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'... but he could not conceive that tenderness and desire could ever again be one for him: such a notion as that seemed part of the monstrous sentimental muddle on which his life had gone aground."

"It was bad enough to have no motor of her own, to be avowedly dependent on 'lifts,' openly and unconcealably in quest of them, and perpetually plotting to provoke their offer [...]" wow the eternal struggle. I get it

"Undine Spragg" ideal protagonist name

Nice thing about reading books like this is that it drives home that there have been women who are keenly aware of misogyny in all places through all of history and it's actually not a new realisation me and my pals had the other day or anything

And what can I do? What can I do with happiness? What can I do with this strange and piercing peace, which is already starting to hurt me like an anguish, like a great silence of spaces? To whom can I give my happiness, which is already starting to scratch me a bit and scares me.

The degree to which this book requires you to suspend your disbelief w.r.t the main character's ignorance of literally everything is unbearable. Genuinely reads like it's her first day on planet earth.

Getting through this incredibly slowly on purpose because I would like it to last forever

"... it was easy enough to despise the world, but decidedly difficult to find any other habitable region."

Hmmm Edith Wharton's kind of an unrivalled genius you know.

This book is definitely going to make me miserable but I am persisting anyway.

Was looking forward to getting home from work today specifically so I can find out what happens next, which is genuinely impressive given barely anything has happened at all for most of it

This is very different to the other Woolf books I've read and I like it a lot more to be honest. Mostly because of the sense of humour/whimsy and the fact it's all kind of ridiculous.

Will be honest I blithely assumed I knew what this book was about then I got 50 pages in and realised I didn't have a single clue #myignorance

Why would Athill give her main male love interest the name "Dick Sherlock"? Why would she do that?

It's genuinely bothering me that all of these articles were written from Lispector's late forties onwards but in the cover image she looks like she must be in her twenties... So at odds with the actual content which is very markedly the words of a middle aged woman.

Feel like it's almost every other chapter that makes me sigh deeply and wish that Ditlevsen had come of age in an era where she could've been bisexual

Never experienced a book be so simultaneously easy and difficult to read

"I married him because I wanted to know all the time where he was. But the way it turned out, he knows where I am - I'm just sitting here, waiting for him to come home - and I don't know where he is any more than I did before."

Sorry I did like Sunburn quite a lot but so far this is just kind of straightforwardly bad and reads as a fairly juvenile and shallow attempt to write a book about Serious Topics. It's possible I could change my mind when the lesbian subplot kicks in though so maybe hold that thought

I know I was a bitch about the French aspect but this is actually an incredible book.

Been informed that some editions have translations of the french included... mine certainly does not and I had to read it on the train with my phone dying so I'm not 100% clear on what half the characters were saying. Ah well nevertheless

There is so much French in this. Really pushing at the limits of my vague memories of French A-level...

Unable to give an objective opinion because of the obscene amount of projection I've been doing, unfortunately. This will stay with me for a while though

Jesus christ this is a lot

The complete lack of any discernible characters or plot bothered me at the beginning but I'm actually fully sold now #lispectorhive

Finally finishing this as I got it out of the storage locker it accidentally got left in... I think the detached and blunt manner in which she describes relationships and sex is simultaneously bonkers and kind of illuminating

This is the only dostoevsky my dad could find to lend me, am moderately enjoying it but it mostly makes me want to read the better ones

Stratospherically high expectations for this... Pls don't let me down...

Want to read every single other Elaine Kraf book immediately... she understands the universe

This is a very compassionate and thoughtful account of Karen's anorexia but I do think the author is laying it on too thick with the idea that a fulfilling romantic relationship/life partner would've been her great panacea.