luca’s Reviews > Homesick for Another World > Status Update

I loved „The Surrogate“. As uncomfortable and hilarious as all the other stories. I thought this one broaded on themes of co-dependency. A woman with a vaginal swelling has no idea show see his, there are demons inside of her and loves to perform. The part with Charlie Chaplin and Hitler was the funniest. It all reminded me of lot of Yorgos Lanthimos‘ movie „Kinds of Kindness“.

I loved „Nothing Ever Happens Here“ so much. It was really funny with interesting characters. A strange friendship develops between an aspiring, but untalented, actor and his landlady, an eccentric writer. I love how Moshfegh‘s protagonists always yearn for something larger than them, but are confronted with the reality and consequences of their decisions and actions. Dreams remain dreams, disillusionment.

I really loved „The Beach Boy“. It‘s my favorite short story so far and reminded me of The White Lotus. A really strange and sad story about grief, vengeance and transience. Like all the characters in this collection, the protagonist is lonely, depressed and disillusioned. They all have a very harsh and unromanticized look at life, they’re unsympathetic, but never illusion themselves, even when they lie.