Book 25 - Marie Darrieussecq, "Breathing Underwater"

[jazzy_dave]

Marie Darrieussecq, "Breathing Underwater" (Faber & Faber)




A strange book - all atmosphere and very little plot in this 128 page novella. The prose is certainly striking - very poetic and elusive. The perspective kept shifting from one character to another but it was quite hard to know who was actually 'speaking' .

There is no story at all. The synopsis says it all. It is all about the style, the attention to detail of the world and how the author's descriptions make the world somehow strange or unfamiliar. Forget dialogue, getting to grips with characters or even their names, and the reader never uncovers the motives of the characters in this book. This can be a difficult read and at times i was unsure about which character was in the spotlight as the narration jumps around a lot. There seems at a first glance to be a lot against this novel, but i paradoxically found that what made this novel infuriating at times, the ambiguity, vagueness also are its strengths. It is highly poetic and leaves a lot of responsibility with the reader regarding the book's interpretation or meaning.

All very vague and elusive - unlike anything else I've read but nevertheless a book I did not enjoy and hence would hesitate to recommend.

Comments

[thespian15.livejournal.com]

Doesn't sound like my kind of book. I need some plot to move things along. :p
Hugs, Jon