What do you think?
Rate this book
Guardaci
Martin si occupa di finanza, Lily è un avvocato in uno studio importante di New York. Incontrarsi, sposarsi, fare figli, avere una bella casa, frequentare i ristoranti stellati, fare vacanze stellate: sono le tappe irrinunciabili della loro ascesa, i requisiti per una vita perfetta. Ma quando la tata dei loro due gemelli annuncia di voler cambiare vita il castello crolla. Per fortuna entra in scena Maeve, giovanissima, minuta, volitiva, appena arrivata dall’Irlanda e in cerca di lavoro: mette a disposizione della coppia l’arte di cavarsela esercitata a casa sua con troppi fratelli di cui occuparsi, e subito aggiusta tutto. Diventa indispensabile. E non solo per i gemelli, che la adorano, ma anche per Lily e Martin. Fino a varcare la soglia della loro camera da letto, prima osservatrice, poi partecipe di un gioco di tensione in cui nessuno sa più chi è e tutti hanno bisogno di tutti. La storia di un matrimonio contemporaneo in pericolo, una storia che risulta a tratti comica prima di diventare e restare disturbante: è lo specchio del nostro tempo, in cui la dimensione privata sfuma fino ad annullarsi, e davvero abbiamo tutti sempre bisogno di essere guardati dagli altri per esistere.
- GenresFiction
324 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2022
15 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
July 12, 2023
WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE ALMOST FUCKED A GUY OUTSIDE THE TWIN TOWERS WHEN THEY WERE GOING DOWN
February 2, 2025
Mi fa rabbia che un autore con una scrittura così colta e lineare non sia stato capace di approfondire una storia che poteva avere un risvolto psicologico interessante: il finale è affrettato, sembra buttato lì a caso dopo un inserimento insensato di un fatto che esula completamente dalla vicenda, e si vede che non sapeva come concludere. In questo modo il libro sembra non avere il minimo senso, cosa volevi dirci Toma?
La famiglia Fowler chiama una tata a vivere con loro per prendersi cura della casa e dei figli, si affezionano al punto che è la benvenuta nella loro camera da letto (a mio parere forse senza che volesse veramente) ad animare la triste sfera sessuale della coppia.
2 stelle per la scrittura e la ricerca nel campo della fisica (anche quella inconcludente e fuori tema).
La famiglia Fowler chiama una tata a vivere con loro per prendersi cura della casa e dei figli, si affezionano al punto che è la benvenuta nella loro camera da letto (a mio parere forse senza che volesse veramente) ad animare la triste sfera sessuale della coppia.
2 stelle per la scrittura e la ricerca nel campo della fisica (anche quella inconcludente e fuori tema).
August 19, 2022
New York, una coppia di genitori della società bene in difficoltà dopo la nascita di due gemelli, una ragazza irlandese che viene assunta per badare ai bambini e alla casa: pochi personaggi e dinamiche prevedibili in Guardaci, che tuttavia resta un romanzo che tra i tanti che parlano di relazioni disfunzionali e del desiderio costante di apparire, offre un’immagine diversa ed efficace, anche se forse un tantino forzata. La prosa è scorrevole ma a tratti il ritmo narrativo si fa molto lento, con lunghe digressioni che probabilmente avrebbero lo scopo di entrare più a fondo nella storia e nella psiche dei personaggi ma che hanno ottenuto l’effetto indesiderato di rendere la narrazione una continua altalena tra momenti di grande intensità e parti in cui non succede assolutamente nulla. Nel complesso un libro da cui mi aspettavo qualcosa in più ma che è stato piacevole da leggere.
Read
December 15, 20213.5 A tough book to review or sum up but so thought provoking and original. Loved the themes of time, identity, seeking meaning and roles we are expected to fill as men and women.
“You begin to worry you might be nothing more than this big reaction machine responding to the fact that people are watching you, parroting what you think. Maybe the you when you stand in the mirror is just the sum total of all the ways you think you look to others. Like if you could go all the way down to the bottom of you, you would never get there because there is no bottom.”
“You begin to worry you might be nothing more than this big reaction machine responding to the fact that people are watching you, parroting what you think. Maybe the you when you stand in the mirror is just the sum total of all the ways you think you look to others. Like if you could go all the way down to the bottom of you, you would never get there because there is no bottom.”
May 17, 2025
A subtle novel that examines a year in the life of a dual income couple with toddler age kids. If you are concerned about the challenges a high income, liberal, career focused person in a monogamous M-F pairing might face while parenting a preschool aged kid, this is a thought provoking an realistic novel. How that couple navigates intimacy or their work-life balance might even be a page turner. That they rely to a degree on a demure, capable, and reliable woman from a different social class for child rearing and household support is at least plausible and maybe even obvious. Of course this leads to guilt, anxiety, and boundary setting negotiation.
The ways that Martin in particular struggles with ambiguity between the three and and is inclined to conflate intimacy and care with romantic desire are handled well. I also found the way his existential anxiety about fucking up an objectively nice life was addressed to be relatively fresh and insightful. The other characters are less developed and the novel is more psychological than spicy as far as plot.
The ways that Martin in particular struggles with ambiguity between the three and and is inclined to conflate intimacy and care with romantic desire are handled well. I also found the way his existential anxiety about fucking up an objectively nice life was addressed to be relatively fresh and insightful. The other characters are less developed and the novel is more psychological than spicy as far as plot.
December 21, 2024
Molto lento, descrizioni troppo approfondite non utili alla storia che comunque non ha uno svolgimento interessante a mio avviso, non l'ho ancora ben capita, magari gli ridarò una seconda possibilità più in là
March 20, 2023
La vita di coppia di Lily e Martin, genitori di due gemelli, viene arricchita con dall'arrivo di una nuova tata, assunta proprio per prendersi cura dei loro bambini. La calma e la pacatezza della ragazza, tuttavia, nascondono retroscena un po' particolari: affascinata dalla relazione dei due coniugi, di notte la giovane si presenta nella loro camera e, con estrema serenità surreale, li osserva e li guarda.
L'intero romanzo si sviluppa su questa assurda routine notturna, che vede la coppia estremamente tranquilla nell'essere osservata da un'estranea mentre consumano il matrimonio.
Gli interrogativi che il matematico Martin si pone costantemente a tal proposito non hanno, però, il potere di controllare e gestire questa particolare situazione tanto che, con il passare del tempo, la relazione con la moglie prenderà una piega quasi scontata e per nulla imprevedibile.
La traduzione italiana del titolo è perfetta per questo romanzo: con una sola parola riassume tutto l'intero libro.
Purtroppo, pur gradendo molto lo stile di scrittura scorrevole e ben realizzato, non ho affatto apprezzato la trama e lo sviluppo del romanzo. Al di là del mero voyeurismo e della costante necessità di guardare e vedere, nel libro non accade null' altro: non ci sono situazioni e/o eventi che stravolgono la narrazione, non ci sono episodi che ribaltano o sconvolgono l'andamento generale della vicenda...la staticità della storia, insomma, contribuisce a rendere questo testo un po' noioso e piuttosto surreale.
Non ne consiglio la lettura.
L'intero romanzo si sviluppa su questa assurda routine notturna, che vede la coppia estremamente tranquilla nell'essere osservata da un'estranea mentre consumano il matrimonio.
Gli interrogativi che il matematico Martin si pone costantemente a tal proposito non hanno, però, il potere di controllare e gestire questa particolare situazione tanto che, con il passare del tempo, la relazione con la moglie prenderà una piega quasi scontata e per nulla imprevedibile.
La traduzione italiana del titolo è perfetta per questo romanzo: con una sola parola riassume tutto l'intero libro.
Purtroppo, pur gradendo molto lo stile di scrittura scorrevole e ben realizzato, non ho affatto apprezzato la trama e lo sviluppo del romanzo. Al di là del mero voyeurismo e della costante necessità di guardare e vedere, nel libro non accade null' altro: non ci sono situazioni e/o eventi che stravolgono la narrazione, non ci sono episodi che ribaltano o sconvolgono l'andamento generale della vicenda...la staticità della storia, insomma, contribuisce a rendere questo testo un po' noioso e piuttosto surreale.
Non ne consiglio la lettura.
November 19, 2021
T.L. Toma, the author of this strange sad story can definitely write. My question is why this story? A dysfunctional couple with a barren sex life are forced to hire a young Irish nanny for their young twins when their current one quits. One night as the couple are attempting to have sex the nanny appears and watches them. For some reason this improves the couples sex life for a while and occurs every few days over the next year. A very unhealthy family unit to say the least. Of course this menage a tois cannot sustain itself and the family breaks up and the nanny is let go in the end. Why would anyone write about something so tasteless and crude I do not know. Again this author has great talent, I'm just sorry it was wasted on this repugnant topic. I actually give this 2.5 stars, not 3.
October 26, 2021
Martin grew up in a small town in Indiana, dreamed of becoming a mathematical professor at a university and to marry his girlfriend. When Martin does not finish his dissertation the job offer at the university is withdrawn and he is offered a job as a market analyst at a New York City company. His girlfriend refuses to move with him and they break up. After moving to NYC he meets Lily an attorney. They marry and have twin boys. The nanny they have leaves and they hire an Irish girl to be the nanny.
This power couple has it all , except for sexual intimacy.
The nanny one night watches them have sex and this becomes a regular occurrence and improves their sex life.
As the story evolves, Martin goes home after the death of his father and sees his ex girlfriend.
The domestic bliss takes a final turn at the end of the novel.
This was not a favorite novel of mine . It did not seem realistic but who knows what goes on in peoples homes.
Many thanks to Library Thing and Bellevue Press for an opportunity to read.
This power couple has it all , except for sexual intimacy.
The nanny one night watches them have sex and this becomes a regular occurrence and improves their sex life.
As the story evolves, Martin goes home after the death of his father and sees his ex girlfriend.
The domestic bliss takes a final turn at the end of the novel.
This was not a favorite novel of mine . It did not seem realistic but who knows what goes on in peoples homes.
Many thanks to Library Thing and Bellevue Press for an opportunity to read.
December 1, 2022
A Struggle (for Voice) A Review of Look at Us by T. L. Toma
1.) This book has a compelling cover image. Congrats to Mulberry Tree Press for its design and to the photographer Avenue.
2.) Skip to chapter twenty-nine. Read chapter twenty-nine.
This is an instructive novel in that it presents the struggle of an author attempting to find his true voice. By voice I mean the individual, clear, powerful way of relating the world through words.
I won’t detail all the variants of voice found in the novel, but will highlight two:
The fist example is the most common: “And then one morning almost two months after he started coming to the café, she asked him to pass the salt.” This style is frequently built on near-same-length sentences that thump like a drum beat at a German soccer game.
The second example is an early anomaly: “He eventually came to view both prospects as the product of an unhealthy preoccupation with his own role in the scheme of things. And so while he continues to be drawn to the notion there may be trapped inside his wife another woman, a wilder woman capable, given the right circumstances, of unleashing colossal forces of concupiscence, his current perspective remains agnostic.”
At first, I was put off by this second sentence, but as I read more, I resonated with me, and when I reached chapter twenty-nine, I saw it had been the first glimpse the author’s true voice attempting to break free.
This voice that finally emerges in chapter twenty-nine and it is Toma’s strength. He finally cuts the anchor of plot based writing that’s been throughout most of the book. Stylistically, a scene is briefly described and then the character spins off in associations, remembrances, and other lines of flight. Chapter twenty-nine is not yet a stand alone short story, but it absolutely is the true, breathing part of the book.
This quote will demonstrate:
At this instant the girl sighs softly—it could register impatience, or boredom, or even indigestion, though Martin interprets it as an obvious expression of pleasure. From this he takes new inspiration. For all he knows, she really does want to run away with him. This sounds far-fetched on the face of it, but think about it. From above the girl, he thinks about it. He imagines the two of them sneaking out at three in the morning and climbing into Lily’s car (his is newer so he will leave his wife that; it is the least he can do) and launching on a cross-country spree where he will show her the real America, not the America of strip malls and take-out burger huts, not the America of the office parks and auto dealerships, not the America of nail salons and mobile-phones and hotel chains drinking glasses clothed in protective plastic wrap and reconstituted scrambled eggs at breakfast, but the America of the out-of-the way B and B and the small country inn, with a four-poster be and mismatched coffee mugs and an egg yolk staring back at you like the sun served on your plate—not the America of some halcyon past, because the past was never halcyon, including as it did human chattel, child labor, genocide, and theocratic fanaticism, but the America that was not yet and should have been…”
This passage continues for a while, and I imagine an entire book like this section will be quite exciting. But again, this voice is confined only to chapter twenty-nine. Is there something in chapter twenty-nine that requires this change of voice, no.
Voice is a serious issue for writers. When a glimmer of a true voice manages to appear, if it is recognized, then what? Does the author see it as the impetus prompting an entire rewrite? Does the author ignore it and dutifully continue in the old voice because of time already invested? When a new voice appears, it marks for an author a critical decision point. Often muddying the decision might be the heavy opinion of an editor, or agent, or readers, that may persuade the author to go after plot rather than embrace their true voice.
That’s it, really. That’s my main takeaway from the novel.
The plot concerns a rich couple, Martin and Lily, and their au pair Maeve, who eventually watches them as they have sex. This might make a strange psychologically interesting novel, but these instances are an aside to the long detailing of quotidian happenings in the course of a struggling marriage. The futures investor, Martin, starts predicting incorrectly and he complains of not being able to live on his salary. Evidently he hasn’t known how to invest his probably large income. There’s a bit more plot but not enough to worry about. The au pair is eventually fired due a misplaced set of earrings they think she stole. In their 14th floor luxury apartment, floorboards creak and the bedroom door won’t close. Where’s the superintendent? Peripheral characters often are portrayed by way of the trope of exotic others. Ozeki’s recent book does this too as I mentioned in a recent review — could editors please call this out in books they edit?
Finally, there are forcing attempts to create layered meaning. The dissertation of Martin, A Stochastic Demonstration of the Principle of Sufficient Reason Using the Saperstein-Hideaki Conjecture (a made up mix of The Principle of Sufficient Reason combined with something like the Russell-Zermelo Paradox) lets us know that some things cannot be mathematically proven, such as affairs of the heart, or the question ‘If God sees all, who sees god?” There is a nod to the Other and it makes me want to follow a lead into Lacan, desire, the other, and the mirror stage, but there’s not enough in the book to warrant an unpacking of either of any of this.
That said, read chapter twenty-nine and compare the writing to some other part of the novel, it’s a little lesson worth looking at.
1.) This book has a compelling cover image. Congrats to Mulberry Tree Press for its design and to the photographer Avenue.
2.) Skip to chapter twenty-nine. Read chapter twenty-nine.
This is an instructive novel in that it presents the struggle of an author attempting to find his true voice. By voice I mean the individual, clear, powerful way of relating the world through words.
I won’t detail all the variants of voice found in the novel, but will highlight two:
The fist example is the most common: “And then one morning almost two months after he started coming to the café, she asked him to pass the salt.” This style is frequently built on near-same-length sentences that thump like a drum beat at a German soccer game.
The second example is an early anomaly: “He eventually came to view both prospects as the product of an unhealthy preoccupation with his own role in the scheme of things. And so while he continues to be drawn to the notion there may be trapped inside his wife another woman, a wilder woman capable, given the right circumstances, of unleashing colossal forces of concupiscence, his current perspective remains agnostic.”
At first, I was put off by this second sentence, but as I read more, I resonated with me, and when I reached chapter twenty-nine, I saw it had been the first glimpse the author’s true voice attempting to break free.
This voice that finally emerges in chapter twenty-nine and it is Toma’s strength. He finally cuts the anchor of plot based writing that’s been throughout most of the book. Stylistically, a scene is briefly described and then the character spins off in associations, remembrances, and other lines of flight. Chapter twenty-nine is not yet a stand alone short story, but it absolutely is the true, breathing part of the book.
This quote will demonstrate:
At this instant the girl sighs softly—it could register impatience, or boredom, or even indigestion, though Martin interprets it as an obvious expression of pleasure. From this he takes new inspiration. For all he knows, she really does want to run away with him. This sounds far-fetched on the face of it, but think about it. From above the girl, he thinks about it. He imagines the two of them sneaking out at three in the morning and climbing into Lily’s car (his is newer so he will leave his wife that; it is the least he can do) and launching on a cross-country spree where he will show her the real America, not the America of strip malls and take-out burger huts, not the America of the office parks and auto dealerships, not the America of nail salons and mobile-phones and hotel chains drinking glasses clothed in protective plastic wrap and reconstituted scrambled eggs at breakfast, but the America of the out-of-the way B and B and the small country inn, with a four-poster be and mismatched coffee mugs and an egg yolk staring back at you like the sun served on your plate—not the America of some halcyon past, because the past was never halcyon, including as it did human chattel, child labor, genocide, and theocratic fanaticism, but the America that was not yet and should have been…”
This passage continues for a while, and I imagine an entire book like this section will be quite exciting. But again, this voice is confined only to chapter twenty-nine. Is there something in chapter twenty-nine that requires this change of voice, no.
Voice is a serious issue for writers. When a glimmer of a true voice manages to appear, if it is recognized, then what? Does the author see it as the impetus prompting an entire rewrite? Does the author ignore it and dutifully continue in the old voice because of time already invested? When a new voice appears, it marks for an author a critical decision point. Often muddying the decision might be the heavy opinion of an editor, or agent, or readers, that may persuade the author to go after plot rather than embrace their true voice.
That’s it, really. That’s my main takeaway from the novel.
The plot concerns a rich couple, Martin and Lily, and their au pair Maeve, who eventually watches them as they have sex. This might make a strange psychologically interesting novel, but these instances are an aside to the long detailing of quotidian happenings in the course of a struggling marriage. The futures investor, Martin, starts predicting incorrectly and he complains of not being able to live on his salary. Evidently he hasn’t known how to invest his probably large income. There’s a bit more plot but not enough to worry about. The au pair is eventually fired due a misplaced set of earrings they think she stole. In their 14th floor luxury apartment, floorboards creak and the bedroom door won’t close. Where’s the superintendent? Peripheral characters often are portrayed by way of the trope of exotic others. Ozeki’s recent book does this too as I mentioned in a recent review — could editors please call this out in books they edit?
Finally, there are forcing attempts to create layered meaning. The dissertation of Martin, A Stochastic Demonstration of the Principle of Sufficient Reason Using the Saperstein-Hideaki Conjecture (a made up mix of The Principle of Sufficient Reason combined with something like the Russell-Zermelo Paradox) lets us know that some things cannot be mathematically proven, such as affairs of the heart, or the question ‘If God sees all, who sees god?” There is a nod to the Other and it makes me want to follow a lead into Lacan, desire, the other, and the mirror stage, but there’s not enough in the book to warrant an unpacking of either of any of this.
That said, read chapter twenty-nine and compare the writing to some other part of the novel, it’s a little lesson worth looking at.
October 18, 2021
I hate to be the only written review, because I wasn't crazy about this. This book felt like both too much and not enough at the same time. The writing style was elevated and interesting, but I had a hard time engaging, or wanting to engage. One of those novels where sex and sexuality - or the lack of it - defines everything, in a way that feels out of step with the real world, or at least the real world as I like to engage with it.
I found this NYT review to reflect a lot my own issues with the novel, but stated better than I could do it! Some general spoilers within.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/15/bo...
Many thanks to Edelweiss and to the publisher for an advanced review copy.
I found this NYT review to reflect a lot my own issues with the novel, but stated better than I could do it! Some general spoilers within.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/15/bo...
Many thanks to Edelweiss and to the publisher for an advanced review copy.
August 19, 2022
Un po’ disturbante. La storia di un matrimonio di una ricca coppia newyorkese che non sa comunicare e non sa rapportarsi, né fisicamente né spiritualmente. Un libro credo molto attuale purtroppo in cui nulla che non venga condivisa sembra esistere. Da rifletterci su.
December 30, 2022
The only thing I can say about this book is that it wasn't difficult to get through. I think the ending of the book should've been the beginning.
April 7, 2022
The writing in this remarkable, surprising novel was brilliant, but the end was abrupt and disappointing, which cost it a star.
This is a fascinating look at an average, dull, upper-middle-class couple who have twin toddlers and hire a young immigrant nanny and proceed to slowly develop a romantic relationship with her, mostly having her watch them make love, occasionally involving her in their lovemaking. This gives their own staid relationship lots of new heat. The couple helps with the nanny's immigration status and compensate her very well, even supporting her in getting her college degree, making the question of whether she is being exploited a slippery one. However, they also behave in appalling manipulative ways, paying off the one boyfriend the nanny has to get him to disappear, leaving the nanny heartbroken and more reliant on them than she otherwise would have been.
Look at Us is Toma's second novel; his first, Border Dance, was published 25 years ago. This new offering features Martin Fowler, a mathematical physicist turned analyst who tracks foreign currencies. His wife, Lily, is an intellectual property lawyer. They make a lot of money, enough for Caribbean vacations and full-time child care of their young twin boys. Their first nanny is an older women their boys loved and whom they feel is an essential part of their family--until she tries to come back after they have already begun their unusual arrangement with Maeve, at which point their actual lack of feeling toward the first nanny becomes evident. In this and many other telling scenes, we see that Martin and Lily are morally bankrupt, acting only in their immediate self interests.
This is a slippery, hypnotic and aggravating book. It is beautifully written (e.g., Martin's fraught relationships with women "continue to rise in his memory like lit obelisks at night.") And it presents the unusual events taking place without obvious moral judgment, ostensibly leaving us to interpret whether the Fowlers are exploiting the young Irish nanny, Maeve.
In the end (and stop here if you don't want any spoilers):
when Maeve is unfairly accused of a theft she did not commit and yells at the couple, we feel the truth and force of her words as an indictment of the relationship we were lulled into thinking might be OK for everyone. Once she has spoken her truth about the couple, we the reader are embarrassed we ever saw them any other way.
New York Times reviewer Lydia Kiesling wrote: "Although we are given little sense of Maeve's reality or her motivations for joining this menage a trois, the novel overall is frank and unflinching about desire, sexual dysfunction and the gulfs that can separate even the most intimate of partners."
I am grateful to Bellevue Press and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to this audio book in exchange for my honest review. I might never have found this novel without this giveaway, so I'm grateful for it.
This is a fascinating look at an average, dull, upper-middle-class couple who have twin toddlers and hire a young immigrant nanny and proceed to slowly develop a romantic relationship with her, mostly having her watch them make love, occasionally involving her in their lovemaking. This gives their own staid relationship lots of new heat. The couple helps with the nanny's immigration status and compensate her very well, even supporting her in getting her college degree, making the question of whether she is being exploited a slippery one. However, they also behave in appalling manipulative ways, paying off the one boyfriend the nanny has to get him to disappear, leaving the nanny heartbroken and more reliant on them than she otherwise would have been.
Look at Us is Toma's second novel; his first, Border Dance, was published 25 years ago. This new offering features Martin Fowler, a mathematical physicist turned analyst who tracks foreign currencies. His wife, Lily, is an intellectual property lawyer. They make a lot of money, enough for Caribbean vacations and full-time child care of their young twin boys. Their first nanny is an older women their boys loved and whom they feel is an essential part of their family--until she tries to come back after they have already begun their unusual arrangement with Maeve, at which point their actual lack of feeling toward the first nanny becomes evident. In this and many other telling scenes, we see that Martin and Lily are morally bankrupt, acting only in their immediate self interests.
This is a slippery, hypnotic and aggravating book. It is beautifully written (e.g., Martin's fraught relationships with women "continue to rise in his memory like lit obelisks at night.") And it presents the unusual events taking place without obvious moral judgment, ostensibly leaving us to interpret whether the Fowlers are exploiting the young Irish nanny, Maeve.
In the end (and stop here if you don't want any spoilers):
when Maeve is unfairly accused of a theft she did not commit and yells at the couple, we feel the truth and force of her words as an indictment of the relationship we were lulled into thinking might be OK for everyone. Once she has spoken her truth about the couple, we the reader are embarrassed we ever saw them any other way.
New York Times reviewer Lydia Kiesling wrote: "Although we are given little sense of Maeve's reality or her motivations for joining this menage a trois, the novel overall is frank and unflinching about desire, sexual dysfunction and the gulfs that can separate even the most intimate of partners."
I am grateful to Bellevue Press and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to this audio book in exchange for my honest review. I might never have found this novel without this giveaway, so I'm grateful for it.
October 11, 2022
Una delle ultime uscite Bompiani è “Guardaci” di T.L. Toma, autore americano che non avevo mai conosciuto prima e, credo, sarà l’ultimo approccio all’autore che tenterò.
“Guardaci” è un romanzo strano, dai risvolti inaspettati, a tratti incomprensibile, surreale, a volte anche grottesco e disturbante.
La trama è abbastanza semplice: un coppia riscopre la propria eroicità grazie alla nuova ragazza alla pari, irlandese, che si insinua nella loro camera da letto quasi ogni notte per guardarli.
Lo sguardo è sicuramente l’elemento centrale del romanzo, è lo strumento attraverso il quale si compie l’empirismo, attraverso il quale si conosce e si valuta il mondo circostante. Ma, se viene a mancare il soggetto osservante, che fine fa l’oggetto osservato? E’ la domanda fulcro della Congettura Saperstein-Hideaki, a cui cerca disperatamente di trovare una risposta, Martin, uno dei protagonisti della vicenda, rinunciandoci ben presto, perché è un questione senza soluzione, come un serpente che si morde la cosa, all’infinito. Ma mai disperare, perchè troverà l’illuminazione dove meno si sarebbe aspettato, grazie a una persona che costituirà una figura indispensabile per la sua famiglia.
L’arrivo di Maeve, la ragazza au pair, stravolgerà la vita di coppia di Martina e Lily, in apparenza perfetta, patinata, ma basterà una ragazza mingherlina a sovvertire lo status quo, raggiunto con anni di sacrifici e compromessi.
Toma ci catapulta nella vita più nascosta di una coppia, quella che si manifesta nella camera da letto, ma, se non c’è nessuno che guarda, si può dire che avvenga davvero? E, infatti, per questa coppia è praticamente inesistente, ma si rianima e acquisisce nuovo slancio grazie ad un’osservatrice.
Il romanzo è scritto bene, senza alcun dubbio, alcune parti, però, risultano fin troppo prolisse, prive di dinamismo, come in fondo è la storia, ne è volutamente priva, come la vita dei due coniugi, che riceve un twist sorprendente, per poi ricadere miseramente a terra e rompersi in mille pezzi.
Non mi ha convinto sia per la trama sia per la prosa, lasciandomi molto delusa e sbigottita.
“Guardaci” è un romanzo strano, dai risvolti inaspettati, a tratti incomprensibile, surreale, a volte anche grottesco e disturbante.
La trama è abbastanza semplice: un coppia riscopre la propria eroicità grazie alla nuova ragazza alla pari, irlandese, che si insinua nella loro camera da letto quasi ogni notte per guardarli.
Lo sguardo è sicuramente l’elemento centrale del romanzo, è lo strumento attraverso il quale si compie l’empirismo, attraverso il quale si conosce e si valuta il mondo circostante. Ma, se viene a mancare il soggetto osservante, che fine fa l’oggetto osservato? E’ la domanda fulcro della Congettura Saperstein-Hideaki, a cui cerca disperatamente di trovare una risposta, Martin, uno dei protagonisti della vicenda, rinunciandoci ben presto, perché è un questione senza soluzione, come un serpente che si morde la cosa, all’infinito. Ma mai disperare, perchè troverà l’illuminazione dove meno si sarebbe aspettato, grazie a una persona che costituirà una figura indispensabile per la sua famiglia.
L’arrivo di Maeve, la ragazza au pair, stravolgerà la vita di coppia di Martina e Lily, in apparenza perfetta, patinata, ma basterà una ragazza mingherlina a sovvertire lo status quo, raggiunto con anni di sacrifici e compromessi.
Toma ci catapulta nella vita più nascosta di una coppia, quella che si manifesta nella camera da letto, ma, se non c’è nessuno che guarda, si può dire che avvenga davvero? E, infatti, per questa coppia è praticamente inesistente, ma si rianima e acquisisce nuovo slancio grazie ad un’osservatrice.
Il romanzo è scritto bene, senza alcun dubbio, alcune parti, però, risultano fin troppo prolisse, prive di dinamismo, come in fondo è la storia, ne è volutamente priva, come la vita dei due coniugi, che riceve un twist sorprendente, per poi ricadere miseramente a terra e rompersi in mille pezzi.
Non mi ha convinto sia per la trama sia per la prosa, lasciandomi molto delusa e sbigottita.
September 9, 2022
Se ci chiedessero di poter venire a conoscenza del giorno in cui lasceremo questo mondo, sapremmo con certezza cosa rispondere o saremmo così combattuti, da riuscire a mandare all’aria un’“opportunità” del genere che, è pur vero, è pura utopia? A chiunque di noi, pensando al tempo di cui genericamente è fatta la vita, è passato per la testa chiedersi.
Sicura che sarebbe il dubbio, la cosa per cui ci martorieremmo, dobbiamo ricordarci che poche cose saprebbero cambiare il valore e il colore che diamo loro, quanto quello di sapere fin quando potremmo goderne. O al contrario, quand’è che ciò a cui non vorremmo rinunciare, ci sfuggirebbe dalle mani per sempre. E per quanto possa sembrare scontato pensare che la risposta sarebbe un sì, se ci si sofferma a pensare a tutto ciò cui darebbe origine dentro di noi questa consapevolezza, le nostre giornate potrebbero essere di colpo molto strane, esaltanti o perfino inquietanti.
E questo non succede solo nei casi estremi in cui arriviamo al punto della vita in cui salutiamo con lei, tutto ciò di cui l’abbiamo riempita. Ma anche in quelli di ordinaria quotidianità, che vede protagonisti i due coniugi per i quali questa domanda diventa un tarlo, in questo enigmatico romanzo dello scrittore belga T. L. Toma, che in “Guardaci” ci catapulta negli angoli più nascosti di una casa in cui gli ingranaggi tra marito e moglie sono apparentemente così oliati, da risultare pericolosamente scivolosi, più che lisci.
Continua, leggi su https://librangolo.altervista.org/gua...
Sicura che sarebbe il dubbio, la cosa per cui ci martorieremmo, dobbiamo ricordarci che poche cose saprebbero cambiare il valore e il colore che diamo loro, quanto quello di sapere fin quando potremmo goderne. O al contrario, quand’è che ciò a cui non vorremmo rinunciare, ci sfuggirebbe dalle mani per sempre. E per quanto possa sembrare scontato pensare che la risposta sarebbe un sì, se ci si sofferma a pensare a tutto ciò cui darebbe origine dentro di noi questa consapevolezza, le nostre giornate potrebbero essere di colpo molto strane, esaltanti o perfino inquietanti.
E questo non succede solo nei casi estremi in cui arriviamo al punto della vita in cui salutiamo con lei, tutto ciò di cui l’abbiamo riempita. Ma anche in quelli di ordinaria quotidianità, che vede protagonisti i due coniugi per i quali questa domanda diventa un tarlo, in questo enigmatico romanzo dello scrittore belga T. L. Toma, che in “Guardaci” ci catapulta negli angoli più nascosti di una casa in cui gli ingranaggi tra marito e moglie sono apparentemente così oliati, da risultare pericolosamente scivolosi, più che lisci.
Continua, leggi su https://librangolo.altervista.org/gua...
January 16, 2024
I won this book in 2021 and I never got around to reading it. That was the year my father passed and just dealing with life I forgot all about it. This is my goal is to read books that I own more then library books. I am not sure how I feel about this book. It was different and sometimes interesting. You have a family that hires a nanny from Ireland and the dynamic in the house changes. There is sexual tensions and parts that could be trigger warnings for some.
I did enjoy the characters but also felt at times that they were lacking something. You have Lily and Martin, the au pair Maive and the twin boys. Lily and Martin and two people that seem to be in their own worlds at times. He is in finance and she is a lawyer. Maeve is more of a mother to the children then Lily is at times.
I did enjoy the characters but also felt at times that they were lacking something. You have Lily and Martin, the au pair Maive and the twin boys. Lily and Martin and two people that seem to be in their own worlds at times. He is in finance and she is a lawyer. Maeve is more of a mother to the children then Lily is at times.
November 14, 2022
Catapultati sin da subito in una realtà parallela.
Una famiglia benestante di New York assume una ragazza alla pari per badare e far crescere i loro figli. Questa ragazza sin da subito assume sembianza mistiche ed è investita da bisogni dei suoi datori di lavoro, dei genitori. La ragazza sin da subito svolge un ruolo centrale nella crescita non dei bambini ma della coppia e dei singoli individui della coppia i quali proiettano su di lei dei loro bisogni di “essere visti” per esistere.
Libro scorrevole, ben scritto e non convenzionale.
Lo consiglio a chi vuole leggere qualcosa di diverso spingendosi anche dove l’immaginazione a volte si blocca.
Una famiglia benestante di New York assume una ragazza alla pari per badare e far crescere i loro figli. Questa ragazza sin da subito assume sembianza mistiche ed è investita da bisogni dei suoi datori di lavoro, dei genitori. La ragazza sin da subito svolge un ruolo centrale nella crescita non dei bambini ma della coppia e dei singoli individui della coppia i quali proiettano su di lei dei loro bisogni di “essere visti” per esistere.
Libro scorrevole, ben scritto e non convenzionale.
Lo consiglio a chi vuole leggere qualcosa di diverso spingendosi anche dove l’immaginazione a volte si blocca.
January 12, 2022
I absolutely love psychology and books that dive deep into family drama. What went wrong? When? And why are some families able to weather the storm while other are sadly torn apart?
Look At Us by T. L. Tina explores the marriage of a young, wealthy couple who’s dismal sexual relationship is given an unexpected boosted when the new Au Pair moves in. Although it’s well written and intriguing, readers are sure to find the constant and lengthy anecdotes distracting. Regrettably, the prophetic ending feels disjointed and the overall message falls flat.
⭐️⭐️ Two stars for this well written but confusing look at marriage, sexuality, and masculinity with an R rating for mature subject matter and sexual content.
Look At Us by T. L. Tina explores the marriage of a young, wealthy couple who’s dismal sexual relationship is given an unexpected boosted when the new Au Pair moves in. Although it’s well written and intriguing, readers are sure to find the constant and lengthy anecdotes distracting. Regrettably, the prophetic ending feels disjointed and the overall message falls flat.
⭐️⭐️ Two stars for this well written but confusing look at marriage, sexuality, and masculinity with an R rating for mature subject matter and sexual content.
May 3, 2024
Quest’anno sto facendo davvero difficoltà a trovare un libro che mi catturi, ho tentato questa lettura pur non essendo il genere principale che leggo e mi ha rallentata ancora di più. Le prime 100 pagine del romanzo sembrano avvincenti e questo suscita nel lettore una curiosità del continuare, tuttavia la trama si incentra in un accordo tacito sessuale tra due genitori e una Tata che allunga inutilmente il libro con dettagli poco interessanti.
October 27, 2021
There was a lot to like in this book, which turned out to be about an unhappy marriage, but I found it a little disjointed. It was filled with anecdotes that didn't seem to flow well with the basic story.
I enjoyed reading about the 3 main characters and their inter actions, but the anecdotes were too distracting. This was a publisher give-away.
I enjoyed reading about the 3 main characters and their inter actions, but the anecdotes were too distracting. This was a publisher give-away.
October 30, 2022
What a strange story. The book is well written (except for an unusual preference for the word "miscue") and the narrative is compelling, for the most part, though the premise is hard to buy. The ending kind of ruins it.
November 25, 2021
Though I enjoyed the book and its style of narration and commentary, the unnecessarily violent ending turned me completely off.
May 12, 2022
Just wild. Lol
My goodness, it was wonderful. Funny, depressing, sexy, strange, original, epic ending lol.
A fun random find!
My goodness, it was wonderful. Funny, depressing, sexy, strange, original, epic ending lol.
A fun random find!
May 20, 2022
Interesting story of a well to do family in NYC. However, they nothing about raising children or how to communicate as a couple.
February 27, 2023
The writing was good and compelling. This story was weird. I kept reading because the writing was captivating. I didn’t want to keep reading because I wasn’t a fan of any of the characters.
March 10, 2025
Tremendo..una noia mortale! Abbandonato
July 29, 2025
All this suspense…. And a so bad & rushed final 🤦🏻♀️
November 22, 2021
Look at Us is about a couple who are well-educated, have good jobs, and live in NYC with their two children and au pair. The parents live life on the surface and lack depth. They are in a crisis, albeit a quiet, unassuming one that goes unrecognized by friends and colleagues. Toma uses his characters to illustrate the darkly held secrets hidden behind closed doors. From racial and culturally charged thoughts to predatory sexual behavior, Toma brings to light a chilling reality that is unsettling.
This book is not for the light-hearted. While it is not filled with physical violence, there is an underlying sense of psychological violence that keeps the reader engaged and horrified by the actions of its protagonists. The protagonists’ lives are experienced from a distance by both their peers and the reader, which creates a palpable tension. Toma’s writing style is fluid and, despite the subject matter, often beautiful.
This book is not for the light-hearted. While it is not filled with physical violence, there is an underlying sense of psychological violence that keeps the reader engaged and horrified by the actions of its protagonists. The protagonists’ lives are experienced from a distance by both their peers and the reader, which creates a palpable tension. Toma’s writing style is fluid and, despite the subject matter, often beautiful.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews