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The Hearing Test
The Hearing Test: A Novel | Eliza Barry Callahan
8 posts | 3 read | 4 to read
A young woman reorients her relationship to the world in the wake of sudden deafness in this mesmerizing debut novel for readers of Rachel Cusk, Clarice Lispector, and Fleur Jaeggy When the narrator of The Hearing Test, an artist in her late twenties, awakens one morning to a deep drone in her right ear, she is diagnosed with Sudden Deafness, but is offered no explanation for its cause. As the specter of total deafness looms, she keeps a record of her yeara score of estrangement and enchantment, of luck and loneliness, of the chance occurrences to which she becomes attunedwhile living alone in a New York City studio apartment with her dog. Through a series of fleeting and often humorous encounterswith neighbors, an ex-lover, doctors, strangers, family members, faraway friends, and with the lives and works of artists, filmmakers, musicians, and philosophersmaking meaning becomes a form of consolation and curiosity, a form of survival. At once a rumination on silence and a novel on seeing, The Hearing Test is a work of vitalizing intellect and playfulness which marks the arrival of a major new literary writer with a rare command of form, compression, and intent.
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sarahbarnes
sarahbarnes
The Hearing Test: A Novel | Eliza Barry Callahan
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Pickpick

I loved this introspective work of autofiction detailing a year in the life of the main character after she experiences a sudden onset of hearing loss. Lots of Rachel Cusk vibes here but Callahan brings a unique voice. I love the ways she details what she sees in the world when her hearing is failing her.

40 likes
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monalyisha
monalyisha
The Hearing Test: A Novel | Eliza Barry Callahan
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“I had developed a habit of making tea and not drinking it. Small swamp waters multiplied on every hard surface of the apartment.”

Kenyazero As one does with tea 🤭 1mo
Aims42 “Small swamp waters” 😂🤣 (edited) 1mo
Suet624 Great description. 1mo
68 likes3 comments
review
monalyisha
monalyisha
The Hearing Test: A Novel | Eliza Barry Callahan
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Pickpick

The kind of novel which immediately makes you jealous that you‘re not a 30-year-old debut author with a longlisted book being considered for a prestigious award.

Callahan‘s stream-of-consciousness style might not be for everyone. But it is for me — and it lends itself to some brilliant one-liners. My favorite might be, “She said that coincidence was a religion and that she was agnostic.”

The form fits the plot exceedingly well. 👇🏻

monalyisha 1/5: A woman is diagnosed with Sudden Deafness. What‘s outside of the narrator quiets; what‘s inside of her grows louder. Somehow, the text is both intimate and detached. Readers are privy to her every thought but not the details of her life (e.g. her unnamed ex is [rather pretentiously] referred to as “the filmmaker” and his appealing new partner as “the girlfriend”). 1mo
monalyisha 2/5: I did find myself wishing for more intimacy, which felt befuddling. What can be more intimate than direct access to a character‘s thoughts? This sense, however, is exactly what the author intended. Of her own work, she writes, “In my mind, the book is about watching, and just being a little bit outside of life.” 1mo
monalyisha 3/5: On a personal note, I found the story to be additionally discomfiting due to suspicions about my own hearing loss. Though I‘ve done next-to-nothing about it, I‘ve long suspected that my hearing isn‘t what it should be. 1mo
See All 8 Comments
monalyisha 4/5: There‘s a particularly vivid passage about the “ghosts of sounds” and the street outside her window being suddenly in her kitchen, “the hum of passing cars…now coming from somewhere near [the] stove and sound[ing] like bees,” that made it apparent (though I did not confirm it until the end) that this is a work of autofiction. 1mo
monalyisha 5/5: I think Callahan is an exciting new talent. Her taut sentences are a perfect pairing with her loose and floating observations about life. I enjoyed my reading experience of this (fairly short) book immensely. 1mo
TheKidUpstairs This one really intrigued me from the Carol Shields list. Glad you loved it! I'm hoping a library near me will get a copy soon! 1mo
monalyisha @TheKidUpstairs Yeah! It had a bit of an art school vibe & some name-dropping, etc. I can see that bothering some readers. Pretentiousness in books rarely gets to me, though, as long as it feels contextually appropriate (which this does) — & the writing backs it up. 😉 1mo
sarahbarnes I bought a copy of this last fall and am excited to get to it soon! 1mo
65 likes8 comments
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TheKidUpstairs
TheKidUpstairs
The Hearing Test: A Novel | Eliza Barry Callahan
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Who doesn't need another longlist to expand their TBRs, right? The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction announced their longlist on Thursday. I've read a few, been wanting to read another few, and the ones I've never heard of are definitely intriguing!

https://carolshieldsprizeforfiction.com/

First awarded in 2023, the Carol Shields Prize is for works of fiction written by women-identifying and non-binary authors in the US and Canada.

ChaoticMissAdventures I have read 4! I love how this is presented, with the inclusion of non-binary people, I am so incredibly disappointed that the Women's Prize included Adichie this year maybe next year I will prioritize this prize instead. 1mo
squirrelbrain Ooh, another list! Or should that be…oh no, another list! 🤪 I‘ve read 5 of these - I‘ll wait to see what makes the shortlist before deciding whether to read any more. 1mo
Jolynne Bear is the only one i read. I liked it a lot. 1mo
See All 15 Comments
sarahbarnes Oh fun! I have a copy of The Hearing Test so I‘m excited to see it here! 😀 1mo
Hooked_on_books Oh no, not another longlist! And one focused on women writers, too! What are you doing to us?! 😉 I‘ve read 5 and may bookmark this to dive into others. 😬 1mo
Deblovestoread I‘ve read 3, DNF‘d 1 and definitely need to read Liars. Love that there are books I haven‘t heard of from other lists. Will be watching for the shortlist. 1mo
TheKidUpstairs @ChaoticMissAdventures Yes, the inclusivity and intersectionality of their mission statement is a big draw for me as well. I probably won't read the whole long list, but it's definitely a worthy one to keep on the radar! Which four have you read? 1mo
TheKidUpstairs @squirrelbrain Right? So many lists, so little time! But it's interesting to see which books have made multiple lists, and I'm always happy to overload my TBR for “someday“ 1mo
TheKidUpstairs @Jolynne Bear was such an interesting one for me. I LOVED the first half, but was really disappointed with the second half when I read it. But the book as a whole has really stuck with me. 1mo
TheKidUpstairs @sarahbarnes That was one that I hadn't heard of before, but really stood out to me. It's on my TBR now! 1mo
TheKidUpstairs @Hooked_on_books Mua ha ha! I am here to ensure everyone's TBRs are as overloaded as mine! Which ones have you read? 1mo
TheKidUpstairs @Deblovestoread Liars is high on my list, too. I keep seeing such good reviews here! 1mo
ChaoticMissAdventures @TheKidUpstairs I read Bear and All Fours with Camp Litsy last summer, River East, River West was long listed by the Women's Prize last year, and I read Creation Lake (my least favorite of the bunch) I am really interested in Curiosities and Pale Shadows 1mo
Hooked_on_books I read and enjoyed River East, River West, Bear, and Liars. I did not enjoy Creation Lake or All Fours. 1mo
BarbaraBB That is an interesting list. I read five of them and liked them all. I‘ll be checking out the other books. 1mo
64 likes15 comments
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shawnmooney
shawnmooney
The Hearing Test: A Novel | Eliza Barry Callahan
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25 likes
blurb
shawnmooney
shawnmooney
The Hearing Test: A Novel | Eliza Barry Callahan
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https://youtu.be/jHEGblwTlqQ?si=npDh7iiyq4sSi8KY

Introduction

Mystery guest

A new benefit for Patreon members

Week in Review

Jewels by David Carpenter

The Hearing Test by Eliza Barry Callahan

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Something in Disguise by Elizabeth Jane Howard

Marzahn, mon amour by Katja Oskamp, Jo Heinrich (Translator)

The Adversary by Michael Crummey

19 likes
quote
shawnmooney
shawnmooney
The Hearing Test: A Novel | Eliza Barry Callahan
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20 likes
blurb
BkClubCare
BkClubCare
The Hearing Test: A Novel | Eliza Barry Callahan
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Nomination for #CampLitsy2024, four of four.
@Megabooks @squirrelbrain @BarbaraBB

Background photo of my tulip garden 🌷

squirrelbrain As soon as I saw this cover I thought Rachel Cusk-esque and I see she‘s referenced in the blurb! 12mo
BarbaraBB Another great one I think 12mo
BkClubCare @squirrelbrain - right?! More book serendipity? 12mo
BkClubCare @BarbaraBB - I am pretty sure this was on the last day of TOB when it is current year recommendation time. I added most to my gr tbr… 12mo
34 likes1 stack add4 comments