Hi
I recently went on my friend Jaylen’s podcast to discuss the idea of “the trauma plot”. This has been kicked up in the literary discourse lately mostly because the author of A Little Life (one of the most cartoonish examples of a book exploring trauma) just came out with a new book. Yanigahara’s new release, To Paradise, is already being criticized for employing the same exhausting emotional strain on her readers that her previous works have. I have no intent on reading To Paradise, mostly because of the length and plot of the book, but I’ve noticed a similar distaste around the hyper personal narrative started to bubble up in my own reading as of late.
My 2021 reading year was undoubtedly full of fiction exploring the ultra personal. So much so that there was a need to come up with a shorthand I could use for this niche ultra current genre — Depressed Woman Moving, AKA The DWM™️. Think the Heti/Cusk/Offill pipeline; autofiction documenting the banal interior thoughts of privileged women who are afflicted someway or another by mental illness or general malaise.
I’ve hit my DWM limit for the time being! I still want to be a voyeur to someone else’s brain (one of the most fun parts of reading for me), I just need that brain to be a lot different from my own. To put it simply, I’m sick of myself! I want to be entertained! I want to stop truffle hunting for trauma in the depths of a characters past! Give me forward momentum! Give me vision!
Reviews
A book that is undoubtedly full of trauma but is not a trauma plot book! Morrison is simply a master. Sula follows two young Black girls growing up in a small midwestern town. Witnessing Nel and Sula’s friendship evolve rom the time they were children to estranged adults was mesmerizing. I think one of the things that makes Morisson’s writing so singular is her ability to withhold. To span time. To give the reader an outline but leave it for them to fill in the center. A gift!
For fans of: the Neapolitan quartet, Sisters by Daisy Johnson
Feels like: walking uphill, snuffing a match, avoidance
Star rating: 5/5 ⭐️
Have you ever wanted to read a biblical creation myth gone wrong? The Doloriad follows a incestuous family set in a post-apocalyptic landscape. It doesn’t come out until March, but I’m warning you about it now. This book is completely depraved and terrifying. It’s repulsive and hateful. It’s also weirdly mesmerizing as it slowly picks away the extreme isolation the characters live within. Each character wrestles to make meaning in their abandoned and hostile environment with brute force. Williams prose is dazzling. I’ve never read anything quite like it.
For fans of: Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor,
Feels like: rotting produce, TV static, moss
Star rating: 4/5 ⭐️
Last, Now, Next
Last: I love this very cinematic collection of short stories by Lily King. New England energy!
Now: Yes I am finally reading the new Franzen! I’m taking my time with this chunky book that follows a ministers family in the 60’s.
Next: Lauren Oyler told me to read this. Say no more!
Hope you’ve been well! Leave me a comment with what you’ve been reading! We have a comment section nowwwwww. 💋
A Little Life is someone I know's favourite book which is if anything just quite impressive! I won't be reading To Paradise for the same reasons you mentioned
The two stand out books I read in January are The Love Songs of W.E.B. du Bois and Hidden Valley Road. The first is a chunk of a book but has perfect pacing and beautiful writing that moves the story along without it feeling like a drag at any point. Highly recommend. Hidden Valley Road is the story of a family where six of their ten boys has schizophrenia. It is none fiction but reads like a novel. Similar to In Cold Blood by Truman Capote where we get character stories as well as factual information. I just finished Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke which was a weird little story recommended by Jaylen. I’ve also started Crossroads and am enjoying it. Interesting to read it after having read Love Songs which is also a family saga. Honorée uses beautiful sentences to carry the story where Franzen uses many many fancy words to fill up the page. Lastly I’m reading Motherhood by Sheila Heti to decide if I want to purchase Pure Color. So far a good start to the year. Great news letter. I’m happy I signed up!