Welcome to Litsy!

Pretty fire. It drags in parts, but also has a tendency to get REALLY GOOD at times, and laugh out loud funny.

I definitely liked it more than “My Year of Rest and Relaxation,” for what that‘s worth. Lots of risky moves in the story, and a nice sort of darkness. This is like an A24 film in novel form.

I managed to get through it, and was actually a bit fascinated by parts, but I skimmed a lot of it and not just the gross bits. I'm not really sure what this story was trying to do or say. The way to God and immortality is through cannibalism? Seems a strange message. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Anyway. Read, did not like, would not recommend.

This book is grim! I'm only 40 pages in and so uncomfortable I'm not sure I want to continue 😬 Is it awful all the way through? It gets worse, doesn't it? Maybe I should try it at a different time of year.

Well. That was dark & depressing. This book will make you feel uncomfortable. High depravity! So many trigger warnings. Feckless characters.

A social commentary. Religion, capitalism, and a complete disregard for anything living. Not an easy book to stomach. You‘ve been warned.

A truly horrific Novel.

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Reading this next, book 49 of the year.

I know a lot of people don‘t like this because of the ‘needless‘ disgusting scenes, and the detestable characters - but that‘s why I loved it 🤷‍♂️.
No but seriously, whilst I genuinely had no issue with the depravity and all the various awful scenes, I felt this was an interesting look at religion, capitalism, fiefdom, family and the futility of life. If you can stomach the worst of it, you‘ll really love the best!

A blunt metaphor supported by endless, needless descriptions of all kinds of cruelty. Also, painfully naive characters. I did enjoy Moshfegh‘s audio book narration though, a welcome distraction on this summer‘s many car rides.

I can't figure out where this story is set, because they have moose, elk, and wild-growing cannabis. 🤔

"Marek‘s face was, to Dibra, void of anything mysterious, like a mask over nothing. A curtain covering a blank wall."

"He moved like a spider walking on its hind legs."

"It struck him now that his dreams were never quite right. They seemed to occur in a space without time, in death, he thought. He heard a night bird sing its aeolian melody. That was the problem, he realized. He did not dream of birds. Without birds, there was no time."

"Of course Lispeth had no appetite for the food the family ate at the manor. The gardener used the shit to fertilize the food, to grow the hay to feed the animals. Villiam, Dibra, and Marek ate their own shit at every meal. And so did the priest. And maybe he was eating Villiam‘s shit directly out of his arse, she wondered. Who knew what the two men did at night alone? They certainly weren‘t praying."

"Her eyes—which were green and young looking, as though she‘d plucked them from a little girl—glistened in the light from the fire."

"Klim looked very thin, thinner than Jude. His knees were like fists, his feet like huge scraps of tree bark."

"Villiam had told Marek that life was for enjoyment and that he would now have to be broken of his boorishness. This was hard for Marek, as he was so addicted to suffering."
Mood.

"Villiam‘s tongue was wide and thin, more like a bit of cloth than a muscle."

"Marek had been born in February. Of course, he and his father never marked the occasion as the day of his birth, but the day of Agata‘s death."

Lapvona is an interesting novel. Just like the characters in the book, readers too wade in the grey waters of morality. Many trigger warnings here.

The first 70% of the book definitely hooks you. The last 30% feels draggy. Still, it is a good listen.

This book felt like a commentary on the evil that all of us have hidden in our psyche. It also felt like a commentary on the status of religion today and how corrupt religion has become over time.

I love satirical pieces on class, religion, sexism, and power, but I‘m not sure if that‘s what this was. It was almost too ridiculous. The childish lord with no ambition who played disgusting “games” with the servants, the priest who simply pretended to be religious, the townspeople too oblivious to make a connection between their famine and the manor‘s bounty. Cannibalism wasn‘t even the most disturbing part! I‘ll read Moshfegh again though.

Last couple weeks I finished both spins and a roll100 pick:
- Ms. Marvel Vol. 1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson (#Roll100 pick#2): a great start of a new series for me;
- The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay (Jan #BookSpin): another good entry in the Forward series;
- Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh (Jan #DoubleSpin): so-so pick: good writing but with a lot of scenes not quite necessary in the context of the book, IMO.

@TheAromaOfBooks @PuddleJumper

I dunno. I‘ll give Moshfegh another go, I just felt a bit meh. I think it‘s an interesting commentary on organized religion, the corruption of power, & the pitfalls of capitalism. I think it was just slightly out of reach of being a solid pick, for me. I can see why it caught a lot of buzz, so I won‘t dim that candle. I‘d give you a trigger warning, but…it‘s the whole thing. This was my December double #bookspin! I completed all 24 books for 2022!

@Avanders Thank you so much for my #JolabokaflodSwap gift! I love it! I opened it up this morning because I just couldn‘t wait, but I‘ll be reading it in bed tonight! I didn‘t wait to dig into the chocolate though 😋 Thank you, thank you!!

Medieval fiefdom. 13-yr-old Marek kills the son of the lord & is forced to take his place in the manor. Twisted fable. Deformation. Purity. Isolation. Manor vs. village. A little song & dance. Deprivation & cannibalism. Adaptation & survival. Blinded horses. Talking birds. Phony faith. God‘s punishment. Grotesquerie, disgust. Meandering plot. P 156 “No pity or compassion would she ever feel. Not for Marek, or for anyone.” 2022

I can see why this book has polarising reactions. I‘m still deciding if I like it. It‘s disturbing and ugly with gross descriptions; the characters are disgusting and awful; yet I find the book intriguing and enthralling. Perhaps the story is an allegory; a critique; perhaps it‘s written merely to shock; but it‘s undeniably Moshfegh‘s bold work. Plenty of trigger warnings.. if you can stomach them, and if you‘re a Moshfegh fan, I highly recommend.

Another weird one from Moshfegh - this is not a complaint. In a small village, the bastard son of the local shepherd becomes wrapped up in a wealthy landowner‘s scheme.

“Blood was the wine of the spirit, was it not?”

Barely 50 pages into the latest Ottessa Moshfegh‘s novel, there‘s murder, brutality, and grossness abound. ?

The cover of the novel shows a religious painting by Spanish Francisco de Zurbarán - Agnus Dei (Lamb of God).

Just started. Read by the author and I like it so far.

Only got about an hour in and can tell this is not for me.

So-so with 3 ⭐️. A strange, grotesque trip…

Pretty sure this is a typo. That little "e" makes a big difference.

I didn't get into this one as much as I have Moshfegh's other books. With this one, it feels like there's symbolism just outside my reach, and without the symbolism, I can't quite connect with the story. I do think there's something here about people working hard for the wrong things or getting away with not working at all, people ignoring truths that are inconvenient or painful to acknowledge, mistaking the profane for the divine and vice versa.

I usually love this author but this one was just not for me. Unsurprisingly the writing is great, and the novel well structured….but I just didn‘t connect. The medieval setting, the truly awful characters, lots of religion, the endless icky details of human depravity. Just nope.

I don't know how to explain this. It's almost like the most gruesome fairy tale ever. But without the fairies. Or magic. And it's kind of a commentary on religion. And there's rape and incest and cannibalism and murder and other things you probably shouldn't do IRL. So you've been warned. It's really well written and I like the author. But it's mega dark. The um dead lamb on the cover might be a sign.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

This just confirms I would never survive in Medieval times.

A deconstruction of faith, told through an almost misanthropic lens, coupled with a sour, biting wit. It‘s almost ridiculous, the story of what happens to Marek and Jude, but through that ridiculousness it‘s easy to see the mirror Moshfegh is holding up to our current day-and-age, warts and all.

WTF did I just read? 😳😂

“What about heaven, Ina? Don‘t you want to go?‘ ‘It doesn‘t matter,‘ she said. ‘I won‘t know anyone.”

- 4⭐️

Hoping for some better reading this week after being in a bit of a slump the last couple weeks.

Mixed feelings about this one. Ultimately, a lord takes advantage of his villagers. Because of their piety, this becomes a classic case of the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. I loved the vivid imagery the author set throughout the entire novel. It was a fast read with many surprising turn of events. I very much disliked Lord Villiam. Halfway through, I kept envisioning Lord Farquaad whenever the perspective revolved around Villiam 😭

Started this one last night…

I feel uncomfortable admitting that I "liked" this book because it is hands down the grossest book I've ever read, and I read horror! ?

This author has a unique writing style and I always get drawn into her stories. The way the characters are written, the depravity, the use of religion and wealth, all made my skin crawl but I couldn't stop reading.

I'm already thinking about a reread in the future because I just can't get it out of my head.

The grossest Moshfegh book yet but I loved the medieval setting and how she structured this book!

Definitely not for everyone, but I loved it. Each character was fascinating in their own way, even the ones on the periphery. I will definitely be reading this one again.

Moshfegh takes unlikeable characters to a new level in this story. Bleak, sometimes darkly funny but often horrifying, this book was a low pick for me due to Moshfegh‘s sheer writing talent, but wow, there is little to walk away with other than deep cynicism.

At the San Diego Museum of Art today, I saw this painting and said, "Lapvona!" Maybe I can make more progress on the book this weekend while I don't have classes to teach.

Not recommended except for those readers with a strong stomach. Not sure what the message is… possibly humans are all depraved + religion is a farce. Moshfegh has strong writing skills & dark wit, so I‘m not giving this a pan, but be prepared for a horror fable celebrating the grotesque, & to wade through filth such as starving peasants who eat mud, excrement & human flesh while their insane feudal lord feasts on every delicacy.

He sipped his ale delicately and grinned. He liked the flavour of ale. It tasted like his own sweat, like something rotten and private.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Through a few seasons in the medieval village Lapvona, an unappreciated boy called Marek comes of age. He‘s not quite likable, but that‘s Moshfegh‘s way. She never disappoints with her sharp, concisely detailed storytelling and ability to create horrible, yet believable, very human characters. Is it historically accurate? I don‘t know and I don‘t care. It‘s fiction, y‘all. A tale of much depravity penned for our bizarre enjoyment.

I blew through this book in two sittings! If you are squimish though this one isnt for you. The best way to explain this story is that it explores religion, insanity and greed and the fine line between them. Theres so much happening at once in this story and its all woven so well! I dont want to give a single thing away!

Ive really been looking foward to this one!