BOOK REVIEW - The Fox Was Ever the Hunter - Herta Muller - Physical Book - 3*

 

BOOK REVIEW

The Fox Was Ever The Hunter - Herta Muller

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I picked up this book in April while I was in Bucharest on holiday. We had spent time learning about the history of the beautiful country of Romania, including the troubled times under dictatorship. I love picking up books by local authors when I visit different countries, it's a great way of expanding my reading. When visiting Carturesti Carusel in Bucharest, they had a lovely section of books by Romanian authors, translated into English, where I picked up The Fox Was Ever The Hunter. 

The rest, as they say, is history. The blurb gives an enticing summary of the book's key concepts, and I knew when I picked it up that this would be a tough read (style and subject matter both playing a part) but I also knew that this was the book that was coming home with me!

BLURB

Romania, the last months of the dictator's regime. Adina is a young schoolteacher. Paul is a musician. Clara, Adina's friend, works in a wire factory. Pavel is Clara's lover. But one of them works for the secret police and is reporting on the group. 

One day Adina returns home to discover that her fox fur rug has had its tail cut off. On another day, a hindleg. Then a foreleg. The mutilation is a sign that she is being tracked - the fox was ever the hunter. 

Images of photographic precision combine to form a kaleidoscope of reflections, deflections and deceit. Adina and her friends struggle to keep living in a world permeated with fear, where even the eyes of a cat seem complicit with the watchful eye of the state, and where it's hard to tell the victim apart from the perpetrator. 

MY REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

SPICE LEVEL: 🔥🔥(not romantic spice, but some crude-ish descriptions of body parts and acts) 

Where to begin? This was a difficult read, in the sense that the writing style was incredibly poetic, the prose was descriptive almost to a fault. In addition, the subject matter, life in a strict, totalitarian communist regime was dark and had a constant sense of foreboding. It's an amazing education about a time in our history that I was deeply unfamiliar with. 

It took me a while to get used to the cadence and flow of the story. One thing that I found unusual was the lack of speech marks to indicate the dialogue. More than once I had to re-read a passage, slowly, to separate the dialogue, the people involved, and the narration. 

The symbolism and use of metaphors blew me away, and sometimes overwhelmed me (particularly in the beginning, as the pace was incredibly slow). Describing people just by the clothes they were wearing, what they were eating, or mannerisms that they had, was wonderful to read. 

As the end of the book, and the end of the communist regime, approached, the pace picked up. I felt every heartbeat, every anxious movement, and every fearful conversation. The overwhelming sense of relief and freedom was palpable in the words, it was thrilling to read. 

The book follows a small group of friends as they go about their daily lives. The monotony, the deceit, the unknown and terrifying consequences of speaking out. The friends however have a spy in their midst, an officer in the secret police. None of them are safe, with the story following the friends (particularly Adina) as they slowly unravel under the unyielding mental pressure. The storytelling is intense and extremely effective. 

So many moments in this book had me pausing to take in the beauty of what had just been said. This was a double-edged sword, as the magnetic, captivating prose took my breath away. On the other hand, I was taking stock so regularly that I was never completely immersed in the story. 

A particularly poignant quote and beautiful piece of symbolism was "The moon inside the kitchen window is so bloated that it can't stay there. By six a.m. it has been gnawed by the morning and its face is bleary-eyed" The entire book is filled with metaphors referencing tiredness, dullness, and fatigue - that the whole country felt as the regime continued to control them. 

I'm sure I will add more to this review as the story continues to soak in. I may even come back to it in the future and reread it with a renewed understanding. 

I found it difficult to give this book a rating that truly reflects my feelings. It's been a couple of days since I finished it, and more elements are still sinking in. It's not an easy book to get your teeth into and my rating partly reflects that. Is it a beach read for your summer holiday? No. It requires time and attention. When you're ready to give that time and attention though, this is the book I'd suggest you pick up. It is effectively poetry in the guise of a novel, so it takes effort. The payoff for me, was worth it in the end. 

Have you read this book? Tell me what you thought, I would love to get another perspective on it! 

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BOOK REVIEW - Lean Fall Stand - Jon McGregor - Physical Book - 5*

BOOK REVIEW

Lean Fall Stand - Jon McGregor

This book arrived last year in my Teatime Bookshop subscription (click the link for 10% off!) or follow this link for my Teatime Bookshop review. It was one of the first books I received from them and, as the genre is a surprise every month, I had no idea what to expect. I didn't read up on it, just read the blurb and jumped right in! The cover gave nothing away so no clues to be had there either :)

BLURB

A WHITE REVIEW BOOK OF THE YEAR

'It leaves the reader moved and subtly changed, as if she had become part of the story' Hilary Mantel

'So moving and delicate and terrifying and haunting' Maggie O'Farrell

The highly anticipated new novel from the Costa-award winning, three times Booker-longlisted author of Reservoir 13. 

When an Antarctic research expedition goes wrong, the consequences are far-reaching - for the men involved and for their families back home. 

Robert 'Doc' Wright, a veteran of Antarctic field work, holds the clues to what happened, but he is no longer able to communicate them. While Anna, his wife, navigates the sharp contours of her new life as a carer, Robert is forced to learn a whole new way to be in the world. 

Award-winning novelist Jon McGregor returns with a stunning novel that mesmerisingly and tenderly unpicks the notion of heroism and explores the indomitable human impulse to tell our stories - even when words fail us. A meditation on the line between sacrifice and selfishness this is a story of the undervalued, unrecognised courage it can take just to get through the day. 

MY REVIEW

This is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, one of the most beautiful stories I read last year. I was overwhelmed with how brilliantly the author brought me into the main character's world, through language (and the failure of it). It showed the gritty side of dealing with a life-changing situation and demonstrated that things are not always sunshine and roses, coming to terms with a 'new normal' is hard for everyone involved, and that getting through the day is enough. 

Reading the blurb, I initially thought this would be a James Bond, action-type novel but boy I was wrong about that. It's intensely emotional and really focusses on the aftermath rather than the incident itself. 

Doc is a research guy in the Antarctic. He lives there for months on end with nobody but his fellow research people for company. It's a lonely existence, where every day is exactly the same as the last, but Doc loves his job and its remote, unforgiving location. One fateful day, no spoilers, but I will say there's a storm and a rescue mission, and leave it at that. The build-up to this incident was incredibly written and realisation sets in slowly but with a heartstopping impact. 

Back home, Doc has some recovering to do, along with new realities to face and huge adjustments to make. Communication is now a virtual impossibility, and Doc soon learns that anger can be easier to sustain than patience or resilience. His wife is now no longer just a wife, she's a support, a caregiver, and a crutch (whether she wants to be or not!). This story follows the couple as they adapt and try to move forward into the great unknown. 

The writing, especially the sections from Doc's point of view, is clever, intricate, and haunting. It transported me as close as possible to actually experiencing what Doc was going through. It made me very reflective, considering how many people (or their loved ones) may experience something similar. I felt vulnerable, and emotional and wanted to run and hug my loved ones in case I wasn't able to again. Not that I would be spending any time in the Antarctic anytime soon! This story also filled me with hope and pride in the strength of the human mind to overcome even the most devastating events. New friends, new way of life

The two main characters, Doc and Anna were portrayed brilliantly, with genuine, believable development. They had flaws, they had thoughts and feelings that weren't picture-perfect, and they were raw, honest depictions of how some people deal with trauma, illness, and loss.

A Five-Star read all the way, from the unique way of bringing the reader into Doc's experience to the intensity of emotions I felt when reading Anna's point of view. An engaging (though difficult and emotional at times) read that I finished in a day and that I cannot recommend highly enough! 

Check out my video review:

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