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Babysitter
From one of America’s most renowned storytellers—the bestselling author of Blonde —comes a novel about love and deceit, and lust and redemption, against a backdrop of shocking murders in the affluent suburbs of Detroit.
"Hannah’s unreliable, elliptical narrative is seductive and compelling, like following someone into a fever dream ... [Oates] is in no hurry to trigger the action, dropping tiny morsels of foreshadowing to keep us on our toes." —The New York Times Book Review
“Unsettling, mysterious, deft, sinister, eerily plausible.” —Margaret Atwood, best-selling author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments , via Twitter
In the waning days of the turbulent 1970s, in the wake of unsolved child-killings that have shocked Detroit, the lives of several residents are drawn together with tragic consequences.
There is Hannah, wife of a prominent local businessman, who has begun an affair with a darkly charismatic stranger whose identity remains elusive; Mikey, a canny street hustler who finds himself on a chilling mission to rectify injustice; and the serial killer known as Babysitter, an enigmatic and terrifying figure at the periphery of elite Detroit. As Babysitter continues his rampage of abductions and killings, these individuals intersect with one another in startling and unexpected ways.
Suspenseful, brilliantly orchestrated, and engrossing, Babysitter is a starkly narrated exploration of the riskiness of pursuing alternate lives, calling into question how far we are willing to go to protect those whom we cherish most. In its scathing indictment of corrupt politics, unexamined racism, and the enabling of sexual predation in America, Babysitter is a thrilling work of contemporary fiction.
"Hannah’s unreliable, elliptical narrative is seductive and compelling, like following someone into a fever dream ... [Oates] is in no hurry to trigger the action, dropping tiny morsels of foreshadowing to keep us on our toes." —The New York Times Book Review
“Unsettling, mysterious, deft, sinister, eerily plausible.” —Margaret Atwood, best-selling author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments , via Twitter
In the waning days of the turbulent 1970s, in the wake of unsolved child-killings that have shocked Detroit, the lives of several residents are drawn together with tragic consequences.
There is Hannah, wife of a prominent local businessman, who has begun an affair with a darkly charismatic stranger whose identity remains elusive; Mikey, a canny street hustler who finds himself on a chilling mission to rectify injustice; and the serial killer known as Babysitter, an enigmatic and terrifying figure at the periphery of elite Detroit. As Babysitter continues his rampage of abductions and killings, these individuals intersect with one another in startling and unexpected ways.
Suspenseful, brilliantly orchestrated, and engrossing, Babysitter is a starkly narrated exploration of the riskiness of pursuing alternate lives, calling into question how far we are willing to go to protect those whom we cherish most. In its scathing indictment of corrupt politics, unexamined racism, and the enabling of sexual predation in America, Babysitter is a thrilling work of contemporary fiction.
448 pages, Paperback
First published August 23, 2022
1023 people are currently reading
7063 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Carol Oates
854 books9,624 followersJoyce Carol Oates is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde (2000), and her short story collections The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014) were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel Them (1969), two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the Jerusalem Prize (2019).
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 931 reviews
October 11, 2022
One word: Insufferable.
This book was a migraine in disguise. Resentful characters, a chaotic timeline that runs back and forth, tedious descriptions, annoying usage of parentheses and a frustratingly slow pace; I struggled through this book and if not for my OCD of finishing off books, I’d have abandoned this soon after I started reading it.
Hannah is an unhappy (white) (thirty-nine-year-old) wife of a rich (white) businessman who is having an (extramarital) affair with a man she met at one of the fundraisers organised by her. Despite her (self-loathing) fearfulness that this affair would make God punish her (for she has sinned) by taking away her children, she continues with the affair. She has had a traumatic childhood which is never quite revealed in the book, but based on her disjointed memory flashes, we know that she had a troubled relationship with her parents. She is a submissive wife (to her husband) and lover (to her lover), an anxious (bad) mother and a restless (spineless) woman. 80% of the book is about Hannah - sometimes hating herself and other times, hating everyone around her. The remaining 20% is about a serial killer, known popularly as the Babysitter, who kills children (mostly boys) who are poor and unloved (usually orphaned or those with uncaring parents). As the Babysitter starts preying closer to Hannah’s home, an (even more) anxious Hannah starts to make some connections.
This might sound like a mystery thriller but it is not. Not by a mile. It is about a (pathetic) self-centred woman who thinks everything is about her. The waiter addresses her as ‘Ma’am’ because he must be ridiculing her for her age, race, or whatever. The housekeeper doesn’t answer her back because she is pretending to be submissive to her white owner. Her husband hasn’t taken her call because he must be avoiding her, maybe planning a divorce. Hannah is an insufferable pretentious woman with whom I felt no connection and just couldn’t sympathise.
I knew this book was a mistake from the first page. I still read it. Suffered it. The writing style was difficult to follow - confusing - like a fever dream. The descriptions are too long drawn with tiny (boring) details that make no sense, other than to make the overall experience a pain. In the end, I want to apologise for my unforgivable usage of parentheses in this review, but this is only a preview of what the actual book looks like.
Overall, a miserable book. Not recommended.
Thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.
Babysitter is now available for purchase.
1/5🌟(rounding down).
TW: Racism, Sexism, Infidelity, Rape, Child Abuse, Bad Parenting, Alcohol and Substance Abuse.
This book was a migraine in disguise. Resentful characters, a chaotic timeline that runs back and forth, tedious descriptions, annoying usage of parentheses and a frustratingly slow pace; I struggled through this book and if not for my OCD of finishing off books, I’d have abandoned this soon after I started reading it.
Hannah is an unhappy (white) (thirty-nine-year-old) wife of a rich (white) businessman who is having an (extramarital) affair with a man she met at one of the fundraisers organised by her. Despite her (self-loathing) fearfulness that this affair would make God punish her (for she has sinned) by taking away her children, she continues with the affair. She has had a traumatic childhood which is never quite revealed in the book, but based on her disjointed memory flashes, we know that she had a troubled relationship with her parents. She is a submissive wife (to her husband) and lover (to her lover), an anxious (bad) mother and a restless (spineless) woman. 80% of the book is about Hannah - sometimes hating herself and other times, hating everyone around her. The remaining 20% is about a serial killer, known popularly as the Babysitter, who kills children (mostly boys) who are poor and unloved (usually orphaned or those with uncaring parents). As the Babysitter starts preying closer to Hannah’s home, an (even more) anxious Hannah starts to make some connections.
This might sound like a mystery thriller but it is not. Not by a mile. It is about a (pathetic) self-centred woman who thinks everything is about her. The waiter addresses her as ‘Ma’am’ because he must be ridiculing her for her age, race, or whatever. The housekeeper doesn’t answer her back because she is pretending to be submissive to her white owner. Her husband hasn’t taken her call because he must be avoiding her, maybe planning a divorce. Hannah is an insufferable pretentious woman with whom I felt no connection and just couldn’t sympathise.
I knew this book was a mistake from the first page. I still read it. Suffered it. The writing style was difficult to follow - confusing - like a fever dream. The descriptions are too long drawn with tiny (boring) details that make no sense, other than to make the overall experience a pain. In the end, I want to apologise for my unforgivable usage of parentheses in this review, but this is only a preview of what the actual book looks like.
Overall, a miserable book. Not recommended.
Thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.
Babysitter is now available for purchase.
1/5🌟(rounding down).
TW: Racism, Sexism, Infidelity, Rape, Child Abuse, Bad Parenting, Alcohol and Substance Abuse.
November 29, 2023
4,5⭐
Joyce Carol Oates juega en otra liga. Siempre que califico una obra suya, pienso que las estrellas que le doy poco tienen que ver con las de otros autores que leo. La sigo desde hace años y no ha perdido la capacidad de sorprenderme. La suya es literatura con mayúsculas. No en vano su nombre resuena para el premio Nobel.
Dice la sinopsis:
Corre el año 1977 y Hannah y Wes Jarrett, un respetable hombre de negocios y miembro de una de las familias más poderosas de Detroit, viven felices junto a sus hijos de cuatro y siete años en su casa de las afueras. Ismelda, su criada, hace que en el hogar todo sea más llevadero. Pero su vida y la de sus vecinos se ve sacudida por la presencia en la ciudad de un asesino al que los medios han apodado Babysitter: ya ha raptado y torturado a seis niños y ha dejado sus cuerpos en la carretera en posturas llamativas, como si durmieran. En una fiesta filantrópica de la familia Jarrett, Hannah conoce al señor R., un hombre extraño y oscuramente carismático con el que inicia una peligrosa aventura. Mientras tanto, el esquivo asesino en serie, que parece formar parte de la élite de Detroit, sigue acumulando víctimas y llevando a la desesperación a la ciudad.
Mis impresiones.
Desarrolla dos tramas. Hannah Jarret es la esposa cercana a la cuarentena de un hombre de familia poderosa. Madre de dos hijos, vive en una urbanización de clase alta a las afueras de Detroit. Responde al estereotipo de la mujer de su época. Esposa sumisa, siempre sonriente y bien arreglada. Tiene dos hijos de siete y cuatro años y una criada filipina, Ismelda, que es la que en realidad se ocupa de todo. Pese a la vida confortable y lujosa que lleva, Hannah está insatisfecha como mujer. Ello le lleva a comenzar una aventura tan peligrosa como degradante con un hombre al que apenas conoce. Paralelamente, un pederasta asesino de niños, apodado Babysitter, lleva varios meses secuestrando niños blancos. Para esta segunda trama, Oates se ha basado en el caso real no resuelto del asesino de niños del condado de Oakland (Míchigan), que entre 1976 y 1977 secuestró, violó y asesino, al menos a cuatro niños. Ambas tramas van a confluir de forma magistral.
Tanto el título como la sinopsis sin ser engañosos pueden llevar a error. El caso de Babysitter y su resolución no son ni la prioridad ni la trama principal. No estamos ante una novela negra convencional. No vamos a encontrarnos detectives ni una investigación policial ni nada que se le parezca. Quienes no hayan leído ningún libro de esta autora y se acerquen a ella esperando eso, se van a llevar una decepción. Con el hilo conductor del matrimonio de Wes y Hannah y el trasfondo de esos asesinatos, Oates nos presenta una visión demoledora de la sociedad del Detroit de finales de los setenta. Machismo, racismo, clasismo, abusos y violencia contra la mujer. Todo ello descrito de forma cruda y descarnada. A la autora no le tiembla la mano.
La ciudad arrastraba aún las secuelas de los enfrentamientos raciales de 1967. La segregación mal encubierta y la desconfianza seguían presentes. Far Hills, la zona residencial en la que vive el matrimonio, es una burbuja protegida en la que nada malo puede pasar. Sus habitantes (blancos), forman un círculo muy exclusivo de clase y dinero. Las personas no blancas no tienen cabida allí más que como miembros del servicio. Los negros son los botones de los hoteles, los aparcacoches de los restaurantes, gente que a la que no se mira a los ojos, moradores de los peores barrios de Detroit, un mundo aparte.
En este contexto las acciones de Babysitter son una anomalía que tiene explicación al margen de Far Hills. Para Hannah, los secuestros son algo que solo les puede ocurrir a los niños que viven en centros de acogida, los que no están en todas sus actividades bajo la supervisión de un adulto.
"Las noticias más terroríficas, las que más la perturban, son las que tienen que ver con un «secuestrador de niños en serie, asesino de niños, un pedófilo asesino» que hay en el condado de Oakland desde febrero de 1976. Enseguida aparta la mirada de esos titulares.
Está segura, protegida. Y sus hijos.
Ninguno de los secuestros ha sido en Far Hills. Ninguna de las criaturas secuestradas era de su entorno o del de sus amistades".
Para Wes, el marido de Hannah, Babysitter tiene que ser necesariamente "un negro de Detroit". Que todo apunte a que se trata de alguien cercano a su comunidad no es algo que él tenga en cuenta. Imposible que sea un blanco, ese es su argumento.
"La voz de Wes se estremece de rabia. Está seguro de que Babysitter no es de una de las zonas residenciales (como parece pensar la policía), sino de Detroit ciudad, que con sus actos muestra su desprecio por quienes viven en esas zonas pudientes, tirando cadáveres de niños (blancos) en comunidades (blancas) como Bloomfield Hills".
Me ha explotado la cabeza con la forma en la que Joyce Carol Oates construye este libro. No sé ni por dónde empezar. Quizá por las citas iniciales, una de Paul Bowles y otra de uno de los personajes de la novela, ambas tan representativas de lo que se desarrolla en el libro.
" Las cosas no suceden, depende de a quién se le cruzan en el camino" (PAUL BAWLES)
"Solo hay una pregunta: ¿de qué soy capaz?" (Y.K)
Está dividida en cuatro partes, que a su vez se dividen en capítulos de corta extensión. Algunos constan de un solo párrafo de pocas líneas. Cada uno de ellos con un título a su vez alusivo de forma directa al contenido. La autora ha puesto en juego toda una batería de recursos estilísticos. Destacan el uso magistral de la cursiva como énfasis, las comillas y los paréntesis, a menudo de una sola palabra, que resaltan el concepto que quiere transmitir.
"Reconoce a Hannah, aunque no por el nombre: esposa de un hombre rico de una de las zonas residenciales (blancas) o huésped del hotel".
La novela comienza y acaba con la misma escena en diciembre de 1977. Entre ambas un "flashback", desde abril de ese año, que nos va a desgranar los acontecimientos que conducen a la misma. Un narrador equisciente será el encargado de ello. Nos lo cuenta no desde el punto de vista de Hannah, protagonista absoluta, sino desde dentro de su mente. El ritmo es muy pausado. Se cuece a fuego lento como las dudas y las inseguridades de ella. Un ejercicio psicológico en toda regla. Entre esos capítulos, se intercalan otros de manera aparentemente aleatoria, a veces en primera persona, o de nuevo con el narrador equisciente focalizado en otro personaje. La atmósfera es oscura, opresiva. No es un libro cómodo de leer, genera inquietud, desasosiego. Hay que prestar atención a los detalles dispersos en una estructura narrativa compleja. El esfuerzo, sin embargo, merece la pena.
Los personajes, merecen capítulo aparte. A cuál mejor trazado. Destaca el de Hannah, construido paso a paso desde su propia psique. Hannah es un producto de la educación de su época. Esposa y madre sometida a los deseos del varón, ya sea este su padre, su marido o su amante. Incluso su rol de madre es otro aspecto de su sometimiento a los cánones heteropatriarcales.
"Mami significa: albergar la esperanza de que los niños no se aburran, no estén inquietos, infelices, que no se pongan a gritar que quieren volver a casa pronto. Mami significa: albergar la esperanza de complacer al padre de los niños. De alguna manera".
No es un personaje agradable. Es difícil empatizar con ella y menos aún con las decisiones que toma, con sus continuos puntos de inflexión. Goza de una vida lujosa de clase alta. Una vida en la que se siente cómoda (no quiere perderla), al tiempo que insatisfecha. Esta es la dualidad en la que se mueve.
"Vida de zona residencial: una colmena (zumbona, que emana calor).
La vida familiar: una pequeña y petulante colmena dentro de otra.
En esa, Hannah se sabe segura. Se ha definido: esposa, madre. Tiene seguridad y alimento. Ha dejado de pensar cómo, por qué es la persona que es. Su «identidad de colmena» es segura".
"Soy una mujer bella, tengo derecho a que me quieran. Soy una mujer deseable, tengo derecho a desear".
Hacia el final del libro, Oates ahonda aún más en la psicología del personaje por medio de un símil entre su collar de perlas y su vida.
"Ha descuidado estas perlas, querida. Hay que ponérselas a menudo. Debería saber que, para conservar su belleza, su ser, requieren calor humano, intimidad. Spinoza dijo: «Todas las cosas desean persistir en su ser». Las perlas no son diamantes, querida. Si las abandonas, pierden el corazón. Pierden la esperanza. Como nosotros, se vuelven frágiles y empiezan a morir".
"... ya ve que han empezado a perder lustre. Han empezado a perder la esperanza. Están al inicio de su declive, como un amor que ha salido mal".
Wes, el marido, es a su vez el estereotipo masculino blanco. Procede de buena familia, gana mucho dinero. Su actitud hacia su esposa es paternalista y condescendiente. Espera de ella un ser equilibrado y sonriente, que sea el complemento perfecto a una vida cómoda, alguien que le facilita la vida, y no le crea problemas. Cuando las cosas se complican, cumple obligado con lo que se espera de él, pero no está a la altura.
" Su mujer nunca ha ocupado tanto espacio emocional en todo su matrimonio como en ese breve periodo de tiempo, esa mañana. Está pasmado, anonadado"
Junto con Wes y Hannah, el resto de los personajes no desmerecen. Y. K, el señor R, el padre M y el coletas, otro de los mejores trazados del elenco.
El final no es un final al uso. Un final muy del estilo de esta autora. Se mueve entre la ambigüedad y los detalles que ha dejado dispersos a lo largo de la novela. No es exactamente un final abierto, pero sí permite la posibilidad que cada uno se dibuje lo que cree que pasó.
En conclusión. Una novela oscura y asfixiante, magistralmente construida, en la que Joyce Carol Oates toca aquellos temas que le son propios, como la misoginia, los abusos y el racismo. Recomendable para los que conocen la obra de la autora. Tengo dudas, en cambio, de que sea el más indicado para aquellos que se acercan por primera vez a ella.
Joyce Carol Oates juega en otra liga. Siempre que califico una obra suya, pienso que las estrellas que le doy poco tienen que ver con las de otros autores que leo. La sigo desde hace años y no ha perdido la capacidad de sorprenderme. La suya es literatura con mayúsculas. No en vano su nombre resuena para el premio Nobel.
Dice la sinopsis:
Corre el año 1977 y Hannah y Wes Jarrett, un respetable hombre de negocios y miembro de una de las familias más poderosas de Detroit, viven felices junto a sus hijos de cuatro y siete años en su casa de las afueras. Ismelda, su criada, hace que en el hogar todo sea más llevadero. Pero su vida y la de sus vecinos se ve sacudida por la presencia en la ciudad de un asesino al que los medios han apodado Babysitter: ya ha raptado y torturado a seis niños y ha dejado sus cuerpos en la carretera en posturas llamativas, como si durmieran. En una fiesta filantrópica de la familia Jarrett, Hannah conoce al señor R., un hombre extraño y oscuramente carismático con el que inicia una peligrosa aventura. Mientras tanto, el esquivo asesino en serie, que parece formar parte de la élite de Detroit, sigue acumulando víctimas y llevando a la desesperación a la ciudad.
Mis impresiones.
Desarrolla dos tramas. Hannah Jarret es la esposa cercana a la cuarentena de un hombre de familia poderosa. Madre de dos hijos, vive en una urbanización de clase alta a las afueras de Detroit. Responde al estereotipo de la mujer de su época. Esposa sumisa, siempre sonriente y bien arreglada. Tiene dos hijos de siete y cuatro años y una criada filipina, Ismelda, que es la que en realidad se ocupa de todo. Pese a la vida confortable y lujosa que lleva, Hannah está insatisfecha como mujer. Ello le lleva a comenzar una aventura tan peligrosa como degradante con un hombre al que apenas conoce. Paralelamente, un pederasta asesino de niños, apodado Babysitter, lleva varios meses secuestrando niños blancos. Para esta segunda trama, Oates se ha basado en el caso real no resuelto del asesino de niños del condado de Oakland (Míchigan), que entre 1976 y 1977 secuestró, violó y asesino, al menos a cuatro niños. Ambas tramas van a confluir de forma magistral.
Tanto el título como la sinopsis sin ser engañosos pueden llevar a error. El caso de Babysitter y su resolución no son ni la prioridad ni la trama principal. No estamos ante una novela negra convencional. No vamos a encontrarnos detectives ni una investigación policial ni nada que se le parezca. Quienes no hayan leído ningún libro de esta autora y se acerquen a ella esperando eso, se van a llevar una decepción. Con el hilo conductor del matrimonio de Wes y Hannah y el trasfondo de esos asesinatos, Oates nos presenta una visión demoledora de la sociedad del Detroit de finales de los setenta. Machismo, racismo, clasismo, abusos y violencia contra la mujer. Todo ello descrito de forma cruda y descarnada. A la autora no le tiembla la mano.
La ciudad arrastraba aún las secuelas de los enfrentamientos raciales de 1967. La segregación mal encubierta y la desconfianza seguían presentes. Far Hills, la zona residencial en la que vive el matrimonio, es una burbuja protegida en la que nada malo puede pasar. Sus habitantes (blancos), forman un círculo muy exclusivo de clase y dinero. Las personas no blancas no tienen cabida allí más que como miembros del servicio. Los negros son los botones de los hoteles, los aparcacoches de los restaurantes, gente que a la que no se mira a los ojos, moradores de los peores barrios de Detroit, un mundo aparte.
En este contexto las acciones de Babysitter son una anomalía que tiene explicación al margen de Far Hills. Para Hannah, los secuestros son algo que solo les puede ocurrir a los niños que viven en centros de acogida, los que no están en todas sus actividades bajo la supervisión de un adulto.
"Las noticias más terroríficas, las que más la perturban, son las que tienen que ver con un «secuestrador de niños en serie, asesino de niños, un pedófilo asesino» que hay en el condado de Oakland desde febrero de 1976. Enseguida aparta la mirada de esos titulares.
Está segura, protegida. Y sus hijos.
Ninguno de los secuestros ha sido en Far Hills. Ninguna de las criaturas secuestradas era de su entorno o del de sus amistades".
Para Wes, el marido de Hannah, Babysitter tiene que ser necesariamente "un negro de Detroit". Que todo apunte a que se trata de alguien cercano a su comunidad no es algo que él tenga en cuenta. Imposible que sea un blanco, ese es su argumento.
"La voz de Wes se estremece de rabia. Está seguro de que Babysitter no es de una de las zonas residenciales (como parece pensar la policía), sino de Detroit ciudad, que con sus actos muestra su desprecio por quienes viven en esas zonas pudientes, tirando cadáveres de niños (blancos) en comunidades (blancas) como Bloomfield Hills".
Me ha explotado la cabeza con la forma en la que Joyce Carol Oates construye este libro. No sé ni por dónde empezar. Quizá por las citas iniciales, una de Paul Bowles y otra de uno de los personajes de la novela, ambas tan representativas de lo que se desarrolla en el libro.
" Las cosas no suceden, depende de a quién se le cruzan en el camino" (PAUL BAWLES)
"Solo hay una pregunta: ¿de qué soy capaz?" (Y.K)
Está dividida en cuatro partes, que a su vez se dividen en capítulos de corta extensión. Algunos constan de un solo párrafo de pocas líneas. Cada uno de ellos con un título a su vez alusivo de forma directa al contenido. La autora ha puesto en juego toda una batería de recursos estilísticos. Destacan el uso magistral de la cursiva como énfasis, las comillas y los paréntesis, a menudo de una sola palabra, que resaltan el concepto que quiere transmitir.
"Reconoce a Hannah, aunque no por el nombre: esposa de un hombre rico de una de las zonas residenciales (blancas) o huésped del hotel".
La novela comienza y acaba con la misma escena en diciembre de 1977. Entre ambas un "flashback", desde abril de ese año, que nos va a desgranar los acontecimientos que conducen a la misma. Un narrador equisciente será el encargado de ello. Nos lo cuenta no desde el punto de vista de Hannah, protagonista absoluta, sino desde dentro de su mente. El ritmo es muy pausado. Se cuece a fuego lento como las dudas y las inseguridades de ella. Un ejercicio psicológico en toda regla. Entre esos capítulos, se intercalan otros de manera aparentemente aleatoria, a veces en primera persona, o de nuevo con el narrador equisciente focalizado en otro personaje. La atmósfera es oscura, opresiva. No es un libro cómodo de leer, genera inquietud, desasosiego. Hay que prestar atención a los detalles dispersos en una estructura narrativa compleja. El esfuerzo, sin embargo, merece la pena.
Los personajes, merecen capítulo aparte. A cuál mejor trazado. Destaca el de Hannah, construido paso a paso desde su propia psique. Hannah es un producto de la educación de su época. Esposa y madre sometida a los deseos del varón, ya sea este su padre, su marido o su amante. Incluso su rol de madre es otro aspecto de su sometimiento a los cánones heteropatriarcales.
"Mami significa: albergar la esperanza de que los niños no se aburran, no estén inquietos, infelices, que no se pongan a gritar que quieren volver a casa pronto. Mami significa: albergar la esperanza de complacer al padre de los niños. De alguna manera".
No es un personaje agradable. Es difícil empatizar con ella y menos aún con las decisiones que toma, con sus continuos puntos de inflexión. Goza de una vida lujosa de clase alta. Una vida en la que se siente cómoda (no quiere perderla), al tiempo que insatisfecha. Esta es la dualidad en la que se mueve.
"Vida de zona residencial: una colmena (zumbona, que emana calor).
La vida familiar: una pequeña y petulante colmena dentro de otra.
En esa, Hannah se sabe segura. Se ha definido: esposa, madre. Tiene seguridad y alimento. Ha dejado de pensar cómo, por qué es la persona que es. Su «identidad de colmena» es segura".
"Soy una mujer bella, tengo derecho a que me quieran. Soy una mujer deseable, tengo derecho a desear".
Hacia el final del libro, Oates ahonda aún más en la psicología del personaje por medio de un símil entre su collar de perlas y su vida.
"Ha descuidado estas perlas, querida. Hay que ponérselas a menudo. Debería saber que, para conservar su belleza, su ser, requieren calor humano, intimidad. Spinoza dijo: «Todas las cosas desean persistir en su ser». Las perlas no son diamantes, querida. Si las abandonas, pierden el corazón. Pierden la esperanza. Como nosotros, se vuelven frágiles y empiezan a morir".
"... ya ve que han empezado a perder lustre. Han empezado a perder la esperanza. Están al inicio de su declive, como un amor que ha salido mal".
Wes, el marido, es a su vez el estereotipo masculino blanco. Procede de buena familia, gana mucho dinero. Su actitud hacia su esposa es paternalista y condescendiente. Espera de ella un ser equilibrado y sonriente, que sea el complemento perfecto a una vida cómoda, alguien que le facilita la vida, y no le crea problemas. Cuando las cosas se complican, cumple obligado con lo que se espera de él, pero no está a la altura.
" Su mujer nunca ha ocupado tanto espacio emocional en todo su matrimonio como en ese breve periodo de tiempo, esa mañana. Está pasmado, anonadado"
Junto con Wes y Hannah, el resto de los personajes no desmerecen. Y. K, el señor R, el padre M y el coletas, otro de los mejores trazados del elenco.
El final no es un final al uso. Un final muy del estilo de esta autora. Se mueve entre la ambigüedad y los detalles que ha dejado dispersos a lo largo de la novela. No es exactamente un final abierto, pero sí permite la posibilidad que cada uno se dibuje lo que cree que pasó.
En conclusión. Una novela oscura y asfixiante, magistralmente construida, en la que Joyce Carol Oates toca aquellos temas que le son propios, como la misoginia, los abusos y el racismo. Recomendable para los que conocen la obra de la autora. Tengo dudas, en cambio, de que sea el más indicado para aquellos que se acercan por primera vez a ella.
September 23, 2022
Prepare to enter room 6183
at the Renaissance Grand Hotel ……
(I was on the edge of my seat)….
Hannah was about to meet her lover.
A suppressed -unhappy - privileged - wealthy white married female with two children — ‘Hannah Jarrett’ — living in a suburban area in Detroit, Michigan—
chooses to engage with a stranger — and have an affair.
I couldn’t help but recall the first story in the book ‘Antarctica’, by Claire Keegan — [the story that gave me one of the worse nightmares I ever remember having]—
only this time my
emotions were protective from the familiar disturbing eeriness. I kept an arms distance to the story….
Yet…
IT IS CREEPY—
and…
BABYSITTER…(the character), is based on a real character.
In the Detroit area during the 1970’s, — a serial killer was going after boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 14.
The title of this book refers to the nanny — but also in the background is the killer-in-the-area -known as ‘Babysitter’.
Themes include adultery, pedophilia, childhood abuse, terminal childhood illness, rape, murder, police brutality, hustling, kidnapping,…. and questionable parenting compounded by a hired Filipino nanny.
Nothing ‘light’ ….and not a novel for the faint-of-heart.
Hannah is an insufferable abominable character —
Her choices are ghastly terrifying and dangerous.
At times she is self reflective—with regrettable guilt and grief.
Yet—she justifies her behavior and is at times illusional. She thinks her own kids are immune from the Babysitter-serial killer because her children are younger than the other children kidnapped and killed.
In Hannah’s own words — her inner voice speaking….
she says:
“If Babysitter kidnapped my children, it’s what I would deserve”.
WOW!!! REALLY CREEPY!!!!
….and all about ‘her’….
Not her children.
This was a bleak - but an interesting story. It’s getting -understandably mixed reviews …..
I’m with mixed feelings about this book too.
It kept me reading.
The 84 year old Joyce Carol Oats — not only is a talented writer — she has written in many varied genres.
So at times -it’s hard to ‘peg’ JCO’s —
But I love something she wrote recently….
(something JCO’s herself is skilled at)
She said:
“The content of any literary novel is of less significance than the language in which the novel is told”.
Well… be warned — the content is dark and disturbing…
But the ‘language’ from which it’s told is suspenseful, carefully crafted, and engrossing.
For me ….
I’d rate this book about a 3.7… it’s better than average due to the way in which the story is orchestrated….and it kept me engaged—
but with ‘content’ this bleak - (although Joyce Carol Oates was clearly reflecting the ugliness in our society) —
rating any higher just doesn’t feel right - for me -either.
However…
I like Joyce Carol Oates books. (yes, I’m aware that many of my friends stopped reading her years ago)…
Not me. I admire this 84 year old author.
She knows how to spin a yarn with her highly imaginable stories.
at the Renaissance Grand Hotel ……
(I was on the edge of my seat)….
Hannah was about to meet her lover.
A suppressed -unhappy - privileged - wealthy white married female with two children — ‘Hannah Jarrett’ — living in a suburban area in Detroit, Michigan—
chooses to engage with a stranger — and have an affair.
I couldn’t help but recall the first story in the book ‘Antarctica’, by Claire Keegan — [the story that gave me one of the worse nightmares I ever remember having]—
only this time my
emotions were protective from the familiar disturbing eeriness. I kept an arms distance to the story….
Yet…
IT IS CREEPY—
and…
BABYSITTER…(the character), is based on a real character.
In the Detroit area during the 1970’s, — a serial killer was going after boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 14.
The title of this book refers to the nanny — but also in the background is the killer-in-the-area -known as ‘Babysitter’.
Themes include adultery, pedophilia, childhood abuse, terminal childhood illness, rape, murder, police brutality, hustling, kidnapping,…. and questionable parenting compounded by a hired Filipino nanny.
Nothing ‘light’ ….and not a novel for the faint-of-heart.
Hannah is an insufferable abominable character —
Her choices are ghastly terrifying and dangerous.
At times she is self reflective—with regrettable guilt and grief.
Yet—she justifies her behavior and is at times illusional. She thinks her own kids are immune from the Babysitter-serial killer because her children are younger than the other children kidnapped and killed.
In Hannah’s own words — her inner voice speaking….
she says:
“If Babysitter kidnapped my children, it’s what I would deserve”.
WOW!!! REALLY CREEPY!!!!
….and all about ‘her’….
Not her children.
This was a bleak - but an interesting story. It’s getting -understandably mixed reviews …..
I’m with mixed feelings about this book too.
It kept me reading.
The 84 year old Joyce Carol Oats — not only is a talented writer — she has written in many varied genres.
So at times -it’s hard to ‘peg’ JCO’s —
But I love something she wrote recently….
(something JCO’s herself is skilled at)
She said:
“The content of any literary novel is of less significance than the language in which the novel is told”.
Well… be warned — the content is dark and disturbing…
But the ‘language’ from which it’s told is suspenseful, carefully crafted, and engrossing.
For me ….
I’d rate this book about a 3.7… it’s better than average due to the way in which the story is orchestrated….and it kept me engaged—
but with ‘content’ this bleak - (although Joyce Carol Oates was clearly reflecting the ugliness in our society) —
rating any higher just doesn’t feel right - for me -either.
However…
I like Joyce Carol Oates books. (yes, I’m aware that many of my friends stopped reading her years ago)…
Not me. I admire this 84 year old author.
She knows how to spin a yarn with her highly imaginable stories.
July 11, 2022
4.5 stars
This, for me, is the best thing that JCO has written in the last few years. It's a complex text that jumps seamlessly through the inner consciousness of various characters, into 3rd person omniscient and back out again. That this is done so fluidly without jarring moments for the reader is already impressive and, combined with the hard-hitting contents that JCO forces us not to look away from, this is quite the tour de force.
Set in Detroit in 1977 (but really set anywhere ruled by patriarchy, racial hierarchies and capitalism), JCO somehow manages to draw comparisons between all kinds of powers and states of oppression: from child abuse to sexual predators, from the authorities assigned to wealth and race to gendered asymmetries and the domestic assumptions, not least motherhood, with which women are burdened.
At the heart of the book is Hannah, a late thirties, wealthy (well, she's married to a rich husband) wife and mother with nothing to do with her time other than sit on benevolent charitable committees with other ladies-who-lunch - she has a live-in nanny (Hannah's not completely sure whether her brown skin is from the Philippines or somewhere from Latin America), she's dressed in designer clothes from her cashmere coats to her YSL snakeskin shoes and her Prada bag (natch!) and if her husband doesn't pay attention to her, well, that's natural in a ten year marriage... isn't it?
What kickstarts Hannah's crisis is the touch of a strange man's hand on her wrist at a gala dinner - and soon her life is terrifyingly off the rails. That this is not just a personal calamity for Hannah is made clear through JCO's setting of her story against the reign of a serial killer who abducts children, primarily boys.
There's so much woven together here: the sterile life of women stripped of any kind of social authorisation other than motherhood; the desperate neediness and desire to be loved that is society's way of containing and holding out rewards to women; violence and brutality, sexual and otherwise; with an omniscient social commentary from now especially on race, the (false) criminalisation of Black men, money, and the power of guns.
Stylistically, not everyone will, I think, respond to JCO's prose: it's iterative and creatively intuitive, sections are hypnotic and hallucinogenic, and sometimes the narrative splits so that there are alternatives captured and held together as alternatives to a single route. I loved it as we flip backwards and forwards and the story itself becomes one that we piece together in collaboration with author and text.
Beware: JCO is bold in her vision and brutal in what she allows to be on the page. A powerful, sometimes terrifying, book - and yes, the best thing she's written in years.
Many thanks to 4th Estate for an ARC via NetGalley
No way that Hannah can speak the truth to Wes: she has no idea what the truth is... he will soon resume the entitlement of authority that is his right by birth, class, profession: the man whose word is not to be doubted
This, for me, is the best thing that JCO has written in the last few years. It's a complex text that jumps seamlessly through the inner consciousness of various characters, into 3rd person omniscient and back out again. That this is done so fluidly without jarring moments for the reader is already impressive and, combined with the hard-hitting contents that JCO forces us not to look away from, this is quite the tour de force.
Set in Detroit in 1977 (but really set anywhere ruled by patriarchy, racial hierarchies and capitalism), JCO somehow manages to draw comparisons between all kinds of powers and states of oppression: from child abuse to sexual predators, from the authorities assigned to wealth and race to gendered asymmetries and the domestic assumptions, not least motherhood, with which women are burdened.
At the heart of the book is Hannah, a late thirties, wealthy (well, she's married to a rich husband) wife and mother with nothing to do with her time other than sit on benevolent charitable committees with other ladies-who-lunch - she has a live-in nanny (Hannah's not completely sure whether her brown skin is from the Philippines or somewhere from Latin America), she's dressed in designer clothes from her cashmere coats to her YSL snakeskin shoes and her Prada bag (natch!) and if her husband doesn't pay attention to her, well, that's natural in a ten year marriage... isn't it?
What kickstarts Hannah's crisis is the touch of a strange man's hand on her wrist at a gala dinner - and soon her life is terrifyingly off the rails. That this is not just a personal calamity for Hannah is made clear through JCO's setting of her story against the reign of a serial killer who abducts children, primarily boys.
There's so much woven together here: the sterile life of women stripped of any kind of social authorisation other than motherhood; the desperate neediness and desire to be loved that is society's way of containing and holding out rewards to women; violence and brutality, sexual and otherwise; with an omniscient social commentary from now especially on race, the (false) criminalisation of Black men, money, and the power of guns.
Stylistically, not everyone will, I think, respond to JCO's prose: it's iterative and creatively intuitive, sections are hypnotic and hallucinogenic, and sometimes the narrative splits so that there are alternatives captured and held together as alternatives to a single route. I loved it as we flip backwards and forwards and the story itself becomes one that we piece together in collaboration with author and text.
Beware: JCO is bold in her vision and brutal in what she allows to be on the page. A powerful, sometimes terrifying, book - and yes, the best thing she's written in years.
Many thanks to 4th Estate for an ARC via NetGalley
August 17, 2022
The Neglected and Unloved
Identity crisis? Midlife crisis? Hannah Jarrett has found herself adrift without gravity to pull her in any direction. She is 39 years old, married to a successful business man who no longer seems to feel one way or the other about her, with two young children who seem more dependent on the housekeeper than on her. Hannah tumbles from depression to paranoia to ecstasy without the pretense she is in control.
The ecstasy comes from a dubious source. A mysterious man has entered the picture during a time she is at her most vulnerable. With a seductive confidence he approaches her and tells her to meet at his room for a rendezvous. Hannah finds herself driving to his hotel, takes the room key from the front desk, rides the long ride up the elevator, and takes the long walk down the aisle to confront a hanging “Do Not Disturb” sign. Joyce Carol Oates has made this more than a journey from point A to point B– we are privy to every doubt in Hannah’s mind. Is this the right thing to do? No, of course this is wrong and could lead to disaster…but it can not be wrong to want to be desired. Sex does not even seem to be the point– it is the affection she is crying out for.
The Babysitter is the name coined for a serial killer who is victimizing young children in the area. As a mother herself, Hannah has the normal expected concerns for her children, but the killer has not been preying on families in well-to-do properties such as hers. She tells herself the Babysitter takes only the neglected and unloved. The plotlines do mesh, of course, as cruel and suspicious characters emerge to further the mystery.
There is a brutal streak in this book, necessary but appalling– particularly the sexual savagery and the abuse to the children. We are dealing with monsters here. This is just a heads-up, expounding would circle the spoiler area.
“The Babysitter” runs a little deliberate at times, especially given the “thriller” tag, but Oates has meticulously portrayed real flesh and blood characters. Hannah is sympathetic, if not very admirable, in her helplessness. At one point she is told a string of pearls has lost most of its value after being neglected and unloved for too long– and that is pretty much the way she sees herself. Her flaw is in having learned to validate her worth through the eyes of others, men particularly.
Thank you to Knopf and Edelweiss for providing the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #Babysitter #Edelweiss #Knopf.
Identity crisis? Midlife crisis? Hannah Jarrett has found herself adrift without gravity to pull her in any direction. She is 39 years old, married to a successful business man who no longer seems to feel one way or the other about her, with two young children who seem more dependent on the housekeeper than on her. Hannah tumbles from depression to paranoia to ecstasy without the pretense she is in control.
The ecstasy comes from a dubious source. A mysterious man has entered the picture during a time she is at her most vulnerable. With a seductive confidence he approaches her and tells her to meet at his room for a rendezvous. Hannah finds herself driving to his hotel, takes the room key from the front desk, rides the long ride up the elevator, and takes the long walk down the aisle to confront a hanging “Do Not Disturb” sign. Joyce Carol Oates has made this more than a journey from point A to point B– we are privy to every doubt in Hannah’s mind. Is this the right thing to do? No, of course this is wrong and could lead to disaster…but it can not be wrong to want to be desired. Sex does not even seem to be the point– it is the affection she is crying out for.
The Babysitter is the name coined for a serial killer who is victimizing young children in the area. As a mother herself, Hannah has the normal expected concerns for her children, but the killer has not been preying on families in well-to-do properties such as hers. She tells herself the Babysitter takes only the neglected and unloved. The plotlines do mesh, of course, as cruel and suspicious characters emerge to further the mystery.
There is a brutal streak in this book, necessary but appalling– particularly the sexual savagery and the abuse to the children. We are dealing with monsters here. This is just a heads-up, expounding would circle the spoiler area.
“The Babysitter” runs a little deliberate at times, especially given the “thriller” tag, but Oates has meticulously portrayed real flesh and blood characters. Hannah is sympathetic, if not very admirable, in her helplessness. At one point she is told a string of pearls has lost most of its value after being neglected and unloved for too long– and that is pretty much the way she sees herself. Her flaw is in having learned to validate her worth through the eyes of others, men particularly.
Thank you to Knopf and Edelweiss for providing the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #Babysitter #Edelweiss #Knopf.
December 8, 2022
"Una sonámbula avanzando lentamente y con cuidado sobre sus stilettos por un pasillo sin ventanas. Es la maldición de la belleza, los tacones de aguja, 6133, 6149, 6160... Los números aumentan tan despacio que siente una oleada de alivio, nunca llegará a la 6183.
[...]
Al acercarse a la 6183 se echa a temblar."
No hay que subestimar a Joyce Carol Oates, nunca, y lo digo porque yo misma, pobre de mí, pensaba que al haberme leído muchas de sus novelas, ya a estas alturas ninguna otra conseguiría sorprenderme y que esta autora ya había abordado todo lo que tenía abordar; pero por supuesto no ha sido así porque la Oates lo ha vuelto a hacer: no solo me ha sorprendido sino que me ha hecho volar la cabeza por la forma en que ha concebido esta novela y su personaje femenino. Es una autora a la que adoro pero entiendo que tiene novelas más irregulares que otras y quizás en esta última etapa las ha habido, pero claro que en una autora tan prolífica como ella, no todo pueden ser obras maestras y así y todo, una novela irregular en una autora de la talla de la Oates, es una novela genial en cualquier otro autor por tanto su listón está siempre muy alto. El caso es que contaba que no estaba preparada para una novela como esta donde el comienzo ya de por sí sienta las bases de todo lo que viene después porque JCO demuestra que a estas alturas puede con todo: que se arriesga y se tira al barro, que no le importa volverse bizarrísima oscura y tenebrosa buceando en el lado más oscuro del ser humano, y leyéndola, una vez más, nos demuestra que todos tenemos ese lado oscuro, algunos lo visiblizarán alguna vez a lo largo de su vida, otros no.
"¿Es Hannah? Una figura compuesta de píxeles.
Se observa a sí misma en trance. En un monitor del vestibulo del hotel; de hecho, en una secuencia de monitores instalada en una pared a una altura de unos tres metros y medio y en cada pantalla la figura imprecisa de una mujer, espectral, suspendida, atravesando la entrada del hotel Renaissance Grand.”
Si usáramos un simil cinematográfico, compararía estas primeras cien páginas al comienzo de una película experimental, porque lo vivimos todo a través de la la mente de Hannah Jarrett de camino a la habitación 6183 de un hotel exclusivo de Detroit, el Renaissance Grand. Páginas y páginas donde apenas somos conscientes de nada más que del terror de una mujer a punto de serle infiel a su marido, y el simbolo de ese mundo desconocido al que va a penetrar es la habitación 6183 que de alguna forma es la puerta para ella al morbo, y al hecho de dejar de ser invisible, de demostrarse a sí misma que está viva y que es deseada porque para el pobre concepto que tiene Hannah de ser una mujer, “si no eres deseada, no estás viva”, de modo que la autora sitúa a Hannah en una especie de sueño onírico y recurrente en el pasillo de ese hotel entrando o saliendo del ascensor, demorándose, retrocediendo, echándose atrás, temiendo si entrar o no, así... en un bucle continuo y recurrente mientras su mente es una bomba de relojería retrocediendo atrás en el tiempo haciendo un repaso de su mundo, de su familia, de su pasado… la habitación 6183 es la puerta a su entrada a un mundo desconocido, a una realidad paralela de la vida que lleva.
"Recuerda cuando su vida era tan pacífica, tan ordenada y predecible. Confundía el calendario de su escritorio con el flujo de la vida misma: cada día un rectángulo en un espacio en blanco, un vacío que esperaba a llenarse.
[...]
Eso lo ha perdido, piensa. Esa calma y ese control."
Babysitter comienza con una mujer a punto de tener una aventura, pero no una aventura cualquiera porque Hannah es un ama de casa en el Detroit de finales de los 70, solamente dedicada a ser la esposa y madre perfecta en un entorno de lujo. Vive en una elegante urbanización protegida y amparada por esa elite social donde los maridos trabajan y ellas con sus ropas costosas, sus tacones de aguja y sus obras de caridad llevan vidas hastiadas y aisladas (a la "Mistica de la Feminidad" de Betty Friedan me remito), completamente alejadas del mundo real viviendo en una especie de burbuja. En una de estas fiestas de caridad Hannah conoce a un misterioso desconocido, con el peligro grabado en cada poro de su piel, y poco después se citan en la la icónica habitación 6183 del Renaissance Grand. Un hombre misterioso que cuando lo conoce simplemente toca brevemente su muñeca pero deja una gran impresión en Hannah, quizás ella no necesite mucho más que eso, para despertar de su sonambulismo. Hannah sabe que se va a lanzar a un vacío para el que puede no estar preparada, pero hay momentos en la vida en que incluso sabiendo que las decisiones que se van a tomar son incorrectas, el ser humano se lanza a ellas a sabiendas de la factura que posteriormente habrá que pagar por ello, por tanto no es un recurso gratuito que la la autora elija una cita de Paul Bowles en el inicio de esta novela: “Las cosas no suceden, depende a quien se cruzan en su camino”. Joyce Carol Oates está algo obsesionada por los puntos de inflexión en determinados momentos de la vida de un ser humano, buceando en alguna entrevista la autora habla al respecto, y a través de Hannah Jarrett de alguna forma exorciza esta obsesión recurrente porque aunque Hannah es una mujer con la que nos va a ser difícil empatizar sí que conectaremos con algunos puntos que le va a tocar vivir. En este aspecto la Oates es una maestra: sabe que no nos gusta Hannah pero a través de la experiencia que le va a tocar vivir, la convierte en un ser humano visible. Además que Hannah se embarca en esa otra vida a sabiendas de que es un peligro, pero quiere tener derecho a vivirla, a salirse del tiesto por una vez en su vida.
"Una parte de su cabeza entiende que nada de eso es real. Ese sueño familiar en el que vuelve a ser una niña. Intenta correr, sin aliento y asustada. No de nuevo, sino todavía."
Podríamos considerar esta novela un thriller, salvando las distancias, porque paralelamente a este hilo argumental en torno a Hannah y su infidelidad, la historia recorre a su vez la trama en torno a los brutales secuestros y asesinatos de niños por un asesino en serie a quien denominan Babysitter. Los niños, a menudo, huérfanos, seres vulnerables, siempre blancos, desaparecen para ser encontrados asesinados poco después. Hannah, su familia y su entorno, viven en un completo estado de paranoia estas desapariciones y posteriores muertes una vez que estos sucesos afectan inesperadamente a una familia de la élite y vecina suya, porque por primera vez se sienten amenazados en su segura burbuja. Ambas tramas irán confluyendo hasta encajar pero en mi opinión y aunque la Oates se haya basado en unos asesinatos reales que ocurrieron en los años 70 en Detroit, no dejan de ser una especie de Mcguffin porque todo es una excusa para bucear en la psique de Hannah y en su paranoia mental. Hannah lo arriesga todo, se siente culpable y así y todo se siente atraída en una relación extramatrimonial que resulta todo menos segura porque la Oates la hace penetrar en un precipicio de violencia que la va engullendo y va dinamitando su seguro mundo, dosificando el suspense de tal forma que es una de sus novelas más enganchantes, el ritmo es bestial, en ningún momento decae porque desde esa habitación 6183 de las primeras páginas, hasta la misma habitación de las páginas finales, nos ha hecho sus cómplices. Hay un momento magistral, casi al final de la novela, donde la autora usa el simil de un collar de perlas descuidadas y sin vida compárandolas a la propia vida de Hannah Jarrett, y además volvemos al punto de inflexión que comentaba antes, porque el momento de las perlas en la casa de empeños, es ese momento en que Hannah parece despertar de un sueño:
"- Ha descuidado estas perlas, querida. Hay que ponérselas a menudo. Debería saber que, para conservar su belleza, su ser, requieren calor humano, intimidad. Spinoza dijo: ´Todas las cosas desean persistir en su ser´. Las perlas no son diamantes, querida. Si las abandonas, pierden el corazón, se vuelven frágiles y empiezan a morir. Pero ya ve que han empezado a perder lustre. Han empezado a perder la esperanza. Están al inicio de su declive, como un amor que ha salido mal.
[...]
¿Por qué no se las ha puesto más a menudo, señora Jar-rett? ¿Pensaba que no estaban de moda, que eran antiguas? No son modernas, sexis, ¿es eso?"
A pesar de que a simple vista parece un argumento manido, la gracia está en cómo la Oates monta la trama, es un retrato psicológico puro y duro en torno a Hannah, una mujer al borde del abismo. El control absoluto que tiene la autora de la prosa, de las descripciones de violencia sin cortarse un pelo, pueden resultar perturbadoras e inquietantes, pero en ningún momento está pasada de rosca porque al mismo tiempo repasa sus temas de siempre y con una habilidad asombrosa cuela temas como el de la salud mental, la inmigración, el abuso infantil, los problemas raciales, la violencia policial, los roles de género.., JCO en estado puro.
"Su mujer nunca ha ocupado tanto espacio emocional en todo el matrimonio como en ese breve periodo de tiempo, esa mañana. Está pasmado, anonadado."
[…]
"Recordaba a su padre apartándose los dedos de la madre del brazo, un gesto de desprecio supremo que hacía mientras se alejaba de ella, indiferente, aburrido."
Babysitter (el título es horrendo, una concesión) es una novela inmensa, sorprendente, de una autora que está mas viva que nunca. Joyce Carol Oates cuenta que escribió esta novela durante el primer confinamiento de 2020 y volcó en ella parte de esta incertidumbre y el caos paranoico que se vivío en aquellos momentos, un ambiente de ansiedad continua que se refleja a la perfección en la novela. Y para ello la narra en el presente porque al igual que en la vida misma, si vivimos el presente, las historias no están terminadas de contar. Y aunque parezca que el final es una ida de olla y haya cosas sin resolver (¿dónde empiezay acaba esa sutil linea mental entre la realidad y la imaginación?), durante la novela va dejando pistas para encajar las piezas. Joyce Carol Oates no es una autora a la que le guste dejar cabos sueltos. Diosa máxima, una vez más.
"Se siente difuminada, en un estado onírico. Desde luego, cabe la posibilidad de que esté soñando y todo esté pasando en lo sumergido."
https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2022...
[...]
Al acercarse a la 6183 se echa a temblar."
No hay que subestimar a Joyce Carol Oates, nunca, y lo digo porque yo misma, pobre de mí, pensaba que al haberme leído muchas de sus novelas, ya a estas alturas ninguna otra conseguiría sorprenderme y que esta autora ya había abordado todo lo que tenía abordar; pero por supuesto no ha sido así porque la Oates lo ha vuelto a hacer: no solo me ha sorprendido sino que me ha hecho volar la cabeza por la forma en que ha concebido esta novela y su personaje femenino. Es una autora a la que adoro pero entiendo que tiene novelas más irregulares que otras y quizás en esta última etapa las ha habido, pero claro que en una autora tan prolífica como ella, no todo pueden ser obras maestras y así y todo, una novela irregular en una autora de la talla de la Oates, es una novela genial en cualquier otro autor por tanto su listón está siempre muy alto. El caso es que contaba que no estaba preparada para una novela como esta donde el comienzo ya de por sí sienta las bases de todo lo que viene después porque JCO demuestra que a estas alturas puede con todo: que se arriesga y se tira al barro, que no le importa volverse bizarrísima oscura y tenebrosa buceando en el lado más oscuro del ser humano, y leyéndola, una vez más, nos demuestra que todos tenemos ese lado oscuro, algunos lo visiblizarán alguna vez a lo largo de su vida, otros no.
"¿Es Hannah? Una figura compuesta de píxeles.
Se observa a sí misma en trance. En un monitor del vestibulo del hotel; de hecho, en una secuencia de monitores instalada en una pared a una altura de unos tres metros y medio y en cada pantalla la figura imprecisa de una mujer, espectral, suspendida, atravesando la entrada del hotel Renaissance Grand.”
Si usáramos un simil cinematográfico, compararía estas primeras cien páginas al comienzo de una película experimental, porque lo vivimos todo a través de la la mente de Hannah Jarrett de camino a la habitación 6183 de un hotel exclusivo de Detroit, el Renaissance Grand. Páginas y páginas donde apenas somos conscientes de nada más que del terror de una mujer a punto de serle infiel a su marido, y el simbolo de ese mundo desconocido al que va a penetrar es la habitación 6183 que de alguna forma es la puerta para ella al morbo, y al hecho de dejar de ser invisible, de demostrarse a sí misma que está viva y que es deseada porque para el pobre concepto que tiene Hannah de ser una mujer, “si no eres deseada, no estás viva”, de modo que la autora sitúa a Hannah en una especie de sueño onírico y recurrente en el pasillo de ese hotel entrando o saliendo del ascensor, demorándose, retrocediendo, echándose atrás, temiendo si entrar o no, así... en un bucle continuo y recurrente mientras su mente es una bomba de relojería retrocediendo atrás en el tiempo haciendo un repaso de su mundo, de su familia, de su pasado… la habitación 6183 es la puerta a su entrada a un mundo desconocido, a una realidad paralela de la vida que lleva.
"Recuerda cuando su vida era tan pacífica, tan ordenada y predecible. Confundía el calendario de su escritorio con el flujo de la vida misma: cada día un rectángulo en un espacio en blanco, un vacío que esperaba a llenarse.
[...]
Eso lo ha perdido, piensa. Esa calma y ese control."
Babysitter comienza con una mujer a punto de tener una aventura, pero no una aventura cualquiera porque Hannah es un ama de casa en el Detroit de finales de los 70, solamente dedicada a ser la esposa y madre perfecta en un entorno de lujo. Vive en una elegante urbanización protegida y amparada por esa elite social donde los maridos trabajan y ellas con sus ropas costosas, sus tacones de aguja y sus obras de caridad llevan vidas hastiadas y aisladas (a la "Mistica de la Feminidad" de Betty Friedan me remito), completamente alejadas del mundo real viviendo en una especie de burbuja. En una de estas fiestas de caridad Hannah conoce a un misterioso desconocido, con el peligro grabado en cada poro de su piel, y poco después se citan en la la icónica habitación 6183 del Renaissance Grand. Un hombre misterioso que cuando lo conoce simplemente toca brevemente su muñeca pero deja una gran impresión en Hannah, quizás ella no necesite mucho más que eso, para despertar de su sonambulismo. Hannah sabe que se va a lanzar a un vacío para el que puede no estar preparada, pero hay momentos en la vida en que incluso sabiendo que las decisiones que se van a tomar son incorrectas, el ser humano se lanza a ellas a sabiendas de la factura que posteriormente habrá que pagar por ello, por tanto no es un recurso gratuito que la la autora elija una cita de Paul Bowles en el inicio de esta novela: “Las cosas no suceden, depende a quien se cruzan en su camino”. Joyce Carol Oates está algo obsesionada por los puntos de inflexión en determinados momentos de la vida de un ser humano, buceando en alguna entrevista la autora habla al respecto, y a través de Hannah Jarrett de alguna forma exorciza esta obsesión recurrente porque aunque Hannah es una mujer con la que nos va a ser difícil empatizar sí que conectaremos con algunos puntos que le va a tocar vivir. En este aspecto la Oates es una maestra: sabe que no nos gusta Hannah pero a través de la experiencia que le va a tocar vivir, la convierte en un ser humano visible. Además que Hannah se embarca en esa otra vida a sabiendas de que es un peligro, pero quiere tener derecho a vivirla, a salirse del tiesto por una vez en su vida.
"Una parte de su cabeza entiende que nada de eso es real. Ese sueño familiar en el que vuelve a ser una niña. Intenta correr, sin aliento y asustada. No de nuevo, sino todavía."
Podríamos considerar esta novela un thriller, salvando las distancias, porque paralelamente a este hilo argumental en torno a Hannah y su infidelidad, la historia recorre a su vez la trama en torno a los brutales secuestros y asesinatos de niños por un asesino en serie a quien denominan Babysitter. Los niños, a menudo, huérfanos, seres vulnerables, siempre blancos, desaparecen para ser encontrados asesinados poco después. Hannah, su familia y su entorno, viven en un completo estado de paranoia estas desapariciones y posteriores muertes una vez que estos sucesos afectan inesperadamente a una familia de la élite y vecina suya, porque por primera vez se sienten amenazados en su segura burbuja. Ambas tramas irán confluyendo hasta encajar pero en mi opinión y aunque la Oates se haya basado en unos asesinatos reales que ocurrieron en los años 70 en Detroit, no dejan de ser una especie de Mcguffin porque todo es una excusa para bucear en la psique de Hannah y en su paranoia mental. Hannah lo arriesga todo, se siente culpable y así y todo se siente atraída en una relación extramatrimonial que resulta todo menos segura porque la Oates la hace penetrar en un precipicio de violencia que la va engullendo y va dinamitando su seguro mundo, dosificando el suspense de tal forma que es una de sus novelas más enganchantes, el ritmo es bestial, en ningún momento decae porque desde esa habitación 6183 de las primeras páginas, hasta la misma habitación de las páginas finales, nos ha hecho sus cómplices. Hay un momento magistral, casi al final de la novela, donde la autora usa el simil de un collar de perlas descuidadas y sin vida compárandolas a la propia vida de Hannah Jarrett, y además volvemos al punto de inflexión que comentaba antes, porque el momento de las perlas en la casa de empeños, es ese momento en que Hannah parece despertar de un sueño:
"- Ha descuidado estas perlas, querida. Hay que ponérselas a menudo. Debería saber que, para conservar su belleza, su ser, requieren calor humano, intimidad. Spinoza dijo: ´Todas las cosas desean persistir en su ser´. Las perlas no son diamantes, querida. Si las abandonas, pierden el corazón, se vuelven frágiles y empiezan a morir. Pero ya ve que han empezado a perder lustre. Han empezado a perder la esperanza. Están al inicio de su declive, como un amor que ha salido mal.
[...]
¿Por qué no se las ha puesto más a menudo, señora Jar-rett? ¿Pensaba que no estaban de moda, que eran antiguas? No son modernas, sexis, ¿es eso?"
A pesar de que a simple vista parece un argumento manido, la gracia está en cómo la Oates monta la trama, es un retrato psicológico puro y duro en torno a Hannah, una mujer al borde del abismo. El control absoluto que tiene la autora de la prosa, de las descripciones de violencia sin cortarse un pelo, pueden resultar perturbadoras e inquietantes, pero en ningún momento está pasada de rosca porque al mismo tiempo repasa sus temas de siempre y con una habilidad asombrosa cuela temas como el de la salud mental, la inmigración, el abuso infantil, los problemas raciales, la violencia policial, los roles de género.., JCO en estado puro.
"Su mujer nunca ha ocupado tanto espacio emocional en todo el matrimonio como en ese breve periodo de tiempo, esa mañana. Está pasmado, anonadado."
[…]
"Recordaba a su padre apartándose los dedos de la madre del brazo, un gesto de desprecio supremo que hacía mientras se alejaba de ella, indiferente, aburrido."
Babysitter (el título es horrendo, una concesión) es una novela inmensa, sorprendente, de una autora que está mas viva que nunca. Joyce Carol Oates cuenta que escribió esta novela durante el primer confinamiento de 2020 y volcó en ella parte de esta incertidumbre y el caos paranoico que se vivío en aquellos momentos, un ambiente de ansiedad continua que se refleja a la perfección en la novela. Y para ello la narra en el presente porque al igual que en la vida misma, si vivimos el presente, las historias no están terminadas de contar. Y aunque parezca que el final es una ida de olla y haya cosas sin resolver (¿dónde empiezay acaba esa sutil linea mental entre la realidad y la imaginación?), durante la novela va dejando pistas para encajar las piezas. Joyce Carol Oates no es una autora a la que le guste dejar cabos sueltos. Diosa máxima, una vez más.
"Se siente difuminada, en un estado onírico. Desde luego, cabe la posibilidad de que esté soñando y todo esté pasando en lo sumergido."
https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2022...
December 7, 2022
Vaya retrato social del Detroit de los años 60 que se ha marcado Oates... Está todo ahí: el machismo, la violencia, la pederastia, la segregación racial, el clasismo... Todo en el entorno de una familia suburbana de clase alta, un matrimonio joven con dos niños que encarna como un estereotipo el sueño americano.
El formato elegido es un thriller, que vivimos desde la cabeza de Hannah, la esposa clásica de un hombre de éxito, y cuya principal obligación es cuidar del hogar y de los niños. Pronto descubrimos que Hannah es una víctima, tanto de su entorno como de sí misma. Ella es su propio verdugo porque las decisiones que toma son erróneas y peligrosas. No es una heroína con la que puedas empatizar, sino el producto de un sistema que le ha inculcado estereotipos machistas para que subordine su vida a un hombre y a unos hijos. Pero el mismo sistema le ha llenado la cabeza de fantasías de amor romántico y apasionado que ella no encuentra en su relación - magníficamente descrita - con el marido.
Siempre sonriendo, en público, nunca melancolía, tristeza y amargura, siempre dichosa y exultante, con la seguridad del amor de un hombre, su amor. No se atreve a tocarle el brazo a su marido en público por miedo a que le aparte la mano y todo el mundo lo vea, con los ojos como platos, y se escandalice y se intrigue.
La autora a menudo hace referencia a un imaginario hollywoodiense que la condiciona:
Como en una comedia romántica, Hannah se ríe, encantada. En un romance de Hollywood, toda escena tensa acaba casi siempre en una reconciliación: el marido, gruñón; la esposa aliviada e indulgente.
Pero este mismo imaginario también la impulsa a perseguir sus sueños de una manera que choca con lo que de ella se espera en la sociedad heteropatriarcal:
La culpa le roza el alma como un vestido de tela basta que irrita una piel muy sensible.
Los intentos de Hannah por hacer compatible el papel de madre con su búsqueda del amor apasionado generan escenas muy incómodas que ponen el énfasis en los niños y su indefensión. La maternidad es retratada con cierto escepticismo, con un punto de esclavitud:
Mami significa: albergar la esperanza de que los niños no se aburran, no estén inquietos, infelices, que no se pongan a gritar que quieren volver a casa pronto. Mami significa: albergar la esperanza de complacer al padre de los niños. De alguna manera.
Lo mejor de todo es la narración y cómo Joyce Carol Oates nos transmite todos los pensamientos de la protagonista y todo el bullir de su entorno de una manera impecable, precisa y al mismo tiempo ágil. Son casi 500 páginas de una lectura llena de contenidos pero muy ágil, que casi se puede leer como un thriller convencional.
El formato elegido es un thriller, que vivimos desde la cabeza de Hannah, la esposa clásica de un hombre de éxito, y cuya principal obligación es cuidar del hogar y de los niños. Pronto descubrimos que Hannah es una víctima, tanto de su entorno como de sí misma. Ella es su propio verdugo porque las decisiones que toma son erróneas y peligrosas. No es una heroína con la que puedas empatizar, sino el producto de un sistema que le ha inculcado estereotipos machistas para que subordine su vida a un hombre y a unos hijos. Pero el mismo sistema le ha llenado la cabeza de fantasías de amor romántico y apasionado que ella no encuentra en su relación - magníficamente descrita - con el marido.
Siempre sonriendo, en público, nunca melancolía, tristeza y amargura, siempre dichosa y exultante, con la seguridad del amor de un hombre, su amor. No se atreve a tocarle el brazo a su marido en público por miedo a que le aparte la mano y todo el mundo lo vea, con los ojos como platos, y se escandalice y se intrigue.
La autora a menudo hace referencia a un imaginario hollywoodiense que la condiciona:
Como en una comedia romántica, Hannah se ríe, encantada. En un romance de Hollywood, toda escena tensa acaba casi siempre en una reconciliación: el marido, gruñón; la esposa aliviada e indulgente.
Pero este mismo imaginario también la impulsa a perseguir sus sueños de una manera que choca con lo que de ella se espera en la sociedad heteropatriarcal:
La culpa le roza el alma como un vestido de tela basta que irrita una piel muy sensible.
Los intentos de Hannah por hacer compatible el papel de madre con su búsqueda del amor apasionado generan escenas muy incómodas que ponen el énfasis en los niños y su indefensión. La maternidad es retratada con cierto escepticismo, con un punto de esclavitud:
Mami significa: albergar la esperanza de que los niños no se aburran, no estén inquietos, infelices, que no se pongan a gritar que quieren volver a casa pronto. Mami significa: albergar la esperanza de complacer al padre de los niños. De alguna manera.
Lo mejor de todo es la narración y cómo Joyce Carol Oates nos transmite todos los pensamientos de la protagonista y todo el bullir de su entorno de una manera impecable, precisa y al mismo tiempo ágil. Son casi 500 páginas de una lectura llena de contenidos pero muy ágil, que casi se puede leer como un thriller convencional.
September 18, 2022
I am new to JCO's writing, having read only one of her books. Ms Oates's writing is as disturning as the main motif of her novel and I agree that it should not be otherwise. A novel that will not leave you want for more as it is dark and covers some sensitive issues such as rape, drugs and child abuse. Ms Oates in her own unique style takes us on a reading journey that will not be easily forgotten.
*Many thanks to Joyce Carol Oates, 4th Estate, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
*Many thanks to Joyce Carol Oates, 4th Estate, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
July 11, 2022
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Literary Fiction + Mystery Thriller
This story is set in 1977 Detroit. It is about this serial killer who is known by the media as Babysitter. His victims are white kids between the ages of eleven and fourteen. His goal is to target those children who are not loved and not deserved. All this is actually more like a backdrop of the story, The story’s focus is more on Hannah, a 39-year-old housewife whose relationship with her husband Wes has been deteriorating over time. She has an affair with another man. What she thought would be an innocent flirtation turns into an assault! How will Hannah deal with this situation? And what does all this has to do with Babysitter? You need to read to know.
This is my first book by Joyce Carol Oates. I have another book of hers in my TBR but decided to go for this one first as it is the newest release. Honestly, I’m conflicted about her writing style. In the first couple of chapters, I felt the sentences were not complete. And later chapters got wordy and longer. The direction the plot was taking felt more convoluted to me. I can’t hide my disappointment about the serial killer just being a backdrop in the story. The protagonist is Hannah and through her actions, the story progresses.
Despite expecting more from this book and its author, I still think it was a decent read. However, it has many trigger warnings like kidnap, murder, rape, infidelity, racism, etc so you have to be careful if you decide to pick it up. I doubt the main character would be a favorite character by readers. Relating to her or accepting her actions is hardly possible.
Many thanks to the publisher Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Knopf, and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book.
Genre: Literary Fiction + Mystery Thriller
This story is set in 1977 Detroit. It is about this serial killer who is known by the media as Babysitter. His victims are white kids between the ages of eleven and fourteen. His goal is to target those children who are not loved and not deserved. All this is actually more like a backdrop of the story, The story’s focus is more on Hannah, a 39-year-old housewife whose relationship with her husband Wes has been deteriorating over time. She has an affair with another man. What she thought would be an innocent flirtation turns into an assault! How will Hannah deal with this situation? And what does all this has to do with Babysitter? You need to read to know.
This is my first book by Joyce Carol Oates. I have another book of hers in my TBR but decided to go for this one first as it is the newest release. Honestly, I’m conflicted about her writing style. In the first couple of chapters, I felt the sentences were not complete. And later chapters got wordy and longer. The direction the plot was taking felt more convoluted to me. I can’t hide my disappointment about the serial killer just being a backdrop in the story. The protagonist is Hannah and through her actions, the story progresses.
Despite expecting more from this book and its author, I still think it was a decent read. However, it has many trigger warnings like kidnap, murder, rape, infidelity, racism, etc so you have to be careful if you decide to pick it up. I doubt the main character would be a favorite character by readers. Relating to her or accepting her actions is hardly possible.
Many thanks to the publisher Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Knopf, and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book.
July 28, 2024
Esta novela es tan compleja, que no me va a salir una reseña que le haga justicia, y además intentando no destripar la trama, tan intrincada. La pluma de la autora es magistral. La historia es demoledora.
Es una lectura abrumadora y tensa. Ojo, no es una novela sobre un asesino, esa trama no es lo principal. El título es engañoso, pero contiene un simbolismo que no se detecta hasta el final.
Detroit, 1977. Hannah y Wes son un matrimonio, con dos hijos de 4 y 7 años, que viven en una zona residencial de chalets de alto standing a las afueras de la ciudad. El es un hombre de negocios que pasa mucho tiempo fuera de casa. Ella cuida de los hijos y de la organización de la casa, queda con amigas en el club social y está implicada en eventos sociales y galas benéficas. La vida de Hannah es rutinaria y la relación matrimonial ya no es lo que era. En una gala benéfica, conoce a un hombre y se arriesga a tener una cita con él en un hotel. Lo que sucede en esa cita y en otra más provocará una situación terrible para Hannah, pero ella, en su mente, deformara la realidad.
Al mismo tiempo, no se habla de otra cosa en la ciudad que no sea del secuestrador y asesino de niños, al que los medios han bautizado como Babysitter. Ya van 11 niños. Todos procedentes de hospicios o niños de la calle, excepto el último, hijo de un matrimonio vecino, de la zona residencial de Hannah y Wes.
Llegamos a saber quién es Babysitter. Llegamos a saber su relación con el amante de Hannah.
Lo abrumador de la novela es saber la clase de calaña que es el amante, lo turbio de sus negocios, la tela de araña que construye alrededor de Hannah. Lo abrumador es el mundo irreal que se ha construido ella en su interior, la ingenuidad y sumisión, la humillación que transforma en amor.
A lo largo de la novela palpamos el clasismo, el racismo, las drogas, los abusos sexuales, la violencia, en el Detroit de los años 70.
Excelente y compleja novela. Aunque el final me ha descolocado un poco.
Es una lectura abrumadora y tensa. Ojo, no es una novela sobre un asesino, esa trama no es lo principal. El título es engañoso, pero contiene un simbolismo que no se detecta hasta el final.
Detroit, 1977. Hannah y Wes son un matrimonio, con dos hijos de 4 y 7 años, que viven en una zona residencial de chalets de alto standing a las afueras de la ciudad. El es un hombre de negocios que pasa mucho tiempo fuera de casa. Ella cuida de los hijos y de la organización de la casa, queda con amigas en el club social y está implicada en eventos sociales y galas benéficas. La vida de Hannah es rutinaria y la relación matrimonial ya no es lo que era. En una gala benéfica, conoce a un hombre y se arriesga a tener una cita con él en un hotel. Lo que sucede en esa cita y en otra más provocará una situación terrible para Hannah, pero ella, en su mente, deformara la realidad.
Al mismo tiempo, no se habla de otra cosa en la ciudad que no sea del secuestrador y asesino de niños, al que los medios han bautizado como Babysitter. Ya van 11 niños. Todos procedentes de hospicios o niños de la calle, excepto el último, hijo de un matrimonio vecino, de la zona residencial de Hannah y Wes.
Llegamos a saber quién es Babysitter. Llegamos a saber su relación con el amante de Hannah.
Lo abrumador de la novela es saber la clase de calaña que es el amante, lo turbio de sus negocios, la tela de araña que construye alrededor de Hannah. Lo abrumador es el mundo irreal que se ha construido ella en su interior, la ingenuidad y sumisión, la humillación que transforma en amor.
A lo largo de la novela palpamos el clasismo, el racismo, las drogas, los abusos sexuales, la violencia, en el Detroit de los años 70.
Excelente y compleja novela. Aunque el final me ha descolocado un poco.
September 10, 2022
The opening of “Babysitter” obsessively focuses on a few moments in time as a woman ascends in a glass hotel elevator to the 61st floor and walks down a corridor to a room with a sign on the door that loudly declares “PRIVACY PLEASE! DO NOT DISTURB”. Hannah is a wealthy wife and mother living in a Detroit suburb in the 1970s. She has arrived for an assignation and to engage in an affair with a mysterious man she met briefly at a party. Like in a fairy tale, violating the message on this door and entering the room will irrevocably alter her life to liberate or destroy it. However, this story isn't as concerned with consequences as it is in moments in our life when there is a profound shift from one stage to another. So the narrative catches in a time loop like a snippet of film which plays over and over: “The vision overcame her. And this, too, cinematic, in a flash. Yet, strangely, not a vision so much as a memory.” The style of detailing the minutiae of a seemingly ordinary action is reminiscent of Nicholson Baker's “The Mezzanine” and by following Hannah in these brief moments we come to understand her position in life and her milieu of white upper class privilege. She is a passive woman living amongst deadly powerful men who make their own rules and dominate the people around them. This novel presents a vivid, hallucinatory and thought-provoking portrait of those whose lives brush against an elusive serial killer preying upon children.
Read my full review of Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oates at LonesomeReader
You can watch me discuss “Babysitter” with Joyce Carol Oates here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StX-dEuDo3A
Read my full review of Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oates at LonesomeReader
You can watch me discuss “Babysitter” with Joyce Carol Oates here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StX-dEuDo3A
November 19, 2022
No me cansaré de decirlo, alucinante como escribe esta mujer. Lo borda.
Y tampoco me canso en recalcarlo, una pena que después de leerla, lo siguiente que lees te parece que lo has escrito tú o alguien tan poco dotado para la escritura como tú.
En esta ocasión, con "Babysitter" crea en el lector o al menos en mí, un estado de desasosiego por estar continuamente preguntándome por donde van a trascurrir los acontecimientos.
Lectura por momentos asfixiante pero muy gratificante.
Y tampoco me canso en recalcarlo, una pena que después de leerla, lo siguiente que lees te parece que lo has escrito tú o alguien tan poco dotado para la escritura como tú.
En esta ocasión, con "Babysitter" crea en el lector o al menos en mí, un estado de desasosiego por estar continuamente preguntándome por donde van a trascurrir los acontecimientos.
Lectura por momentos asfixiante pero muy gratificante.
September 5, 2022
The setting is Detroit in the late 1970's, and once again, Joyce Carol Oates flips the page. She manages to consistently write well crafted, hefty tomes, gets inside her characters' heads and still manage to make the plotlines propulsive and, in this case, very timely. although set in the late 1970's, there is an element of today's world that rocks the center of this account of Hannah, a dissatisfied housewife who finds she's in over her head upon embarking on an ill-advised affair with a man whose name she doesn't even know. Employing several points of view, events spin out of control rapidly, enjoining the reader to shout "No! What are you thinking!" at times. But JCO also includes the element of real life in that the title refers to an actual serial killer stalking children at the time, plus the racist upheavals at the time that provide one of the book's most gut wrenching episodes. JCO is a powerful writer, one who has not slowed down despite being over 80 years of age. She has a point of view, is fearless, and is not afraid to explore the darkest sides of humankind.
July 10, 2023
Hmmm, ok.........Well let me admit this was almost a dnf and I never do that. Thankfully I stuck with this one as I could see the author is one heck of a writer and things got better as I went along. This book kind of reminded me of Blake Butler's 300,000,000 in that as a writer he was heralded and man for the first 150 pages of that book I could see why only to have the second half of it derail and leading me to believe that hey leave the art stuff to the artists, I prefer a good fn story and that's what I hunt for. Of course to each their own but with Oates you can clearly see an excellent writer whose book was the opposite of Butler's with a poor first half and a better second half.
The setting is Detroit in the 70's fresh off the 69 riots. As I live right across the river I remember the riots and as a six year old kid watching basically only the 3 major news networks I feared watching the news and would run away from the tv. My parents and really all our community also feared a spill over into our city too. Crazy times. The author paints a great landscape of the city at the time including its surroundings. She pokes fun at our skyline which admittedly in looking at it states welcome to the asshole of Canada because Windsor, Ontario really is just that! A US comedian dubbed us that a few years ago and our mayor went nuts but we all know its true as Canada ends at London about 200km north of here. Anway I do find it odd that the writer refers to Farmington Hills where a great place of this story takes place as Farm Hills. Never heard it called that honestly and I've been there and everything but it did sound cool and ps it is a Detroit suburb.
So the story centers on Hannah who is rich and lives in Farm Hills. Her marriage though is more of a business arrangement than anything else at this point. At a charity event the sparks fly with a visitor known simply as YK. They meet quickly in the novel and yet Oates obsesses and goes over and over about their meeting for like 60 frickn pages. This is where I almost DNF it and could tell that this writer really thinks they're something - you could just tell. I mean she would go back and over what she already fn said. I was shouting at her saying hey I get it, it's not that complicated, lol.
So Hannah braves the freeways of Detroit to meet with YK at the Renaissance building where he essentially rapes her. It is quite descriptive too and talks about him fingering inside her with using his fingernails to cut her. Pretty sick shit and more sickening is she falls in love with him after being raped. So that's how the first part of the book ends and part II opens with the chapter Before I Died. And in reading this two page chapter I'm like, did she die? And honestly I cannot tell you the frickn answer but the book goes on for another 300 pages or so so that says something.
Honestly the book is titled the babysitter and refers to an actual serial killer in Detroit during the early 70's who abducted and killed children and posed them in certain ways when he left them to be found. It was this thread which got me to read the book but honestly the book has so little to do with that aspect.
Honestly this book centers around Hannah. I poor woman who has little self worth and is spiralling into mental illness. To read her plight and to see what happens (though we are not always sure what in fact happens to her) was worth the read and why I gave it three stars which makes it a pass. To be fair I read this book about two months ago and for the most part as confused as I was a lot of it has stuck with me which I view as a plus. If you want something different or just want to read it and suggest that I am a moron for not figuring things out then please feel free to do so :)
The setting is Detroit in the 70's fresh off the 69 riots. As I live right across the river I remember the riots and as a six year old kid watching basically only the 3 major news networks I feared watching the news and would run away from the tv. My parents and really all our community also feared a spill over into our city too. Crazy times. The author paints a great landscape of the city at the time including its surroundings. She pokes fun at our skyline which admittedly in looking at it states welcome to the asshole of Canada because Windsor, Ontario really is just that! A US comedian dubbed us that a few years ago and our mayor went nuts but we all know its true as Canada ends at London about 200km north of here. Anway I do find it odd that the writer refers to Farmington Hills where a great place of this story takes place as Farm Hills. Never heard it called that honestly and I've been there and everything but it did sound cool and ps it is a Detroit suburb.
So the story centers on Hannah who is rich and lives in Farm Hills. Her marriage though is more of a business arrangement than anything else at this point. At a charity event the sparks fly with a visitor known simply as YK. They meet quickly in the novel and yet Oates obsesses and goes over and over about their meeting for like 60 frickn pages. This is where I almost DNF it and could tell that this writer really thinks they're something - you could just tell. I mean she would go back and over what she already fn said. I was shouting at her saying hey I get it, it's not that complicated, lol.
So Hannah braves the freeways of Detroit to meet with YK at the Renaissance building where he essentially rapes her. It is quite descriptive too and talks about him fingering inside her with using his fingernails to cut her. Pretty sick shit and more sickening is she falls in love with him after being raped. So that's how the first part of the book ends and part II opens with the chapter Before I Died. And in reading this two page chapter I'm like, did she die? And honestly I cannot tell you the frickn answer but the book goes on for another 300 pages or so so that says something.
Honestly the book is titled the babysitter and refers to an actual serial killer in Detroit during the early 70's who abducted and killed children and posed them in certain ways when he left them to be found. It was this thread which got me to read the book but honestly the book has so little to do with that aspect.
Honestly this book centers around Hannah. I poor woman who has little self worth and is spiralling into mental illness. To read her plight and to see what happens (though we are not always sure what in fact happens to her) was worth the read and why I gave it three stars which makes it a pass. To be fair I read this book about two months ago and for the most part as confused as I was a lot of it has stuck with me which I view as a plus. If you want something different or just want to read it and suggest that I am a moron for not figuring things out then please feel free to do so :)
June 19, 2022
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!
I’ve been sitting on my thoughts of this book for a few days, unsure exactly what my final rating would be or what I’d say in a review. This book, in a word, is infuriating. It isn’t for the impatient reader. Joyce Carol Oates is my favorite author, and that’s the only reason I pushed on. She’s in capital-L Literary form here, and I think a reread is in order. The things that irritated me made sense by the story’s end, so . . .
JCO isn’t known for crafting exactly likable characters, but ones that feel REAL. For good or bad. Hannah, our main character, is almost frustratingly naive at times, but I guess I will chalk it up to love (and lust) making us blind. Still, sometimes I wanted to shake her by the shoulders and say “Lady! Don’t you see all these red flags?”
Also, this book is set in Detroit 1977 but really, it could’ve been set anywhere and anytime. This story could have taken place today. There weren’t many attempts at making the setting “feel” real, and some character thoughts and actions feel more like 2022 than 1977. Not necessarily a complaint, just something that amused me. Also, cordless phones were around in the 1970s? I had no idea.
Sinister, involving, frustrating, thrilling . . . this novel is all those things, and more. I wouldn’t recommend this for a newcomer to JCO. Maybe start with some of her short fiction. But for her established fans—go for it!
I’ve been sitting on my thoughts of this book for a few days, unsure exactly what my final rating would be or what I’d say in a review. This book, in a word, is infuriating. It isn’t for the impatient reader. Joyce Carol Oates is my favorite author, and that’s the only reason I pushed on. She’s in capital-L Literary form here, and I think a reread is in order. The things that irritated me made sense by the story’s end, so . . .
JCO isn’t known for crafting exactly likable characters, but ones that feel REAL. For good or bad. Hannah, our main character, is almost frustratingly naive at times, but I guess I will chalk it up to love (and lust) making us blind. Still, sometimes I wanted to shake her by the shoulders and say “Lady! Don’t you see all these red flags?”
Also, this book is set in Detroit 1977 but really, it could’ve been set anywhere and anytime. This story could have taken place today. There weren’t many attempts at making the setting “feel” real, and some character thoughts and actions feel more like 2022 than 1977. Not necessarily a complaint, just something that amused me. Also, cordless phones were around in the 1970s? I had no idea.
Sinister, involving, frustrating, thrilling . . . this novel is all those things, and more. I wouldn’t recommend this for a newcomer to JCO. Maybe start with some of her short fiction. But for her established fans—go for it!
May 10, 2025
"Se ti trovi dentro un enigma l’unico modo per risolverlo è spingere verso la fine.
Questo romanzo è un incubo.
Un doppio incubo.
E’ il 1977 e nell’area di Detroit, già da un anno, c’è un serial killer che terrorizza i genitori.
Lo chiamano "Babysitter" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland...) ed è un cacciatore seriale di bambini.
Li cattura; li tiene prigionieri e dopo al massimo undici giorni li fa ritrovare nudi, con accanto i vestiti lavati e stirati.
Questo il contesto in cui si svolge un altro dramma che ha come protagonista Hannah Jarret.
Moglie, madre, ricca, bella: tutte coordinate da cui si fa definire e che apparentemente rendono felice un’esistenza condotta tra un evento benefico e una favola letta ai bambini prima di andare a letto.
La verità, tuttavia, è che Hannah, si sente vuota, annoiata e sola.
L’egocentrico marito ne tollera l’esistenza funzionale e di facciata e lei si lascia trasportare dal desiderio per un uomo sconosciuto che le cambierà totalmente la vita…
Un mondo in cui i più deboli non hanno scampo.
Vittime sacrificali in un America prigioniera dei costrutti razziali, macchiate dai crimini efferati delle guerre imperialiste e preda delle più perverse malvagità…
Astenersi lettori delicati.
”Come ricomponendo i pezzi di un vaso andato in frantumi, niente sembra farli aderire. Tuttavia, si vede che si incastrano tra loro.”
Questo romanzo è un incubo.
Un doppio incubo.
E’ il 1977 e nell’area di Detroit, già da un anno, c’è un serial killer che terrorizza i genitori.
Lo chiamano "Babysitter" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland...) ed è un cacciatore seriale di bambini.
Li cattura; li tiene prigionieri e dopo al massimo undici giorni li fa ritrovare nudi, con accanto i vestiti lavati e stirati.
Questo il contesto in cui si svolge un altro dramma che ha come protagonista Hannah Jarret.
Moglie, madre, ricca, bella: tutte coordinate da cui si fa definire e che apparentemente rendono felice un’esistenza condotta tra un evento benefico e una favola letta ai bambini prima di andare a letto.
La verità, tuttavia, è che Hannah, si sente vuota, annoiata e sola.
L’egocentrico marito ne tollera l’esistenza funzionale e di facciata e lei si lascia trasportare dal desiderio per un uomo sconosciuto che le cambierà totalmente la vita…
Un mondo in cui i più deboli non hanno scampo.
Vittime sacrificali in un America prigioniera dei costrutti razziali, macchiate dai crimini efferati delle guerre imperialiste e preda delle più perverse malvagità…
Astenersi lettori delicati.
”Come ricomponendo i pezzi di un vaso andato in frantumi, niente sembra farli aderire. Tuttavia, si vede che si incastrano tra loro.”
April 22, 2024
Probablemente una de las novelas que más me ha sacudido hasta ahora. Impresionante. Pude vivir dentro de los personaje gracias a las habilidades magistrales de Oates, y a sus personajes les sucede el infierno en la tierra. Magnífica en fondo y forma. No es para quienes buscan cosas “bonitas y edificantes” en las novelas, como si de autoayuda se tratara.
July 20, 2022
This is my first book by this author. I was confused when I started reading this book, so I admit I looked more into the author. She is known for writing unlikable characters and she did a great job of doing that with this book. As soon as I was intrigued, something happens to turn me off. The book has a lot of scenes repeated over and over again. There are also a lot of different characters that didn’t fit organically. The plot was confusing at times and the ending was weird. I always say not every book is for everyone and this book wasn’t for me.
Thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for an E-ARC via NetGalley. Publication date is anticipated for 8/23/2022.
Thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for an E-ARC via NetGalley. Publication date is anticipated for 8/23/2022.
November 5, 2022
Después de la magnífica reseña de Kansas, nada que añadir.
Solo una cosa que no me ha gustado: el título.
Solo una cosa que no me ha gustado: el título.
August 12, 2024
“Quando siamo morti, chiedetevi perché avete avuto dei figli se non ci amate.
Chiedetevi perché.”
Il serial killer soprannominato “Babysitter” agì tra il 1976 e il ‘77 nella contea di Oakland, a nord di Detroit.
Rapì, torturò e uccise almeno sei bambini, i cui corpi, accuratamente vestiti con abiti appena lavati e stirati, lasciò adagiati su coperte vicino a una strada.
Non è mai stato catturato.
Joyce Carol Oates viveva a Detroit quando si sono verificati i fatti.
Fu testimone dell'atmosfera di paura e paranoia che regnava nella zona , intensificata dalla tensione razziale che, dopo i gravissimi disordini del 1967 era ancora molto presente nello stato del Michigan.
'Babysitter' si colloca in questo contesto storico ed emotivo, è un thriller psicologico con protagonista Hannah , un'elegante donna dell'alta società di Detroit che veste Dior e Prada, madre di due figli sposata con un uomo d'affari di successo.
Divorata dalle sue insicurezze, Hannah si aggrappa alla sua desiderabilità per poter provare un po' di orgoglio.
“Una vita a sorridere e nessuno a cui importi di lei"
A una festa incontra un enigmatico uomo, YK , che la seduce trascinandola in una relazione tossica
Parallelamente, Babysitter continuerà a mietere vittime e a seminare il terrore nella comunità in cui risiede la protagonista.
Razzismo, classismo, violenza sessuale, misoginia, omofobia, pedofilia.
Tutti questi temi appaiono nel romanzo perfettamente integrati nella trama. Attraverso lo straordinario disegno psicologico della sua protagonista, Oates compone un ritratto feroce della società americana degli anni '70 e dei suoi problemi che continuano ad affliggerla
In "Babysitter", l’autrice dimostra il controllo assoluto del tempo narrativo manipolando la linea del tempo, dilatando l'azione fino a farla diventare pensiero.
Una storia terribile, prosa ipnotica, quasi onirica un'opera densa, frenetica nei dettagli ma in qualche modo anche fredda, misurata e astratta.
Un oblio che va oltre il male
Chiedetevi perché.”
Il serial killer soprannominato “Babysitter” agì tra il 1976 e il ‘77 nella contea di Oakland, a nord di Detroit.
Rapì, torturò e uccise almeno sei bambini, i cui corpi, accuratamente vestiti con abiti appena lavati e stirati, lasciò adagiati su coperte vicino a una strada.
Non è mai stato catturato.
Joyce Carol Oates viveva a Detroit quando si sono verificati i fatti.
Fu testimone dell'atmosfera di paura e paranoia che regnava nella zona , intensificata dalla tensione razziale che, dopo i gravissimi disordini del 1967 era ancora molto presente nello stato del Michigan.
'Babysitter' si colloca in questo contesto storico ed emotivo, è un thriller psicologico con protagonista Hannah , un'elegante donna dell'alta società di Detroit che veste Dior e Prada, madre di due figli sposata con un uomo d'affari di successo.
Divorata dalle sue insicurezze, Hannah si aggrappa alla sua desiderabilità per poter provare un po' di orgoglio.
“Una vita a sorridere e nessuno a cui importi di lei"
A una festa incontra un enigmatico uomo, YK , che la seduce trascinandola in una relazione tossica
Parallelamente, Babysitter continuerà a mietere vittime e a seminare il terrore nella comunità in cui risiede la protagonista.
Razzismo, classismo, violenza sessuale, misoginia, omofobia, pedofilia.
Tutti questi temi appaiono nel romanzo perfettamente integrati nella trama. Attraverso lo straordinario disegno psicologico della sua protagonista, Oates compone un ritratto feroce della società americana degli anni '70 e dei suoi problemi che continuano ad affliggerla
In "Babysitter", l’autrice dimostra il controllo assoluto del tempo narrativo manipolando la linea del tempo, dilatando l'azione fino a farla diventare pensiero.
Una storia terribile, prosa ipnotica, quasi onirica un'opera densa, frenetica nei dettagli ma in qualche modo anche fredda, misurata e astratta.
Un oblio che va oltre il male
November 7, 2025
⭐⭐⭐.5
"Confiding in her, as he has claimed he has never been able to confide in anyone before, not any woman, not ever. For he has known many women, he has never loved any woman until Hannah. Never wanted to have a child with any woman until Hannah. How flattered Hannah is...for in the euphoria of love, all is possible."
"One of those dreams, in which she is a child again, she runs, runs, her feet sinking into something soft-seeming, but not soft. Never making any progress. ...Each time he looms behind her, Daddy's strong hands threaten to seize her, lift her up by her ribs."
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. I love the details. A good author can tell a good story in good details!
2. This main character is perfectly loathsome! I don't like her but I love to read her appalling thoughts and behaviors! "Uneasily, Hannah is reminded of her own mother. Indeed, of her mother-in-law. Is Hannah being rebuffed? Snubbed? Again? ...Hannah smiles foolishly. ...'Why do you dislike me? I'm trying so hard! Have pity on me.' "
3. A very cynical, fascinating look at marriage and motherhood from this character's perspective: "This is what it is to have a lover. ...The lover...is perpendicular to marriage. The lover helps to define the marriage. There is no lover without a marriage. Hannah sees now: there is no true marriage without the lover. No wonder Hannah's marriage has been so... unsatisfying to her. The children have made her Mother. Mommy. Hannah has allowed mother to eclipse wife! Woman! No wonder her husband has ceased to desire her; he has ceased to see her!"
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. I found no trigger warning for SA in this book's introduction, which I think publishers should provide. However, Oates opened the scene in such a way that it was unmistakable what was coming. For me, it was easy to skip the chapter ("You Like This") and move along.
2. This book is really about the serial killer known as The Babysitter. A narrative reason exists for Oates to spend so much time developing the fmc. I don't know what that reason is yet, but I've begun to suspect. Whatever the reason is, Oates is apologizing for this character for whatever reason she has. The narrator has done this over and over– it is the main result of the overwriting in this area.
3. I noted above how much I love the details in the story; they really help this one float! However, with sufficient details, exposition isn't necessary. In fact, with sufficient details, exposition looks a lot like writing down to the audience. Given the finery of the detail here, I found entirely too much exposition.
4. Someone needs to tell Oates that subtlety can be just as horrifying as endless chapters of nothing but multiple detailed acts of SA. Good character development does not need this sh-t.
5. If only authors would learn how annoying it is for the reader when the author names a character for a characteristic. Like "Ponytail." Totally immemorable, hard to follow in dialog, what's not to love?
6. The ending is convoluted, almost pointless. It's the sort of ending that makes me wish I hadn't wasted all that time reading the book.
I found an audiobook copy of THE BABYSITTER by Joyce Carol Oates on Libby. Read by Cassandra Campbell, Max Meyers, and Kirby Heyborne. All views are mine.
"Confiding in her, as he has claimed he has never been able to confide in anyone before, not any woman, not ever. For he has known many women, he has never loved any woman until Hannah. Never wanted to have a child with any woman until Hannah. How flattered Hannah is...for in the euphoria of love, all is possible."
"One of those dreams, in which she is a child again, she runs, runs, her feet sinking into something soft-seeming, but not soft. Never making any progress. ...Each time he looms behind her, Daddy's strong hands threaten to seize her, lift her up by her ribs."
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. I love the details. A good author can tell a good story in good details!
2. This main character is perfectly loathsome! I don't like her but I love to read her appalling thoughts and behaviors! "Uneasily, Hannah is reminded of her own mother. Indeed, of her mother-in-law. Is Hannah being rebuffed? Snubbed? Again? ...Hannah smiles foolishly. ...'Why do you dislike me? I'm trying so hard! Have pity on me.' "
3. A very cynical, fascinating look at marriage and motherhood from this character's perspective: "This is what it is to have a lover. ...The lover...is perpendicular to marriage. The lover helps to define the marriage. There is no lover without a marriage. Hannah sees now: there is no true marriage without the lover. No wonder Hannah's marriage has been so... unsatisfying to her. The children have made her Mother. Mommy. Hannah has allowed mother to eclipse wife! Woman! No wonder her husband has ceased to desire her; he has ceased to see her!"
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. I found no trigger warning for SA in this book's introduction, which I think publishers should provide. However, Oates opened the scene in such a way that it was unmistakable what was coming. For me, it was easy to skip the chapter ("You Like This") and move along.
2. This book is really about the serial killer known as The Babysitter. A narrative reason exists for Oates to spend so much time developing the fmc. I don't know what that reason is yet, but I've begun to suspect. Whatever the reason is, Oates is apologizing for this character for whatever reason she has. The narrator has done this over and over– it is the main result of the overwriting in this area.
3. I noted above how much I love the details in the story; they really help this one float! However, with sufficient details, exposition isn't necessary. In fact, with sufficient details, exposition looks a lot like writing down to the audience. Given the finery of the detail here, I found entirely too much exposition.
4. Someone needs to tell Oates that subtlety can be just as horrifying as endless chapters of nothing but multiple detailed acts of SA. Good character development does not need this sh-t.
5. If only authors would learn how annoying it is for the reader when the author names a character for a characteristic. Like "Ponytail." Totally immemorable, hard to follow in dialog, what's not to love?
6. The ending is convoluted, almost pointless. It's the sort of ending that makes me wish I hadn't wasted all that time reading the book.
I found an audiobook copy of THE BABYSITTER by Joyce Carol Oates on Libby. Read by Cassandra Campbell, Max Meyers, and Kirby Heyborne. All views are mine.
January 17, 2023
4.0 Stars
I have always wanted to understand the love for this author and I feel like I finally clicked with their work. I previously read Zombie and am now interested to reread that one and see if my appreciation grows.
This novel has unusually low ratings which I somewhat understand. First, this author has a rather unique, fragmented prose style which can be hit or miss with readers (including myself). Secondly, the plot heavily revolves around uncomfortable topics which are not necessarily handled with a lot of sensitivity. There is sexual assault that is used to advance the plot and leans into certain stereotypes. Yet, I fell under the author's spell in this uneven narrative. The story has imperfections but I almost loved it more because of those flaws. I would cautiously recommend this one to readers who share my unusual tastes in dark fiction.
I have always wanted to understand the love for this author and I feel like I finally clicked with their work. I previously read Zombie and am now interested to reread that one and see if my appreciation grows.
This novel has unusually low ratings which I somewhat understand. First, this author has a rather unique, fragmented prose style which can be hit or miss with readers (including myself). Secondly, the plot heavily revolves around uncomfortable topics which are not necessarily handled with a lot of sensitivity. There is sexual assault that is used to advance the plot and leans into certain stereotypes. Yet, I fell under the author's spell in this uneven narrative. The story has imperfections but I almost loved it more because of those flaws. I would cautiously recommend this one to readers who share my unusual tastes in dark fiction.
August 23, 2022
I am not sure what I just read. Long, drawn out & tedious, I often felt anxiety trying to get through these pages. Entirely too many similes. Extensive use of the word “wraith.,” for no discernible reason. Unfortunately, I found myself wanting the book to be over. I kept waiting for something to happen & pieces to fall into place, but that never happened. We are left wondering about every single character, from Hannah to Wes & Y.K. to the Babysitter. I’m so confused and after nearly 500 pages, I was hoping for way more.
September 18, 2022
WTF? Can anyone explain the ending to me?
June 27, 2022
This book was an absolute trip for me.
I started out hating it. Like 1-star-if-you’re-lucky hating it. I ended up really liking it.
Hannah spends sooooo much time whining about the unfairness of life and being mommy and hey I’m white what do brown people think of me and gee if my kids get killed by a serial killer that’s my punishment for having an affair. There were multiple pages where Hannah just…thinks about how she’s white and wonders if her brown housekeeper is judging her. And for a while it seemed like the entire affair was her walking to the elevator, walking to the room, thinking about being white, oh he touched my wrist, ooh I’ll have a lover with nothing (absolutely nothing) actually happening.
However…
At some point, all the stuff about her being white actually ends up relevant. The affair very wrongly happens. The serial killer aspect comes into play more and more and it’s heartbreaking and horrible. And, though I never really liked Hannah, I understood her a bit more, hated her husband, and was just waiting for our characters to pay for their specific stupidity and privilege.
Shockingly, I went from 1-star-if-you’re-lucky to absolutely enjoying the read completely caught up in the dangerous suspense of it all. Also, I kind of dug how relevant much of it is to today’s world.
I can’t give it a five star (the hatred I felt in the beginning and I didn’t completely love the way it ended), but it surprised me, angered me, and made me feel.
*ARC via Publisher
I started out hating it. Like 1-star-if-you’re-lucky hating it. I ended up really liking it.
Hannah spends sooooo much time whining about the unfairness of life and being mommy and hey I’m white what do brown people think of me and gee if my kids get killed by a serial killer that’s my punishment for having an affair. There were multiple pages where Hannah just…thinks about how she’s white and wonders if her brown housekeeper is judging her. And for a while it seemed like the entire affair was her walking to the elevator, walking to the room, thinking about being white, oh he touched my wrist, ooh I’ll have a lover with nothing (absolutely nothing) actually happening.
However…
At some point, all the stuff about her being white actually ends up relevant. The affair very wrongly happens. The serial killer aspect comes into play more and more and it’s heartbreaking and horrible. And, though I never really liked Hannah, I understood her a bit more, hated her husband, and was just waiting for our characters to pay for their specific stupidity and privilege.
Shockingly, I went from 1-star-if-you’re-lucky to absolutely enjoying the read completely caught up in the dangerous suspense of it all. Also, I kind of dug how relevant much of it is to today’s world.
I can’t give it a five star (the hatred I felt in the beginning and I didn’t completely love the way it ended), but it surprised me, angered me, and made me feel.
*ARC via Publisher
November 16, 2022
Hannah Jarrett is a wealthy, bored and neglected housewife in 1977 Detroit. A chance encounter with a stranger at a charity event sets Hannah on a path that will make her wish for her old dull and repetitive life back. This is a creepy and dark read and I would'nt expect anything less from JCO. I've read 11 of her books and she does not do happy ever. I would have given this 5 stars but the ending was abrupt and left me wanting more which is saying a lot for a 431 page book. And as an added plus throw a serial killer into the mix and this was one creepy dark disturbing read.
October 28, 2022
El libro está bien escrito,pero me fue muy complicado de leer. El tema es fuerte y a la protagonista le hacen de todo y creo que no era lo que estaba buscando yo en este momento. No pude dejar de leerlo porque quería saber en qué terminaba todo esto,pero no quería seguir leyendo tampoco.
September 12, 2022
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of
Babysitter.
There's no doubt Ms. Oates can write but this was not what I expected.
The title refers to an insidious serial killer kidnapping unwanted children in Detroit 1977.
But the story revolves around a housewife having a wild and dangerous affair with a stranger.
The manhunt for the Babysitter happens on the periphery of this woman's life as she struggles to maintain the illusion as a happy wife and mother while entertaining dark fantasies of leaving her husband, Wes, for a man who treats her like garbage.
The writing style is incredibly difficult to read, sort of a stream of consciousness-style.
The prose is wordy and verbose; for example, the author spends several chapters discussing how the wife feels, her thoughts, her constant, repetitive ruminations as she goes to meet her lover at his hotel room.
This is typical of the entire narrative; endless chapters on what the housewife is doing; just one action takes several chapters to describe in excruciating, painstaking, boring ass detail.
There are disturbing triggering themes including sexual abuse, assault, rape, and pedophilia so readers beware!
I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of the story is.
I didn't like any of the characters, least of all the housewife.
She was one dimensional and lacked any personality or strong character traits.
I've only read a few of the author's books mainly because her writing style isn't for everyone.
That strongly applies to Babysitter, but a hard core fan of the author would love this.
I definitely did not.
There's no doubt Ms. Oates can write but this was not what I expected.
The title refers to an insidious serial killer kidnapping unwanted children in Detroit 1977.
But the story revolves around a housewife having a wild and dangerous affair with a stranger.
The manhunt for the Babysitter happens on the periphery of this woman's life as she struggles to maintain the illusion as a happy wife and mother while entertaining dark fantasies of leaving her husband, Wes, for a man who treats her like garbage.
The writing style is incredibly difficult to read, sort of a stream of consciousness-style.
The prose is wordy and verbose; for example, the author spends several chapters discussing how the wife feels, her thoughts, her constant, repetitive ruminations as she goes to meet her lover at his hotel room.
This is typical of the entire narrative; endless chapters on what the housewife is doing; just one action takes several chapters to describe in excruciating, painstaking, boring ass detail.
There are disturbing triggering themes including sexual abuse, assault, rape, and pedophilia so readers beware!
I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of the story is.
I didn't like any of the characters, least of all the housewife.
She was one dimensional and lacked any personality or strong character traits.
I've only read a few of the author's books mainly because her writing style isn't for everyone.
That strongly applies to Babysitter, but a hard core fan of the author would love this.
I definitely did not.
August 24, 2022
Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for allowing me to read this ARC!
Content Warning: death (including that of a child), murder, violence, rape (on-page), homophobia, racism, racist slurs, homophobic slurs, victim-blaming, suicidal ideation, child abuse (physical, emotional and sexual).
For more of my reviews, check out my blog!
Detroit, 1977. Hannah Jarrett lives a privileged life; the wife of a wealthy man, the mother of two perfect children, the co-chair of many esteemed fundraisers and charity events. In the midst of her outwardly perfect -- if boring -- life, Hannah suddenly and unexpectedly meets a man who she is instantly drawn to. Calling himself only Y.K., Hannah falls headfirst into an affair that will change the course of her life forever. In another part of Detroit, there's Mikey, connected not only to Y.K., but to Babysitter, the child killer stalking the streets. As Hannah grows more and more suspicious of Y.K., questioning whether he is implicated in the Babysitter killings, everyone -- including Hannah's children and her husband -- will be drawn into the turmoil...
Joyce Carol Oates is adept at crafting stories centered around darkness. Of the several other books I've read by her, they were all similarly filled with themes of lust, hatred, and murder, and while some of them were more successful than others, I knew going into Babysitter that this type of tale was in good hands. Her stories often play with subversion, subterfuge, and nontraditional forms of writing, and so those who are not familiar with her style may find it a bit strange at first -- even I, having not read anything by her in a while, found it a bit jarring at first. However, the longer I read, the more compulsively I found myself consuming this, eager to know what frightening turn the plot might take.
Hannah Jarrett is our (main) protagonist; I would describe her as being squarely in the middle of the events that take place here, as well as the characters who surround her. She, both narratively and as a character, provides a sort of stepping stone, an opportunity for the reader to see themselves in the story. However, like most of Oates's protagonists, she is not likable on principle; she is complex, deeply flawed, and very, very naïve. I appreciated Oates's efforts to show us that while Hannah thinks of herself as being "rational" and "nonracist," she nonetheless continuously insults her children's Filipina nanny, Ismelda, with microaggressions. She projects her insecurities and fears onto Ismelda, the "other," just like her husband, Wes, does, though his is more outwardly aggressive, more "male."
Racism is a big theme in this book, as is fitting, I think, for a novel that takes place in 1970s' Detroit. Present, too, as in all of Oates's novels, are the questions of womanhood, femininity, and how motherhood changes women (for better and worse). Some of her attempts at dissecting racism are better than others but, overall, I think the message here is well-conveyed -- that racism is insidious in its many forms, and that white women perpetuate racism in ways different than their male counterparts (but that all are equally reprehensible). Her discussions of misogyny are incisive and clever, as always.
Now, onto why it didn't quite get the full four stars from me... my main complaint is that, sometimes, I struggled to truly "click" with the story or its characters. Mistakenly, I thought that this novel would revolve mainly around the Babysitter killer, also known as the Oakland County Child Killer, who I do have some prior knowledge of. Instead, this deals mostly with people who are connected to him, both tangentially and more closely, which I found a touch disappointing. The child killings serve more as a backdrop for what's going on in Hannah's life, as well as exacerbating her already heightened fears as a mother. It's important that I mention that while this book does deal with many dark, horrible things, sometimes in graphic detail, I never felt as if Oates was exploiting the real life tragedies that Babysitter committed.
I didn't like Hannah, per se; she's gullible, a bit spineless, not to mention her strange racist assumptions about Ismelda. However, I see the purpose of her story, and I do enjoy the fact that Oates doesn't worry so much about how "relatable" or "likable" her characters are. The story also feels disjointed, sometimes confusing; while this does work well in some aspects, in others, it fails to achieve its intentions. For example, the ending -- I'm still confused about what exactly it was meant to signify, even how much of it is "real." That might work for some readers, but in my case, it left me feeling a bit let down after the rather arduous journey I took to get there.
Ultimately, I think Babysitter succeeds in many of its efforts, but as a whole, it felt like a jigsaw puzzle missing a few pieces. I'd recommend this to Oates's fans, and to anyone who might have a fascination with true crime like I do.
Content Warning: death (including that of a child), murder, violence, rape (on-page), homophobia, racism, racist slurs, homophobic slurs, victim-blaming, suicidal ideation, child abuse (physical, emotional and sexual).
For more of my reviews, check out my blog!
Detroit, 1977. Hannah Jarrett lives a privileged life; the wife of a wealthy man, the mother of two perfect children, the co-chair of many esteemed fundraisers and charity events. In the midst of her outwardly perfect -- if boring -- life, Hannah suddenly and unexpectedly meets a man who she is instantly drawn to. Calling himself only Y.K., Hannah falls headfirst into an affair that will change the course of her life forever. In another part of Detroit, there's Mikey, connected not only to Y.K., but to Babysitter, the child killer stalking the streets. As Hannah grows more and more suspicious of Y.K., questioning whether he is implicated in the Babysitter killings, everyone -- including Hannah's children and her husband -- will be drawn into the turmoil...
Joyce Carol Oates is adept at crafting stories centered around darkness. Of the several other books I've read by her, they were all similarly filled with themes of lust, hatred, and murder, and while some of them were more successful than others, I knew going into Babysitter that this type of tale was in good hands. Her stories often play with subversion, subterfuge, and nontraditional forms of writing, and so those who are not familiar with her style may find it a bit strange at first -- even I, having not read anything by her in a while, found it a bit jarring at first. However, the longer I read, the more compulsively I found myself consuming this, eager to know what frightening turn the plot might take.
Hannah Jarrett is our (main) protagonist; I would describe her as being squarely in the middle of the events that take place here, as well as the characters who surround her. She, both narratively and as a character, provides a sort of stepping stone, an opportunity for the reader to see themselves in the story. However, like most of Oates's protagonists, she is not likable on principle; she is complex, deeply flawed, and very, very naïve. I appreciated Oates's efforts to show us that while Hannah thinks of herself as being "rational" and "nonracist," she nonetheless continuously insults her children's Filipina nanny, Ismelda, with microaggressions. She projects her insecurities and fears onto Ismelda, the "other," just like her husband, Wes, does, though his is more outwardly aggressive, more "male."
Racism is a big theme in this book, as is fitting, I think, for a novel that takes place in 1970s' Detroit. Present, too, as in all of Oates's novels, are the questions of womanhood, femininity, and how motherhood changes women (for better and worse). Some of her attempts at dissecting racism are better than others but, overall, I think the message here is well-conveyed -- that racism is insidious in its many forms, and that white women perpetuate racism in ways different than their male counterparts (but that all are equally reprehensible). Her discussions of misogyny are incisive and clever, as always.
Now, onto why it didn't quite get the full four stars from me... my main complaint is that, sometimes, I struggled to truly "click" with the story or its characters. Mistakenly, I thought that this novel would revolve mainly around the Babysitter killer, also known as the Oakland County Child Killer, who I do have some prior knowledge of. Instead, this deals mostly with people who are connected to him, both tangentially and more closely, which I found a touch disappointing. The child killings serve more as a backdrop for what's going on in Hannah's life, as well as exacerbating her already heightened fears as a mother. It's important that I mention that while this book does deal with many dark, horrible things, sometimes in graphic detail, I never felt as if Oates was exploiting the real life tragedies that Babysitter committed.
I didn't like Hannah, per se; she's gullible, a bit spineless, not to mention her strange racist assumptions about Ismelda. However, I see the purpose of her story, and I do enjoy the fact that Oates doesn't worry so much about how "relatable" or "likable" her characters are. The story also feels disjointed, sometimes confusing; while this does work well in some aspects, in others, it fails to achieve its intentions. For example, the ending -- I'm still confused about what exactly it was meant to signify, even how much of it is "real." That might work for some readers, but in my case, it left me feeling a bit let down after the rather arduous journey I took to get there.
Ultimately, I think Babysitter succeeds in many of its efforts, but as a whole, it felt like a jigsaw puzzle missing a few pieces. I'd recommend this to Oates's fans, and to anyone who might have a fascination with true crime like I do.
September 29, 2022
This book is a wild ride- one which made me scared, uneasy and disgusted in deep, visceral ways, but was incredible.
The title belies the cruelty at the heart of the book- a slew of children go missing, with the perpetrator being nicknamed, with horrible irony, the 'Babysitter'. In the midst of this, we get several plotlines of people who are caught up and complicit in what is happening, and others just trying to survive and make sense of something that seems vastly unknowable.
The opening scene feels like it almost resists the urge of a standard book covering these themes, with almost all the action taking place inside a character's head as she heads towards a hotel room, but in many ways it sets up the ghastly horror within so many of the characters.
The writing is unflinching, raw, and incredibly deft, often navigating especially tricky descriptions with exquisite mastery. Oates will often describe a character in one or two withering sentences, and then quickly move on to the action (a particular favourite was this description: "Upright rodent. Halfway metamorphosed into a man.")
This is a deeply uncomfortable read in many ways, and pretty much every content warning applies for this book, but this book held me in its deathly grip, and made me almost miss several train stations.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.
The title belies the cruelty at the heart of the book- a slew of children go missing, with the perpetrator being nicknamed, with horrible irony, the 'Babysitter'. In the midst of this, we get several plotlines of people who are caught up and complicit in what is happening, and others just trying to survive and make sense of something that seems vastly unknowable.
The opening scene feels like it almost resists the urge of a standard book covering these themes, with almost all the action taking place inside a character's head as she heads towards a hotel room, but in many ways it sets up the ghastly horror within so many of the characters.
The writing is unflinching, raw, and incredibly deft, often navigating especially tricky descriptions with exquisite mastery. Oates will often describe a character in one or two withering sentences, and then quickly move on to the action (a particular favourite was this description: "Upright rodent. Halfway metamorphosed into a man.")
This is a deeply uncomfortable read in many ways, and pretty much every content warning applies for this book, but this book held me in its deathly grip, and made me almost miss several train stations.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.
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