Review: Paradise Rot: A Novel, by Jenny Hval, 2018

Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Paradise Rot: A Novel, by Jenny Hval, 2018

Right off the bat, if bodily fluids, particularly urine, gross you out, this book isn't for you. The author is clearly obsessed with urine and intricately details activities involved in the act of pissing.

The story is a sexual self-discovery of a young Norwegian college girl, Jo, who is studying biology abroad in Britain. There she meets a girl, Carral, slightly older than her, who she becomes obsessed with. She shares an apartment in a converted brewery with Carral and starts a peculiar three-way affair with a studly male neighbor named Pym.

The writing is surreal and exquisitely detailed with the grotesque banalities of human existence: mold, decay, and urine. The prose evokes striking images, from rotting slimy apples to a man exposing himself on a train. 

I rate this book 4.75 out of 5 stars.

#MagicalRealism #LGBTliterature #LGBT

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Review: The Reservoir

The Reservoir by David Duchovny
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Reservoir, David Duchovny, 2021

Interesting story, definitely gave me Hitchock vibes. Psychosis, crackpot conspiracy theories, a lady in red, a bear in the woods (not the kind you think-- wink wink), conflated in Covid-19 pandemic times, well, made a creative construct to tell the author's story.

The writing felt a tad bit forced, as if Duchovny was trying to prove his ability as a serious writer-- choosing almost-abstruse word pairings over simple eloquence for voice and stylization. 

I give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

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