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Kin-Flicks
Kin-Flicks [Hardcover] [Jan 01, 1976] Alther, Lisa
506 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
May 6, 2010
There are many reasons the current direction of the publishing industry is a shame, but one of the biggest is that it means fewer of sprawling, epic novels will be published (unless, of course, they are written by someone like Tom Wolfe, which is an even bigger shame.) As a result, a novel like Kinflicks would probably never be published today.
Kinflicks reminded me a lot of one of my favorite books, Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham, in that it is a coming-of-age novel that not only addresses the life of its protagonist, but that it also addresses Big Ideas and Big Institutions with more than a hint of irreverence. Maugham had his go at the 19th century Parisian art world; Alther takes her run at everything from small-town teenage life in the 1960s to separatist-feminist commune life and the sphere of domesticity in the 1970s. Nothing is off-limits. Everything is game for satire.
(Mind you, just because she rips on the whole proto-MWMF deal does not mean Alther is not a feminist. On the contrary, I sometimes felt like I was being walloped about the head with her politics, which are straight-up second-wave. I actually thought it was pretty awesome, but I can see how others would be turned off by that. Ditto for her frank discussion of sex. There is no fading to black. There is, however, a glow-in-the-dark condom and an unfortunate incident with some handcuffs.)
Which reminds me, this book also called to mind another writer I enjoy, John Irving, and probably more specifically, The World According to Garp. It's more than just the second-wave milieu in which the novels are set, but also how people are killed or maimed in some pretty grotesque ways or the way every person or place is given a full backstory, complete with obsessions, tics, disfigurements, bizarre relationships, and so on. Plus, Irving also writes novels that have scope, that cross decades and generations, that tell the stories of people's lives, which is exactly what Alther does here.
(God, now I am sad for bygone literary eras. How annoying is that.)
I would say that anyone who enjoys John Irving and who has a fascination with second-wave feminism (like me!) would enjoy reading this book. I know I loved it, and I am glad I heard about it, because knowing that I could have gone my entire life without reading this book makes me very sad indeed.
Kinflicks reminded me a lot of one of my favorite books, Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham, in that it is a coming-of-age novel that not only addresses the life of its protagonist, but that it also addresses Big Ideas and Big Institutions with more than a hint of irreverence. Maugham had his go at the 19th century Parisian art world; Alther takes her run at everything from small-town teenage life in the 1960s to separatist-feminist commune life and the sphere of domesticity in the 1970s. Nothing is off-limits. Everything is game for satire.
(Mind you, just because she rips on the whole proto-MWMF deal does not mean Alther is not a feminist. On the contrary, I sometimes felt like I was being walloped about the head with her politics, which are straight-up second-wave. I actually thought it was pretty awesome, but I can see how others would be turned off by that. Ditto for her frank discussion of sex. There is no fading to black. There is, however, a glow-in-the-dark condom and an unfortunate incident with some handcuffs.)
Which reminds me, this book also called to mind another writer I enjoy, John Irving, and probably more specifically, The World According to Garp. It's more than just the second-wave milieu in which the novels are set, but also how people are killed or maimed in some pretty grotesque ways or the way every person or place is given a full backstory, complete with obsessions, tics, disfigurements, bizarre relationships, and so on. Plus, Irving also writes novels that have scope, that cross decades and generations, that tell the stories of people's lives, which is exactly what Alther does here.
(God, now I am sad for bygone literary eras. How annoying is that.)
I would say that anyone who enjoys John Irving and who has a fascination with second-wave feminism (like me!) would enjoy reading this book. I know I loved it, and I am glad I heard about it, because knowing that I could have gone my entire life without reading this book makes me very sad indeed.
July 13, 2010
It's hard to believe that it's been 30 years since this book was first published. I remember reading reviews of it at the time. It does not deserve to be forgotten, and with luck, will be discovered by a new generation of readers.
It is a long book--Lisa Alther takes her time--but at tleast the reader is not left with questions due to things insufficiently explained, or characters not sufficiently fleshed out. It occurred to me that she may one of the last generations of truly literate novelists in the America who also have popular appeal--that is writers who are influenced by the classics or disciplines(such as science)outside of liberal arts. Too many young writers today seem unduly influenced by movies, other contemporary fiction, pop psychology, music, even television and their work ends up deriviative and self-absorbed, and of course without much shelf life.
Beware, for example, of a book with more than one(or even one) Bruce Springsteen epigraph. I'm pleased to say that there aren't any here.
Our story opens with Ginny Babcock Bliss having returned to her hometown of Hullsport, Tennessee because her mother has come down with a frightening disease which causes bruising and bleeding throughout her body. Chapters set in the hospital and the Babcock home alternate with flashbacks, in sequence, of Ginny's childhood, and young womanhood. She is an everywoman, a Southern everywoman, especially, but it also becomes clear that Ginny is heavily influenced, and adapts, chameleon-like to whatever strong-willed person(most of them love intersts)dominates her life at the moment. Some of these people are clearly not as smart as Ginny herself, and some are pointedly anti-intellectual. At times her own personality shines through, much like that of a mind-numbed cult member who for seconds exhibits glimpses of his or her old self. But by the end of the book, when Ginny has run out of gurus, and her helplessness in the face of her mother's illness and her own failed marriage have been a catalyst for unusually(even for Ginny) self-destructive acts, I find myself thinking of the film from the same era,"A Woman Under the Influence" in which Gina Rowland's character practically begs to be told "how to be" and her husband yells at her that she must stop asking that question. Ginny's own mother, like many of her era, lived through her husband and family as well.
The Southern Gothic tradiition is evident in this novel as well, and these passages are written perceptively, wittily and without condescension. Ginny's greaser boyfriend, Clem Cloyd, who later becomes a snake-handling preacher, could have come out of the pages of Flannery O'Connor. And the feminist commune years reach a high level of satire reminiscent of "When Sisterhood Was in Flower" by Florence King. People of all political persuasions and lifestyles are skewered. The sex is fairly explicit--I suppose it was considered especially so for the seventies, hence the comparisons to "Fear Of Flying" by Erica Jong. Still, I don't see much similarity. I found this book at an animal shelter book sale for one dollar and it looked as if it had been moldering in somebody's attic since the seventies, but it's one of the best books, novels, at least, that I've read this year.
It is a long book--Lisa Alther takes her time--but at tleast the reader is not left with questions due to things insufficiently explained, or characters not sufficiently fleshed out. It occurred to me that she may one of the last generations of truly literate novelists in the America who also have popular appeal--that is writers who are influenced by the classics or disciplines(such as science)outside of liberal arts. Too many young writers today seem unduly influenced by movies, other contemporary fiction, pop psychology, music, even television and their work ends up deriviative and self-absorbed, and of course without much shelf life.
Beware, for example, of a book with more than one(or even one) Bruce Springsteen epigraph. I'm pleased to say that there aren't any here.
Our story opens with Ginny Babcock Bliss having returned to her hometown of Hullsport, Tennessee because her mother has come down with a frightening disease which causes bruising and bleeding throughout her body. Chapters set in the hospital and the Babcock home alternate with flashbacks, in sequence, of Ginny's childhood, and young womanhood. She is an everywoman, a Southern everywoman, especially, but it also becomes clear that Ginny is heavily influenced, and adapts, chameleon-like to whatever strong-willed person(most of them love intersts)dominates her life at the moment. Some of these people are clearly not as smart as Ginny herself, and some are pointedly anti-intellectual. At times her own personality shines through, much like that of a mind-numbed cult member who for seconds exhibits glimpses of his or her old self. But by the end of the book, when Ginny has run out of gurus, and her helplessness in the face of her mother's illness and her own failed marriage have been a catalyst for unusually(even for Ginny) self-destructive acts, I find myself thinking of the film from the same era,"A Woman Under the Influence" in which Gina Rowland's character practically begs to be told "how to be" and her husband yells at her that she must stop asking that question. Ginny's own mother, like many of her era, lived through her husband and family as well.
The Southern Gothic tradiition is evident in this novel as well, and these passages are written perceptively, wittily and without condescension. Ginny's greaser boyfriend, Clem Cloyd, who later becomes a snake-handling preacher, could have come out of the pages of Flannery O'Connor. And the feminist commune years reach a high level of satire reminiscent of "When Sisterhood Was in Flower" by Florence King. People of all political persuasions and lifestyles are skewered. The sex is fairly explicit--I suppose it was considered especially so for the seventies, hence the comparisons to "Fear Of Flying" by Erica Jong. Still, I don't see much similarity. I found this book at an animal shelter book sale for one dollar and it looked as if it had been moldering in somebody's attic since the seventies, but it's one of the best books, novels, at least, that I've read this year.
June 30, 2016
Τελικά είναι ωραίο βιβλίο. Περιγράφει τη ζωή μιας κοπέλας μερικές δεκαετίες πριν στην Αμερική, όλα τα μυστικά που δεν θα λέγαμε ποτέ στους γονείς μας. Είναι δοσμένα με χαλαρό αφηγηματικό τρόπο, ανάλαφρα θα μπορούσα να πω.
Ξεκινάει από τα παιδικά της χρόνια και τις φιλίες της, περνά στην πρώτη εφηβική σχέση, στην πρώτη ολοκληρωμένη σχέση, στις σπουδές της και στη γνωριμία με τον άντρα της και τη δημιουργία οικογένειας. Και στην αρρώστια της μητέρας της. Μας δίνει λοιπόν όλες τις φάσεις της ζωής της κοπέλας.
Είναι πολύ "πραγματικό" το βιβλίο όλα περιγράφονται ακριβώς όπως είναι και σε πολλές περιπτώσεις μου έφερε στο μυαλό δικά μου βιώματα και δικές μου σκέψεις. Οι δε περιγραφές των πρώτων αδέξιων επαφών ήταν μέχρι και αστείες...
Αυτό που μου έκανε εντύπωση είναι ότι η διήγηση γίνεται σε δύο πρόσωπα: το παρελθόν της κοπέλας περιγράφεται σε πρώτο πρόσωπο από την ίδια και μας δίνει αποκλειστικά τα δικά της βιώματα. Το παρόν περιγράφεται σε τρίτο πρόσωπο και μας δίνονται και οι σκέψεις της μητέρα της που είναι στο νοσοκομείο σοβαρά άρρωστη. Ε λοιπόν, βρήκα πολλά κοινά στοιχεία και με τη μητέρα της, ειδικά οι δικές της σκέψεις με έκαναν να σκεφτώ πολλά όσον αφορά τη δική μου ζωή και συμπεριφορά.
Κάποιες φορές που μιλούσε και ανέλυε πολλά για τη φιλοσοφία ή τις αντιλήψεις κάποιων εκ των πρωταγωνιστών σχετικά με τον κοινοβιακό τρόπο ζωής και τον διαμοιρασμό των αγαθών μπορώ να πω ότι με κούρασε. Γενικά όμως είναι καλό το βιβλίο.
Ξεκινάει από τα παιδικά της χρόνια και τις φιλίες της, περνά στην πρώτη εφηβική σχέση, στην πρώτη ολοκληρωμένη σχέση, στις σπουδές της και στη γνωριμία με τον άντρα της και τη δημιουργία οικογένειας. Και στην αρρώστια της μητέρας της. Μας δίνει λοιπόν όλες τις φάσεις της ζωής της κοπέλας.
Είναι πολύ "πραγματικό" το βιβλίο όλα περιγράφονται ακριβώς όπως είναι και σε πολλές περιπτώσεις μου έφερε στο μυαλό δικά μου βιώματα και δικές μου σκέψεις. Οι δε περιγραφές των πρώτων αδέξιων επαφών ήταν μέχρι και αστείες...
Αυτό που μου έκανε εντύπωση είναι ότι η διήγηση γίνεται σε δύο πρόσωπα: το παρελθόν της κοπέλας περιγράφεται σε πρώτο πρόσωπο από την ίδια και μας δίνει αποκλειστικά τα δικά της βιώματα. Το παρόν περιγράφεται σε τρίτο πρόσωπο και μας δίνονται και οι σκέψεις της μητέρα της που είναι στο νοσοκομείο σοβαρά άρρωστη. Ε λοιπόν, βρήκα πολλά κοινά στοιχεία και με τη μητέρα της, ειδικά οι δικές της σκέψεις με έκαναν να σκεφτώ πολλά όσον αφορά τη δική μου ζωή και συμπεριφορά.
Κάποιες φορές που μιλούσε και ανέλυε πολλά για τη φιλοσοφία ή τις αντιλήψεις κάποιων εκ των πρωταγωνιστών σχετικά με τον κοινοβιακό τρόπο ζωής και τον διαμοιρασμό των αγαθών μπορώ να πω ότι με κούρασε. Γενικά όμως είναι καλό το βιβλίο.
November 11, 2016
Before I start my review of Alther’s debut triumphant novel, let me put a list of novels with the same theme together with their publication date and some commentaries.
Fear of Flying by Erica Jong. (1973)
Kinflicks by Lisa Alther. (1975)
The World According to Garp by John Irving. (1978)
Parachutes and Kisses by Erica Jong. (1984)
I have come up this list for the sole purpose of pointing and clarifying some things about these books because each entry –if you’ve read them all— will make you associate one from the other. Not that I accuse some particular writer of copying some ideas from others work.
Kinflicks is a funny, insightful, perceptive, sad, and a moving read. It presents some of the most original wisdom about life and death in fiction. If John Irving’s Garp is obsessed with the safety of his own family, and having the realization of no way to protect them from the harsh reality, irony and madness of life, Kinflicks talks about and illustrates how cruel, unfair and unpredictable life is.
From the start of the novel, it gives me the sense that I am once again to read a novel from my favorite author, John Irving. I am about to praise the novel as a female-Garp, however, learning of its publication that Kinflicks precedes Garp, I suddenly dropped the idea. Garp is much powerful in its entirety that I also wouldn’t dare calling Garp the male-Ginny. I might also call Alther as an informative writer, and her fascination with encyclopedias’ is obvious in which it is a good thing with the unavailability of the internet at the time.
Kinflicks tells the story of of a 27 year-old heroine named Virginia ‘Ginny’ Babcock. The novel is separated in two parts; the first is narrated in Ginny’s point of view in the past while the alternating chapters are narrated in third-person. Ginny’s voice talks about her coming-of-age journey, her struggles to take hold of her future, and desperately tries to join in everything that comes her way. These parts –Ginny’s submissions— may somehow irritate the reader, but in my opinion, I understand her actions for I got to see the part where she’s trying to live a life without the influenced of her parents while unconsciously trying to shape things around her with the prejudices and bias she learns from her family. Her adventures remind me of Erica Jong’s heroine, Isadora Wing from her novel Fear of Flying. The feeling to take control on things without shame, to grasp without reluctance and to decide without being guilty afterwards. To stand about your choices no matter the consequences. Ginny’s past and Isadora on ‘Fear’ are both narrated by the heroine.
On the other hand, the part where it is narrated in third-person which talks of the present makes me remember another of Jong’s novel, Parachutes and Kisses –also narrated in third-person’s point of view— being the third novel and continuing Isadora’s adventure and finally her being a mother. Just like Isadora, Ginny is now in the stage of motherhood or struggling to be. In Jong’s novel in which spirituality and death plays a big part; Ginny comes home to take care of her sick mother. Ending with the understanding of their actions from the past and though they might not admit it, a final act of understanding and acceptance for their deeper selves. I’m also not blind by the fact that some might notice Ginny as lacking in character, that she doesn’t learn something grand in the end. However, I find this to be interesting, and since Ginny is still trying to live her life (again) in the end, there is a possibility that someday she is more than just a lost soul. I just hope the author writes a sequel about her.
I don’t really know what’s happening to my reading list, it is as if it is lined after my own life. Having suffered some recent tragedy makes my vision while reading be crystallized with tears, and moments unknown to me, I’d suddenly stomped my feet like a hammer on the arm rest for no apparent reason while tears continuously flows down my cheeks, not that I want to stop myself from crying but I guess to bring back what was lost. There are times at the end I want to hurl away the novel for making me cry like a baby.
I’ve given the novel a higher rating but before doing it, I’ve pondered on some questions why I should. I’ll try to ask you those. Will you give a novel a higher rating that makes you remember something depressing? Makes you cry because you can relate into it? A novel which makes you sad? I’ve tried not to answer those because if I do, this will be poorly rated.
I just consider of how wonderfully written it is, how the author manages to construct it beautifully, how the author’s ability to make it believable and how she carefully illustrates the many guises of life. And finally, convincing the reader how life, though we may not all accept it, is harsh and cruel than reality.
It is hard to tell what it’s really all about and narrating of some of its superlatives may not give justice on how a good story Kinflicks is. You just have to read it, but be careful.
Opening Sentence: My family always has been into death.
Ending Sentence: She left the cabin, to go where she had no idea.
April 9, 2018
Smart and sassy. Bold and brassy. And that's just the first chapter. This (long) book has it all. And I mean it. Teenage sex. Lesbian sex. Heterosexual sex (married and extramarital). Incredible, detailed and (almost boring) descriptions of biology, philosophy and even the science of sex. (Yeah, there is a lot of sex in this book.) Southern rednecks and Yankee know-it-alls. Hippies and LSD. Strained mother-and-daughter relationships. And I could go on. And on.
The main character, Virginia Babcock, is (very!) small-town Tennessee royalty of sorts. She grows up a spoiled brat in the 1950s and 1960s. This is essential to her character development because only a spoiled brat could experience all she did and not ever grow up—and THAT is essential to the plot. As a reader, just go along with it because the exhilarating literary ride is well worth it. Author Lisa Alther tells a magnificent story that is by turns comedy, farce and tragedy. You will laugh. You will roll your eyes. And you will cry. This is what books should do!
The ending may seem unsatisfactory on the surface, but if you read that far, you will see (I hope) that this is the only plausible ending for this particular character. It was published in 1976, and it is still relevant. Read it and enjoy!
The main character, Virginia Babcock, is (very!) small-town Tennessee royalty of sorts. She grows up a spoiled brat in the 1950s and 1960s. This is essential to her character development because only a spoiled brat could experience all she did and not ever grow up—and THAT is essential to the plot. As a reader, just go along with it because the exhilarating literary ride is well worth it. Author Lisa Alther tells a magnificent story that is by turns comedy, farce and tragedy. You will laugh. You will roll your eyes. And you will cry. This is what books should do!
The ending may seem unsatisfactory on the surface, but if you read that far, you will see (I hope) that this is the only plausible ending for this particular character. It was published in 1976, and it is still relevant. Read it and enjoy!
February 13, 2012
Having re-read it after 30 odd years I am delighted to say I still give it 5 stars. A witty ( and at times uproariously funny) 'feminist' text, it is also an interesting social commentary on US society in the 50s and 60s. (Actually the era was one of "Women's Liberation" rather than 'feminist').
Alther's bildungsroman details one woman's journey from the deep South : " where men put women on pedestals and then used the pedestals as footstools", through a series of hetero- and homosexual relationships, and identification with a number of competing ideologies, to a (painful) understanding of herself as an independant woman, mother and daughter.
This novel is seriously underrated ( and in my experience not terribly well known in Australia or New Zealand).
It is still liable to shock and offend some with its explicit sexual references - however, it is well worth the read.
Alther's bildungsroman details one woman's journey from the deep South : " where men put women on pedestals and then used the pedestals as footstools", through a series of hetero- and homosexual relationships, and identification with a number of competing ideologies, to a (painful) understanding of herself as an independant woman, mother and daughter.
This novel is seriously underrated ( and in my experience not terribly well known in Australia or New Zealand).
It is still liable to shock and offend some with its explicit sexual references - however, it is well worth the read.
April 5, 2020
Να πως έγινε με το βιβλίο αυτό ...
Το έχω σε έντυπη μορφή, το βλέπω στη βιβλιοθήκη μου για χρόνια, κοιτάζω το εξώφυλλο και αποκομίζω το (εύλογο) συμπέρασμα ότι είναι τα άπλυτα μιας οικογένειας δοσμένα από την ηρωίδα με χιούμορ.
Στις αρχές του χρόνου, λοιπόν, θέλοντας κάτι εύληπτο για τα μέσα μεταφοράς, διαλέγω να ακούσω το βιβλίο σε μορφή audio book.
Το άμεσο συμπέρασμα είναι (το γνωστό, πλην όμως την πάτησα ακόμη μία φορά) : μην κρίνετε βιβλία από τα οπισθόφυλλα και τα εξώφυλλα.
Δεν ήταν καθόλου, μα καθόλου κωμικό ...
Τα άπλυτα της οικογένειας δεν ήταν τόσο πολλά όσο φαντάζεται κάποιος.
Αντίθετα η ζωή της Τζίνι ήταν πολύ πλούσια σε εικόνες, συναισθήματα ή απουσία συναισθημάτων, σε λάθη και σε βεβιασμένες αποφάσεις.
Παρακολουθούμε τη Τζίνι να επιβιβάζεται στο αεροπλάνο που θα την πάει να επισκεφθεί στο νοσοκομείο την άρρωστη μητέρα της. Αφήνει πίσω της τον άντρα και την κόρη της και με σχετική αβεβαιότητα για το τι πρόκειται να συναντήσει, ξαναγυρίζει στο πατρικό της σπίτι, άδειο πλέον από όσους μεγάλωσαν μαζί της. Ο πατέρας της έχει πεθάνει από χρόνια και τα 2 της αδέρφια ζουν πλέον στο εξωτερικό.
Η μητέρα της πάσχει από ένα αιματολογικό νόσημα το οποίο στην πορεία αποδεικνύεται σοβαρό και απαιτεί τη συχνή παρουσία της Τζίνι στο νοσοκομείο, όσο και αν εκείνη δεν το θέλει πραγματικά. Παράλληλα, ζούμε την εφηβεία της στην επαρχιακή πόλη της Αμερικής όπου μεγαλώνει, τη δεκαετία του '60. Οι σκηνές με τη μητέρα στο νοσοκομείο και η προβληματική επικοινωνία και σχέση μητέρας - κόρης εναλλάσσονται με τους πρώτους έρωτες της Τζίνι και την απόδραση της στο κολλέγιο.
Παράλληλα, εμβόλιμα, η Τζίνι βρίσκεται να περιθάλπει 3 εγκαταλειμμένα πουλάκια, τα οποία περιμαζεύει σπίτι και φροντίζει στα διαλείμματα της από το νοσοκομείο.
Ζει τον πρώτο αληθινό της έρωτα στο κολλέγιο και επιλέγει, όταν αυτός τερματιστεί τραυματικά, έναν γάμο εξασφάλισης και κοινωνικής καταξίωσης.
Μελαγχολικό βιβλίο ...
Η Τζίνι σπατάλησε τη ζωή της αφηρημένα ...
Αγόταν και φερόταν αμέτοχη ... σε σημαντικά γεγονότα της ζωής της, χωρίς να μπορεί να επιλέξει η ίδια για τον εαυτό της. Σε ολόκληρο το βιβλίο δεν άφησε να φανεί τι ήταν αυτό που πραγματικά θα ήθελε να κάνει η ίδια. Οι άλλοι αποφάσιζαν, οι άλλοι την κατεύθυναν και στο τέλος βρέθηκε έρημη και μόνη να πρέπει επιτέλους να αποφασίσει για το μέλλον της.
Δύο ήταν τα σημεία στην πλοκή που για μένα ήταν σημαντικά και θα τα θυμάμαι από το βιβλίο.
Το ένα ήταν η καθοδική πορεία της μητέρας προς το θάνατο.
Η περιγραφή ήταν εντυπωσιακή : o γιατρός που υπεκφεύγει της ευθύνης για την ενημέρωση της πορείας της νόσου, τα συμπτώματα που περιγράφονται και προϊδεάζουν τον αναγνώστη για την εξέλιξη, η όλο και ανήμπορη μητέρα, η όλο και μαλακωμένη κόρη ... Και τέλος, η απομυθοποίηση μιας ολόκληρης ζωής αφιερωμένης στο καθήκον.
Το άλλο ήταν η ιστορία με τα πουλάκια και το αναπόφευκτο τέλος τους, δοσμένο σταδιακά, με εναλλαγές ελπίδας και απελπισίας.
Οι αναγνώστες κάποιας ηλικίας θα εκτιμήσουν την περιγραφή της εποχής, των δεκαετιών '60 και '70 και όλων όσων υπέφεραν οι νέοι εκείνης της εποχής. Ίσως τους ξυπνήσουν ανάλογες αναμνήσεις από εποχές δυσκολιών που αναδομήθηκαν ταχύτατα τις επόμενες δεκαετίες, αφήνοντας μια υπερβολική ευκολία σε όλα...
Το έχω σε έντυπη μορφή, το βλέπω στη βιβλιοθήκη μου για χρόνια, κοιτάζω το εξώφυλλο και αποκομίζω το (εύλογο) συμπέρασμα ότι είναι τα άπλυτα μιας οικογένειας δοσμένα από την ηρωίδα με χιούμορ.
Στις αρχές του χρόνου, λοιπόν, θέλοντας κάτι εύληπτο για τα μέσα μεταφοράς, διαλέγω να ακούσω το βιβλίο σε μορφή audio book.
Το άμεσο συμπέρασμα είναι (το γνωστό, πλην όμως την πάτησα ακόμη μία φορά) : μην κρίνετε βιβλία από τα οπισθόφυλλα και τα εξώφυλλα.
Δεν ήταν καθόλου, μα καθόλου κωμικό ...
Τα άπλυτα της οικογένειας δεν ήταν τόσο πολλά όσο φαντάζεται κάποιος.
Αντίθετα η ζωή της Τζίνι ήταν πολύ πλούσια σε εικόνες, συναισθήματα ή απουσία συναισθημάτων, σε λάθη και σε βεβιασμένες αποφάσεις.
Παρακολουθούμε τη Τζίνι να επιβιβάζεται στο αεροπλάνο που θα την πάει να επισκεφθεί στο νοσοκομείο την άρρωστη μητέρα της. Αφήνει πίσω της τον άντρα και την κόρη της και με σχετική αβεβαιότητα για το τι πρόκειται να συναντήσει, ξαναγυρίζει στο πατρικό της σπίτι, άδειο πλέον από όσους μεγάλωσαν μαζί της. Ο πατέρας της έχει πεθάνει από χρόνια και τα 2 της αδέρφια ζουν πλέον στο εξωτερικό.
Η μητέρα της πάσχει από ένα αιματολογικό νόσημα το οποίο στην πορεία αποδεικνύεται σοβαρό και απαιτεί τη συχνή παρουσία της Τζίνι στο νοσοκομείο, όσο και αν εκείνη δεν το θέλει πραγματικά. Παράλληλα, ζούμε την εφηβεία της στην επαρχιακή πόλη της Αμερικής όπου μεγαλώνει, τη δεκαετία του '60. Οι σκηνές με τη μητέρα στο νοσοκομείο και η προβληματική επικοινωνία και σχέση μητέρας - κόρης εναλλάσσονται με τους πρώτους έρωτες της Τζίνι και την απόδραση της στο κολλέγιο.
Παράλληλα, εμβόλιμα, η Τζίνι βρίσκεται να περιθάλπει 3 εγκαταλειμμένα πουλάκια, τα οποία περιμαζεύει σπίτι και φροντίζει στα διαλείμματα της από το νοσοκομείο.
Ζει τον πρώτο αληθινό της έρωτα στο κολλέγιο και επιλέγει, όταν αυτός τερματιστεί τραυματικά, έναν γάμο εξασφάλισης και κοινωνικής καταξίωσης.
Μελαγχολικό βιβλίο ...
Η Τζίνι σπατάλησε τη ζωή της αφηρημένα ...
Αγόταν και φερόταν αμέτοχη ... σε σημαντικά γεγονότα της ζωής της, χωρίς να μπορεί να επιλέξει η ίδια για τον εαυτό της. Σε ολόκληρο το βιβλίο δεν άφησε να φανεί τι ήταν αυτό που πραγματικά θα ήθελε να κάνει η ίδια. Οι άλλοι αποφάσιζαν, οι άλλοι την κατεύθυναν και στο τέλος βρέθηκε έρημη και μόνη να πρέπει επιτέλους να αποφασίσει για το μέλλον της.
Δύο ήταν τα σημεία στην πλοκή που για μένα ήταν σημαντικά και θα τα θυμάμαι από το βιβλίο.
Το ένα ήταν η καθοδική πορεία της μητέρας προς το θάνατο.
Η περιγραφή ήταν εντυπωσιακή : o γιατρός που υπεκφεύγει της ευθύνης για την ενημέρωση της πορείας της νόσου, τα συμπτώματα που περιγράφονται και προϊδεάζουν τον αναγνώστη για την εξέλιξη, η όλο και ανήμπορη μητέρα, η όλο και μαλακωμένη κόρη ... Και τέλος, η απομυθοποίηση μιας ολόκληρης ζωής αφιερωμένης στο καθήκον.
Το άλλο ήταν η ιστορία με τα πουλάκια και το αναπόφευκτο τέλος τους, δοσμένο σταδιακά, με εναλλαγές ελπίδας και απελπισίας.
Οι αναγνώστες κάποιας ηλικίας θα εκτιμήσουν την περιγραφή της εποχής, των δεκαετιών '60 και '70 και όλων όσων υπέφεραν οι νέοι εκείνης της εποχής. Ίσως τους ξυπνήσουν ανάλογες αναμνήσεις από εποχές δυσκολιών που αναδομήθηκαν ταχύτατα τις επόμενες δεκαετίες, αφήνοντας μια υπερβολική ευκολία σε όλα...
October 5, 2008
You may have to hunt this one down in used book stores around the country (like I did) and it will probably take awhile, but it's well worth the time and effort. It's a priceless little gem of literary fiction that's unfortunately slipped through the cracks. It deals with everything that's important in life -- parent/child relationships, love, death, sex and how we see ourselves in relation to the universe. Oh and did I mention it's laugh-out-loud funny, too? Who could ask for anything more?
November 10, 2011
Gotta love any book that uses ideopathic thrombocytopenic purpura as a plot device.
May 17, 2014
Read "Confessions of a "Failed Southern Lady", by Florence King instead.
August 25, 2025
Virginia Babcock is on a visit home to care for her sick mother after being chased away from her own family nest by her outraged husband. Rescuing some abandoned baby swifts in her childhood home, Ginny tries to save the birds despite advice from eminent ornithologist Wilbur J. Birdsall. This creates a personal narrative thread that intersects with the history of the local economy, Ginny’s high school years, her college years and ultimately her family history based in Hullsport, Tennessee.
Trying to keep the baby swifts alive becomes a mission for Ginny as her life falls apart. Having left her daughter Wendy behind, she adopts the baby birds as she was adopted by her college professor Miss Head.
On a phone call to the former family doctor, Ginny learns that a family of swifts had invaded the room where Ginny was born:
“Those birds fluttered through that cabin in an absolute panic, getting soot all over everything, the ceiling,the walls, the upholstery. Your mother had just cleaned that day so’s everything would be nice and straight while she would be laid up with you. Why, she hopped out of that bed, and she grabbed a broom, and she chased those damn swifts all through the cabin, swatting at ‘em. And every now and then she’d have a contraction and collapse on the floor.” (257)
Outrageous and meticulous in its detail, the novel is a dissection of the family, the individual, their views and values and their biology, leaving nothing to chance. With the fate of the birds in her hands, Ginny almost followed the advice of the famous ornithologist until one of the birds, “opened his dark round eyes and screeched at her…” As a result, “She made the decision not to decide. She would give the horrid parents one more chance. She definitely didn’t relish being God.” (241-242)
Life is an inconvenience on many levels - but despite the tragedies, these never completely cancel out the tenderness and desire of the characters.
Trying to keep the baby swifts alive becomes a mission for Ginny as her life falls apart. Having left her daughter Wendy behind, she adopts the baby birds as she was adopted by her college professor Miss Head.
On a phone call to the former family doctor, Ginny learns that a family of swifts had invaded the room where Ginny was born:
“Those birds fluttered through that cabin in an absolute panic, getting soot all over everything, the ceiling,the walls, the upholstery. Your mother had just cleaned that day so’s everything would be nice and straight while she would be laid up with you. Why, she hopped out of that bed, and she grabbed a broom, and she chased those damn swifts all through the cabin, swatting at ‘em. And every now and then she’d have a contraction and collapse on the floor.” (257)
Outrageous and meticulous in its detail, the novel is a dissection of the family, the individual, their views and values and their biology, leaving nothing to chance. With the fate of the birds in her hands, Ginny almost followed the advice of the famous ornithologist until one of the birds, “opened his dark round eyes and screeched at her…” As a result, “She made the decision not to decide. She would give the horrid parents one more chance. She definitely didn’t relish being God.” (241-242)
Life is an inconvenience on many levels - but despite the tragedies, these never completely cancel out the tenderness and desire of the characters.
May 22, 2020
Lots of fun; an entertaining novel that absorbed me completely.
January 1, 2021
The protagonist, Ginny Babcock, grew up in small town Hullsport, Tennessee in the 1950s and 60s. Her father ran the chemical and munitions plant, the only industry in town. They lived in a huge white mansion, and Ginny wanted for nothing. The story alternates between Ginny's past (esp as it centers around her love life - Joe Bob Sparks, Clem Cloyd, Eddie Holzer, Ira Bliss, William Hawk) and the present, when Ginny is back home visiting her hospitalized mother.
Coming of age, although a hallowed literary topic (Holden Caulfield, Huckleberry Finn, Jane Eyre and most children's lit in general), is often not a pleasant subject. Humanity is not at its best as teenagers, and Ginny is no exception. She is selfish, self-absorbed, changeable, and destructive, and her hormones are blazing. Female sexuality, esp when this book was written (1976 - Judy Blume was publishing teen fiction concurrently), was a rare (taboo?) subject, and for that I appreciate the novel - Alther even addresses the sacredness of motherhood (I know women who would hate this book b/c Ginny was such a poor mother). Alther also tackles big subjects like life and death, blood both biological and ancestral, Eastern vs Western religion, philosopy from Decartes to Nietzsche, and social activism from Vietnam to earth children. For me, it was too much on the sholders of a frustrating protagonist, and I found myself skimming some sections to get it over with. It was so close to great, and there were points where I laughed out loud (Alther is funny!), which made it all the harder to read the wholely misplaced/out-of-place sections (I spent time reading it while sick, which could explain my lack of patience overall).
Update 1/1/21: Read that Alther writes "bad girl" books "focused on the women who had opened their hearts and legs to the counter-culture in the 60s and trilled on through feminism and all varieties of experimentation into burgeoning 80s privilege and success" (Elizabeth Young)
Coming of age, although a hallowed literary topic (Holden Caulfield, Huckleberry Finn, Jane Eyre and most children's lit in general), is often not a pleasant subject. Humanity is not at its best as teenagers, and Ginny is no exception. She is selfish, self-absorbed, changeable, and destructive, and her hormones are blazing. Female sexuality, esp when this book was written (1976 - Judy Blume was publishing teen fiction concurrently), was a rare (taboo?) subject, and for that I appreciate the novel - Alther even addresses the sacredness of motherhood (I know women who would hate this book b/c Ginny was such a poor mother). Alther also tackles big subjects like life and death, blood both biological and ancestral, Eastern vs Western religion, philosopy from Decartes to Nietzsche, and social activism from Vietnam to earth children. For me, it was too much on the sholders of a frustrating protagonist, and I found myself skimming some sections to get it over with. It was so close to great, and there were points where I laughed out loud (Alther is funny!), which made it all the harder to read the wholely misplaced/out-of-place sections (I spent time reading it while sick, which could explain my lack of patience overall).
Update 1/1/21: Read that Alther writes "bad girl" books "focused on the women who had opened their hearts and legs to the counter-culture in the 60s and trilled on through feminism and all varieties of experimentation into burgeoning 80s privilege and success" (Elizabeth Young)
October 22, 2012
A book of high-feminist ideals, of a sharply observed sixties - sharp in the sense of acerbic, I think - and of an epic character's life-spanning proportions.
I read this in my late teens/early twenties, picking it up for the blurb on the back, and despite myself at the time, loved it. It was at once incredibly easy to read and yet full of ideas I hadn't really given due and proper consideration. My mother raised me to be a feminist, in the sense of a believer in equality, but I hadn't really thought about it until this book. And maybe my young self did use some of the ideas from this book as a way to impress women, but eventually those ideas stuck in a way that went beyond mere lip-service.
As someone who always felt I was born out-of-time, and feeling I should really have been a teenager in the 60's, I loved this book. In particular, Ginny's time at a commune - highlighting some of the hypocrisies of the so-called 'love generation' and their limited interpretations of equality - as well as her time at Berkeley studying Philosophy lead me to grow my hair long and study Philosophy, all the while trying to espouse an idealist egalitarian philosophy of my own.
I fully intend re-reading this, just as soon as I can get it out of storage in the home of a woman I should have treated a whole lot better than I did. I don't remember all the details, but I loved the wit, warmth and fierce intelligence of Lisa Alther and of the book.
I read this in my late teens/early twenties, picking it up for the blurb on the back, and despite myself at the time, loved it. It was at once incredibly easy to read and yet full of ideas I hadn't really given due and proper consideration. My mother raised me to be a feminist, in the sense of a believer in equality, but I hadn't really thought about it until this book. And maybe my young self did use some of the ideas from this book as a way to impress women, but eventually those ideas stuck in a way that went beyond mere lip-service.
As someone who always felt I was born out-of-time, and feeling I should really have been a teenager in the 60's, I loved this book. In particular, Ginny's time at a commune - highlighting some of the hypocrisies of the so-called 'love generation' and their limited interpretations of equality - as well as her time at Berkeley studying Philosophy lead me to grow my hair long and study Philosophy, all the while trying to espouse an idealist egalitarian philosophy of my own.
I fully intend re-reading this, just as soon as I can get it out of storage in the home of a woman I should have treated a whole lot better than I did. I don't remember all the details, but I loved the wit, warmth and fierce intelligence of Lisa Alther and of the book.
September 20, 2011
Dumb book! I'm so mad I finished it! I kept hoping it would get better but no it didn't! The ending was horrible!!!!! Lots of exclamation points in my reviews!!! I can handle sad, haunting memoirs, and tragic, graphic novels BUT what I can't stand are stupid characters who never grow in the story or learn anything. Maybe I am too young to grasp what the author was trying to say? This book is nothing like what the back cover or the title describes! "Kinflicks" refers to the home movies her Mother took of her childhood. When I saw that I thought of my Grandparents home videos of my Father, Aunts and Uncles and thought it would be about family! Duh? NOPE! This chick goes from being a member of a youth church group to a lesbo hippie to a married (to a man) housewife and mother of one, to an adulteress runaway searching for her Vietnam deserter boyfriend then she ends up back home to watch her Mother die. Oh and she rescues some baby birds along the way and they apparently are very important because she talks about them a lot! Then it ends and she still knows nothing! I killed brain cells reading this book....no wonder it was 99 cents on ibooks!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2011
I read this book so long ago the edition isn't even available (Hardcover) to choose for GoodReads. I got this because it was cheap and looked interesting--nowadays, I wouldn't pick it up, mostly because of some material I'd find objectionable. To the author's credit, I still remember it rather vividly, particularly a few scenes and details of the mother's illness. I have ALWAYS thought that the book starts out strong, with great promise, but that the rest of the novel seems as though the author quickly finished it to meet a deadline. There is still interest, but none of the momentum that the reader enjoys in the beginning. I think of the protagonist as a lost soul who runs into a lot of other lost souls on her journey through life.
July 27, 2016
Great fun- liked this book when I first read it at 16. Seemed a tale of freedom and female empowerment...
However as I have revisited it in my 20s I am shocked and appalled- things which the author seems to want us to chuckle at or aspire to include essentially a string of what I now understand to be coercive/manipulative/abusive relationships. I'm alarmed that I once looked up to the protagonist as I did; I suppose it all makes sense for the time period it was penned in. Perhaps it was once was revolutionary. I will say this: if you find this book in your teenager's bedroom, discuss it with them.
However as I have revisited it in my 20s I am shocked and appalled- things which the author seems to want us to chuckle at or aspire to include essentially a string of what I now understand to be coercive/manipulative/abusive relationships. I'm alarmed that I once looked up to the protagonist as I did; I suppose it all makes sense for the time period it was penned in. Perhaps it was once was revolutionary. I will say this: if you find this book in your teenager's bedroom, discuss it with them.
September 27, 2017
Never heard anyone talk about this book and I can't figure WHY NOT when everyone knows about books like Rubyfruit Jungle which isn't 10% of the book Kinflicks is. Intense and personal without being sentimental or trite . . . shows the complexity and diversity one woman can experience. I have a hard time remembering all the details, but I do remember being depressed by it and at the same time feeling extremely fond of it and attached to it, maybe because women are never portrayed this way and it really rang true.
September 25, 2008
The main details I remember from this book, which I read strictly for research purposes as a teenager, is that the heroine wore Villager blouses, which her father resented paying for, and had sex with inexplicably stupid partners. There is also, if I remember correctly, a dumbass boyfriend who says "Do whut?" all the time, and later, a distasteful scene with a greased cucumber.
July 4, 2012
Absolutely compelling! The first time I read it, I felt as though the author had extrapolated this book from my own life! Very relatable (at least for me!) I've enjoyed this book so much I've probably given found second-hand copies to at least 6 friends over the years. Every time I read it, I still enjoy it.
April 1, 2014
Wordy, wordy, wordy. After two chapters it was going nowhere, not fast but slowly, painfully slowly. Page long paragraphs describing a Flag girls outfit and the clock in a room. I have no problem with painting a visual image for the reader but it is so excessive. I might read the abridged version..
July 5, 2016
Reading this book coincided with my own father's ultimate struggle and my struggle to understand it so perhaps it hit a little too close to home but I really liked it. Maybe this also affects my giving it such a high rating, I don't know...
May 28, 2010
Memorable! Hilarious in parts, sad in parts--thirty years later I still remember this book.
Read
August 4, 2011why did I give this book the time needed to plow through just over 500 pages? Not worth it when there are so many books waiting to be read.
February 28, 2015
Read it years ago but couldn't get beyond the 1970's clichés this time...of the time, but didn't agewell
February 23, 2015
Really long and very depressing and frustrating. I held out till the end because I thought the book might redeem itself, but I don't really think it did.
February 27, 2020
One of those books I was forcing myself to keep reading despite deriving no joy. It's one of those that's "well-written for its time" Feels dated. I imagine it was quite edgy at one time though.
June 30, 2021
Weird
This book was compelling enough that I continued reading it, hoping that it would get better. Unfortunately, it never did. What a waste.
This book was compelling enough that I continued reading it, hoping that it would get better. Unfortunately, it never did. What a waste.
February 18, 2024
early themes include: adolescent defiance, generational divide, the sexual liberation of the 1960s, the conflict between trying to fit in with peers and listening to inner voice / emerging adult identity.
loved the way the novel then goes on to illustrate the very human tendency to cling to discovered community (in the case of the protagonist, the 'Soybean People') as part of the process of self-discovery and as part of the protagonist's adolescent rejection of what-has-come-before (the War generation, their ideals and values etc). this part of the story is written in a somewhat sarcastic, self-aware, scathing voice of the protagonist's later, retrospective, more-informed self, which lends an element of humour.
later: a revision/reevaluation of identity, a second abandonment of ideals/values. the protagonist's free indirect discourse throughout gives transparency to her deep interest in and desire for sex, and at moments, her disregard of worldly responsibilities, and disregard of values previously clung to, in pursuit of sex. the protagonist is likeable because of this transparent quality. the motif: we are slaves to our physical desires - makes her relatable.
the relationship between mother and daughter (protagonist being daughter) adds an extra layer of meaning and introduces a second set of questions to every other part of the story. the relationship between them asks the reader questions of - through asking the protagonist - the purpose of life, the value of marriage, of motherhood, the responsibility of parenthood, and who it is that carries the blame for our damage, neuroses, pain, but also who it is that informs who we become.
other than certain elements of the relationship the protagonist has with gender (explored through her relationship with men and women), and other than the relationship with her mother (infused with the protagonist's guilt and a sense of duty), the protagonist - Ginny - is timeless. and even in these mentioned areas, exploration of these relationships asks us to question whether certain things actually ever change, or whether they are innate and inevitable.
loved the way the novel then goes on to illustrate the very human tendency to cling to discovered community (in the case of the protagonist, the 'Soybean People') as part of the process of self-discovery and as part of the protagonist's adolescent rejection of what-has-come-before (the War generation, their ideals and values etc). this part of the story is written in a somewhat sarcastic, self-aware, scathing voice of the protagonist's later, retrospective, more-informed self, which lends an element of humour.
later: a revision/reevaluation of identity, a second abandonment of ideals/values. the protagonist's free indirect discourse throughout gives transparency to her deep interest in and desire for sex, and at moments, her disregard of worldly responsibilities, and disregard of values previously clung to, in pursuit of sex. the protagonist is likeable because of this transparent quality. the motif: we are slaves to our physical desires - makes her relatable.
the relationship between mother and daughter (protagonist being daughter) adds an extra layer of meaning and introduces a second set of questions to every other part of the story. the relationship between them asks the reader questions of - through asking the protagonist - the purpose of life, the value of marriage, of motherhood, the responsibility of parenthood, and who it is that carries the blame for our damage, neuroses, pain, but also who it is that informs who we become.
other than certain elements of the relationship the protagonist has with gender (explored through her relationship with men and women), and other than the relationship with her mother (infused with the protagonist's guilt and a sense of duty), the protagonist - Ginny - is timeless. and even in these mentioned areas, exploration of these relationships asks us to question whether certain things actually ever change, or whether they are innate and inevitable.
November 6, 2023
Bought and read in 1980, forgotten all about it, and now reread, 43 years later. The novel (569 pages) was a fascinating read most of the time, but became gradually more tedious because the narrator started narrating for narrating's sake, repeating herself, with trivial side-tracking and observations (like those about biological processes, with many scientific terms) meant to exhibit her narrating skills. Plotwise, Alther did not 'keep a tight ship' but digressed at random. One clear example is the narration, many pages long, of the weeks long 'tantra' preparation the hippie deserter Hawk forces upon Ginny before their failed 'cosmic' copulation (botched because they both fell asleep, but discovered by her husband Ira). The novel gives a good and entertaining picture of the sixties (mostly in the Southern bible belt, and also up north, near the Canadian border) through the 'coming of age' of Ginny Babcock. Kinflicks was very much 'current' on publication, and today it is like a 'historic novel', giving a good idea of the atmosphere of that era, including the impact of the Vietnam was ('Hawk'), commune experiments of the counter culture (the 'commune' of young women living their hippie lives close to nature and next to a community of utter rednecks, when Ginny has her lesbian relation with 'Eddie'). Kinflicks is funny and sad at the same time. The best, and most touching part is the very end, when Ginny spends days in the hospital with her haemorrhaging mother till she dies, followed by her failed suicide attempts, feeling alone and a failure after her 'relations' with Joe Bob, Clem, Eddie (the lesbian), Ira (the father of her daughter Wendy) and Hawk (the 'hippie' and 'cosmic' Vietnam deserter having become a lunatic). It is a strong book, and would have been more so if Alther had refrained from smugly enjoying her writing skills to add details and asides of little importance.
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