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I enjoyed this feminist novel set in a sanatorium in 1913, which veers into horror towards the end. The setting and characters - all men recovering at the guest houses- felt real as did their banter. Some beautiful meditations on nature woven into the story & Mother Earth is a subtle theme, but done in an inventive way, not preachy. Mieczy is a poignant character. Elements of folklore & tragi-comedy, it‘s an eclectic mix of styles, done lightly.

This is delightfully mysterious and creepy. I love this author.

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Have loved other books by this author but couldn‘t grab onto this one

You are invited to view my latest booktube episode, in which I talk about Nobel laureates, art, the Korean diaspora, speculative fiction, trans nonbinary literature, and trees!

https://youtu.be/An3pG6AV28I

“To be a man means learning to ignore whatever causes trouble. That‘s the whole mystery.”

Olga and I just don‘t get along. She seems like an author I would really like but after 75 long pages in which I grumbled a lot because she‘s on some “best lists” and I ‘should‘ try her again, I quit. Moved on to Rufi Thorpe and have been tearing through this book. Written by the author of Margo‘s Got Money Troubles, it has the same character development I can sink my teeth into.

Weird, still thinking about this one.

“All these matters absorbed his mind, drawing the world inside, into the large, chaotic space that each of us carries within like an invisible piece of luggage that we drag after us all our lives, without knowing why. Our true self.”

“Anxiety is the fruit of ignorance.”

Grief and disgust and fear over this week‘s events make it hard to write a review. But I will say that the art and beauty of fiction have been a comfort. I really enjoyed this book and Tokarczuk‘s spin on the story in The Magic Mountain. It was a relief to escape briefly into this world of mountain sanatoriums, and read her take on the power of nature, the ignorance of men, and the defiance of gender constructs.

Some quotes from The Empusium.

Well this is disappointing. I am bailing on The Empusium. I loved the 2 other books I have read by Tokarczuk, but I just cannot get into this one. The misogyny which is a plot device here, is just not hitting me right at the moment.

But that is okay, it is off the TBR now. I am taking The Little Friend slowly, I am really loving her writing and this story but it is a big 1. Going to squeeze in Safekeep real quick to keep on one books a week.

Definitely not an easy or light read like I‘m used to. She‘s an amazing writer, and I enjoyed every minute of this one!

I really enjoyed this book! It took me a long time to get through it but it was thoroughly spooky exacerbated by reading the English translation. I felt a little like the main character where he was missing some information due to not being a native speaker. Ghosty nail art to go along with the story

Ok, let‘s give this one a try!

A health resort horror story? Sounds like exactly my cup of tea. Yet at 40% in, I think I finally need to admit defeat and DNF this book from a Nobel Prize winning author. I'm bored to tears. The premise reimagines The Magic Mountian by Thomas Mann, and men at a sanatorium for tuberculosis spend their time discussing their bad philosophies about women. I get that it's parody, but I'm just so bored. And where's the horror? This one wasn't for me.

In pre-WWI Poland, men collect an a sanitarium for treatment and bond in deeply misogynistic ways. It then becomes clear that something unusual happens in the town every year. Parts of this book were bloated and dragged to the point that I zoned out a bit, but the parts I liked, I just loved, which kept it in pick territory for me.

This book was everything I needed to read over a rainy, gray weekend. ✔️Creepy mountain health spa village in 1913. ✔️ Suspicious death in a house with suspicious men. ✔️ Mysterious plural pronoun narrator. ✔️ Sweet and charming MC. ✔️ Lush writing that makes it impossible to put down! 💀 🍷 🍂 #readme

"The view is obscured by clouds of steam from the locomotive that trail along the platform."

#FirstLineFridays

I'm so excited for this one!

A magnificent novel apparently belonging to the naturopathic horror genre. In 1913 a student goes for treatment to a sanatorium located in a mountain resort standing over a subterranean lake with special healing properties and haunted by local legends on persecuted witches and mysterious crimes. His pension mates have regular philosophical debates and among other subjects we find out how men thought of women at the beginning of the 20th century.