είναι ένας πλούσιος και διάσημος συγγραφέας, εργένης, αποξενωμένος από τον κόσμο, κλεισμένος στο καβούκι του, ένας νευρωτικός τύπος με εμμονές και ένα απροκάλυπτο μίσος για τους ανθρώπους. Σίγουρα ένας χαρακτήρας που δεν θα μπορούσαμε να περιμένουμε κάποια χνάρια καλοσύνης. Και, όμως, στο πρόσωπο της Άλμας θα βρει έναν άνθρωπο που θα τον κάνει να νιώσει συμπόνοια, λύπηση και μερικά ψήγματα αγάπης. Παρόλο που η ασθένεια του θα τον φέρει στα όρια του παραλογισμού νιώθει ότι το κορίτσι με το τατουάζ είναι εξαιρετικά ευάλωτο και χρήζει τρυφερότητας και προστασίας όπως ένα μικρό παιδί.

Η Άλμα είναι μια νέα γυναίκα ιδιαίτερα ταλαιπωρημένη από τη ζωή που δεν της φέρθηκε με τον καλύτερο τρόπο. Από μικρό παιδί έχει υποστεί βαναυσότητα, κακοποίηση και εκμετάλλευση. Χαρακτηριστικά που την έχουν μετατρέψει σε έναν άνθρωπο που θα προσκολληθεί σε οποιονδήποτε της δείξει λίγο ενδιαφέρον, τρυφερότητα και αγάπη χωρίς να μπορεί να ξεχωρίσει αν οι προθέσεις του άλλου είναι αγνές ή όχι. Έναν άνθρωπο που ψάχνει απεγνωσμένα ένα τρυφερό βλέμμα, μια ζεστή αγκαλιά, έναν καλό λόγο. Η γνωριμία της με τον Τζόσουα Ζιγκλ και η καθημερινότητα μαζί του θα της αλλάξουν τον τρόπο που σκέφτεται. Θα την ωριμάσουν, όχι απότομα, αλλά σταδιακά….

Πολλούς, ίσως, τους ενοχλήσει η ωμή γραφή της Όουτς, την οποία χαρακτηρίζουν καταθλιπτικά στοιχεία και είναι ένα βιβλίο που κατά ειρωνικό τρόπο δεν έχει αυτό που ονομάζουμε happy end. Γιατί η συγγραφέας σκοπό έχει να προκαλέσει αμφισβητώντας τα κοινωνικώς αποδεκτά όρια της επιθυμίας. Το βιβλίο της χαρακτηρίζεται από μαύρο σασπένς και μία εντελώς απρόσμενη τρυφερότητα που θα τραβήξει τους αναγνώστες σαν μαγνήτης. Ένα από τα πιο αμφιλεγόμενα μυθιστορήματα μιας μεγάλης συγγραφέως με ιδιαίτερη γραφή και σκέψη που θα μας ξαφνιάσει.

[Elizabeth Moeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times, the characters in this novel seem more like actors in a parable, than real, fully fleshed humans. There is the chubby, sexual, dumb blond girl from the poor desolate lands of western Pennsylvania; the wealthy, intellectual Jewish man whose defining features are guilt and obliviousness; and the swarthy, angular hustler who uses the girl in hopes of getting to the man. All of these characters orbit around each other in a suburb of Rochester, NY, experiencing differing versions of understanding and love and hate.
What keeps the novel from feeling too much like an exercise in exploring why people hate or cannot relate to each other is the ending. I won't destroy the emotional impact of the two events at the end that are the culmination of the love and hate that course through the book. The way in which the author was able to depict the emotions related to these events really raised the value of the story for me. The personalities and actions of the characters throughout the book snapped into focus and made sense as leading up to what occurs.
In addition to the emotional impact of the story, I also really enjoyed the examination of what it means to be a reader or an intellectual versus someone who has no use for big ideas or stories. I respected that the author was able to examine and question both sides of this divide without making one side seem superior.

[Monika · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sad to say, but my first foray into Oates wasn’t successful – I had myself bored and was rolling my eyes throughout. Wouldn't recommend this book even to my worst enemy.

In the tense storyline offered by The Tattooed Girl we get an anti-Semite, a misogynist, a crazy sister, and a self-serving eccentric writer. All these characters represent roles and don’t act like characters of blood and bones; they don’t appear alive and for this reason they could barely get any sympathy from the reader. Critical self-evaluation? These personages didn’t hear about such thing. One of the main characters absurdly changes as the narrative progresses and the reader is supposed to accept this change without giving any doubt to it, even the smallest. No, the astute reader cannot do it, pardon.

It seemed Oates sacrificed character development in order to write a beautiful sentence – here, on a sentence level, I don’t have criticisms. The sentences were great; they just didn’t fall into the picture and didn’t redeem inconsistent characters. The misfortunate fetishization that leads nowhere running throughout the book was another reason I couldn’t enjoy the novel, making this dark tale for adults a plodding, clumsy read that I could by no means recommend to my fellow bookworms.

[Jim Leckband · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oates plays with the concept of how inclusion or exclusion in a group affects how we end up living our lives. The two main characters are a rich, half-non-practicing Jewish male, successful writer (not unlike Philip Roth - who is the book's dedicatee) and a poor, uneducated, half-practicing Christian young woman who has a lot of poorly done tatoos. As you can tell - Oates is fairly obvious in delineating the difference between them.

The author character has written a novel based on his relative's experiences in pre-WWII Germany and in the death camps - this holocaust reference is also a fairly obvious nod to what happens when a group's prejudices are dangerously out of sync with reality. The raw differences in the characters and their viewpoints along with the historical and present day references to class/religious divides make this novel a little "blueprinty" for me. Oates has done better in my opinion - though below-par Oates is way above most of the other fiction out there in my opinion!

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quarto romanzo di quest'autrice, per me.Un altro thriller psicologico, una lettura abbastanza scorrevole, coinvolgente ed intensa, a tratti molto cruda, come nello stile dell'autrice.Il filo conduttore del romanzo è la solitudine, coniugata nella storia dei due protagonisti principali, volutamente antitetici per formazione culturale e carattere.La trama abbastanza semplice, i dialoghi quasi assenti per lasciare posto all'introspezione dei personaggi, magistralmente raccontati attraverso i pensieri e le emozioni più intime, in un'evoluzione graduale che porta all'epilogo inaspettato e paradossale.Un finale che avrei sperato un po' diverso, in grado di definire e concludere più felicemente o almeno positivamente una storia che già all'inizio si presenta inquietante e che durante la lettura fa presagire, o sperare, un epilogo salvifico per i due personaggi, accomunati dalla solitudine, dall'infelicità o, per lo meno, dall'incapacità di risolvere la loro esistenza.Una lettura non per tutti...e non sarà certamente l'ultima, per quanto mi riguarda.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were so many themes running throughout this book that I almost started taking notes. Aside from the obvious - there was another level of the inner workings of denial, depression, and psychological mechanisms involved in self hate and the projections thereof. Joyce Carol Oates is a genius. Her understanding of how we work out our self delusions in our relationships is astounding - and then to top it off she is able to write a story, excellent plot and all, that takes us into that world if we allow ourselves to go there.

However, to me, if you do not see the deeper layers and experience them viscerally, her book could seem a bit dull. Simply reading her for the top layer of plot is not going to be enough.

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I'm not completely sure how I feel about this one either. I enjoy Joce Carol Oates writing for the most part, even if her books isn't always a winner. Thought this was very well done and I like the difference between the characters that have to come togheter through work. It's not a new favorite though, but it helped me made up my mind to borrow more books by her from the library to read, as they seem to have quite the collection!

[Joy H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Added (& started reading) on 6/19/18
(first published May 1st 2003) (Kate Fleming, Narrator)

I read the description and it sounded good. Besides, I have great respect for Joyce Carol Oates' writing.

I'll be listening to this book in my browser.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BELOW IS FROM THE GOODREADS DESCRIPTION:
"Joshua Seigl is a celebrated but reclusive author. Young but in failing health, he reluctantly admits that he can no longer live alone and launches a search for an assistant. He is dissatisfied with everyone he meets until he encounters Alma. A young woman with synthetic-looking blond hair and pale, tattooed skin, she stirs something inside him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BELOW IS FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY:
"When a reclusive, 38-year-old writer hires a near-illiterate young woman as an assistant at his suburban home in Carmel Heights, near Rochester, N.Y., he's unaware that a vehement anti-Semitism seethes beneath her tattoo-branded exterior."
FROM: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

June 20, 2018 - Engrossing! I'm 64% through the book. Hope it stays as engrossing!

June 20, 2018
============================
In this book, THE TATTOOED GIRL, I found the following interesting quote about "words":
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Though words sometimes puzzled Alma, she never looked up any word in any dictionary; a word was like a pebble to be turned briefly in the hand, and tossed away, with no expectation that it would be encountered again."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[IN OTHER WORDS ALMA NEVER HAD THE URGE TO LOOK UP THE MEANING OF A WORD.]
I searched online for this great quote but the only web page I could find was:
https://tampub.uta.fi/bitstream/handl...
This web page seems to be a post-graduate thesis called: "The Construction of Identity in Joyce Carol Oates' The Tattooed Girl" (It's a PDF file.)
===========================

June 20, 2018 - I'm 83% through the book. It's STILL engrossing! In fact, sometimes Alma "grosses" me out! :) Sometimes I'm shocked by the weirdness of Alma, the assistant. This book certainly draws you in!

June 20, 2018 Well, I've finished the book. The ending puzzled me. I certainly didn't expect it to end that way. The meaning of the last sentence can mean so many things. It can be debated for a long time. The last words in the story were: "It's over. There's justice now."

I googled and realized that there is a relationship to Virgil's _Aeneid_ in this story's plot, but it's vague to me because I don't know anything about the _Aeneid_.

For those of you, more ambitious than I am, see the following links for explanations. When you get to the web pages, you may have to do the "Search" application to find related words.

https://tampub.uta.fi/bitstream/handl...

https://vdocuments.mx/sibylline-siste...

https://www.shmoop.com/aeneid/dido.html

GOOD LUCK!

[Stratos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία, πολύ καλή γραφή, ένα καλό βιβλίο....

[Chris Blocker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Years ago, I fell into Oates. It started with a short story that I really loved, “Shopping”. From there, I jumped into one novel, then another and another. It seemed like I was going to read a lot of Oates in my lifetime. But I could tell her writing was a bit hit or miss, a consequence likely from her prolificacy.

So I told myself years ago that the next Oates I would read would be the collection that contained the story that got me into Oates's writing originally. I had a copy of Heat on my shelf and, despite the best intentions, it remained unread. Year after year it sat on my “to be read immediately” pile, never to be read. More than eight years have passed since I last read Oates. I was fed up with looking at Heat in my to-read pile, so I decided to do something about it: I read The Tattooed Girl. I don't know why, but at least it delivered me from my Oates drought.

So here's the thing about The Tattooed Girl: it has some problems right away. First and foremost, there are some cliches about that are probably best left alone at this point. We're talking renowned bachelor Jewish author who is a recluse kind of cliché. Sure, these people exist—I'm sure Oates herself knows quite a few of them—but reading about them is almost as painful as reading any novel about an author. (If there's ever an author in my own fiction, he or she will be an object of satire and nothing more, I swear.) But even with the overwrought author and the sexy, sexualized girl who shows up at his door to be an assistant, the book holds some promise. The dynamics are interesting enough. The characters show some potential for growth. And the mystery and tension build steadily.

But then Oates does what she does best: she moves onto the next novel. I mean, when Oates has a great story and takes the time to develop it, it is a magical thing. That said, I've read enough to know that the greatest care is not put into all of her novels. Look at how often she publishes and you get an idea of why this may be—she's just not taking ample time with some stories that deserve more. The result in The Tattooed Girl is that despite building some fabulous (albeit cliched) characters, Oates could care less about them. They don't really develop, certainly not naturally. It feels as though these are merely character sketches that are quickly thrown on the page with very little affection. Good ideas abound, but the self-indulgence of a good idea does not breathe life into a story. The Tattooed Girl is chock full of ideas, but it lacks the pulse to make it a thing of beauty.

[Maya Lang · Rating 3 out of 5]

A provocative exploration of prejudice and the complex factors that thwart or foster human compassion. Joshua Seigl is a reclusive scholar and writer whose world view does not extend past his own navel. He is neurotic and obsessive, and a series of interviews for an assistant early in the novel reveal cringe-worthy moments of misanthropy. Seigl is, in short, not a figure from whom we expect kindness. Enter Alma Busch, the tattooed girl whose very skin invites pity. She is a victim of abuse, current and previous, and several graphic scenes ensue that make it clear we are supposed to root for her.

On one hand, it is masterful how Oates pits these expectations against us. Seigl finds his new tattooed assistant indispensable. He pities her (as we do) in a naive, sometimes patronizing show of privileged liberal guilt. Alma, we soon learn, is a Holocaust denier. Her actions and views are reprehensible. Oates is clearly going out of her way to make us question our own prejudices and reactions. When do we feel compassion and when do we deem it "worthy"? At a certain point in the novel, the reader wants the poor infirm Seigl to stop trusting Alma, to realize he is being exploited. "Aggressor" and "victim" reverse. All of this is thought-provoking, fertile (this review is already much longer than I intended it to be because the material here is so rich).

That said, I think the concepts are better than the execution. It bothers me when the discussions a book can foster are better than the novel itself. (It should be the reverse, I think. Truly excellent novels thwart our ability to discuss them.) The prose here was not Oates' best, and her characters felt like chess pieces, moved this way and that with an objective in mind. I was left thinking about this novel for quite some time, so that alone is worth quite a bit, but compassion--that very quality Oates is urging us to consider--felt lacking.

[Heather Muzik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joyce Carol Oates does it again. I felt unnerved and enthralled and engrossed and disturbed all at once. The Tattooed Girl is replete with contradictions and crammed full of ignorance and hate. The story progresses slowly and goes a little bit of nowhere, more of a snapshot of two lives than a start-to-finish spoon-fed tale, but that just so happens to be something that I liked about it. As for the writing itself, it was engaging and poetic--perfect pace and timing to drive forward that which is otherwise too base to capture the eye. I was particularly drawn to the tragic, self-defeating genius of Seigl. Honestly, I kind of fell for him in the second chapter in which his neuroses were exposed through a vein of dark humor. Alma, on the other hand, was a tough nut. Dull and ignorant at times; perceptive and capable at others. Like an abused animal will bite the hand that cares and feeds, she is hard to disregard in spite of her truly disturbing actions.

Was it perfect? No. Were there characters I absolutely abhorred and would have been happier never having met? Yes. Did the last couple pages steal a little something from me? Yes.

[Faith Reidenbach · Rating 2 out of 5]

Into each life some Joyce Carol Oates must fall. Read this for a book group. Stereotypical characters, stereotypical victimization of the female lead. Ending reads like it was written by an 8th-grade boy.

I did appreciate the conversation between a wealthy, famous Jewish writer and an uneducated, unsophisticated anti-Semite about whether the Holocaust happened. As usual, was bored by having a lead character who's a writer, but a little less so here because we see the burdens of fame for that writer, who is possibly modeled on Oates herself.

My paperback edition carries a cover picture of a girl with a dragon tattoo, not at all the type of tattoo the title character has. I wonder whose idea that was? I wonder whether it helps sales?

[Hareem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Siegl. But I found Alma hard to believe in, at times. Felt like her backstory needed some more specifics. It was implied that everything bad that COULD have happened to her, DID. That came across as overkill. It gave her too much of a flatness. Also, at the tricky point where her feelings for Siegl begin to become more complex, we lose access to her mind’s narrative. That is, we heard her LOATHING loud and clear. But when and why she turned? That was obscured, underdeveloped and therefore it lacked a certain credibility.

But here I am, a day later, still mentally piecing together her story.
Haunted?
Yes.
Intrigued?
Yes.

And for providing this mental preoccupation, I give five stars to JCO.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Joyce Carol Oates. She is beautiful and creepy and dark and always finds a new voice, even if on similiar themes. I read this book in two days. The Tattooed Girl features two main characters, Joshua Siegl, a half-Jewish writer with a secret condition, and Alma, the mysterious girl he employs. Oates is not afraid to write about what's dark and ugly about people's secret thoughts and wishes. There are twists and turns, and a total WTF ending. Good for a dark and stormy night.