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Hustvedt, who is also a poet, presents us with four beautiful snapshots of a young woman in graduate school at Columbia, trying to pay her bills, understand her peers, and understand herself. Each section is so different, it's surprising they concern the same young woman, but the way the story lines end up fitting together is incredibly skillful and makes you rethink past sections and the characters involved. In one section, she takes a job describing in detail a collection of objects for a myst
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From The Blindfold:
Distortion is part of desire. We always change the things we want.
Weelllll..... then this book would be totally changed, because I truly did want it to be good.
But it's self-indulgent, in a newly-minted MFA sort of way. Migrainey, isolated young college student in NYC (oh, but she's from the MIDWEST!) meets up with a series of odd men whom she finds somehow fascinating -- and, of course, destructive.
Mostly, however, the narrator finds herself somehow fascinating. And, of cou ...more
Distortion is part of desire. We always change the things we want.
Weelllll..... then this book would be totally changed, because I truly did want it to be good.
But it's self-indulgent, in a newly-minted MFA sort of way. Migrainey, isolated young college student in NYC (oh, but she's from the MIDWEST!) meets up with a series of odd men whom she finds somehow fascinating -- and, of course, destructive.
Mostly, however, the narrator finds herself somehow fascinating. And, of cou ...more
This is not a book I would choose for myself, but I'm glad I read it with a group. The book is surreal and disturbing, but not necessarily in a good way, although it is very well written. I can't identify with the protagonist at all, particularly her complete surrender of identity to men, even a fictional one. However, the descriptions of her migraines and the distortions in perception are brilliant, and are a perfect metaphor for the distorted perceptions experienced by the protagonist in each
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I read The Blindfold for the Constant Reader book group. During the discussion, one of the members pointed to an interview in which Siri Hustvedt says that TB was an exploration of "the uncanny." Well, this woman sure knows her own writing! Reading this book, which consists of three disjointed vignettes and one longer unifying section, is like walking upright in a world turned on its head. The story explores a world in which items that seem mundane, like a photograph or a cotton ball or a Hallow
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I've finished the first section. It's bizarre but sort of fascinating. Much better than her husband's work, which I realize is really an irrelevant thought. You can see the poet in this section, I think, in the spare language. I hope the rest is as good as this.
Very creepy and bizarre when taken as a whole. I have such mixed feelings about it that I really didn't know how to rate it, so just went with the middle. ...more
Very creepy and bizarre when taken as a whole. I have such mixed feelings about it that I really didn't know how to rate it, so just went with the middle. ...more
Interesting book. I liked the persistent theme of perception.
Apr 28, 2008
Jayne
marked it as to-read
Jul 07, 2008
Debbie Petersen Wolven
marked it as to-read
Jan 20, 2009
Kathryn Parmeter
marked it as to-read
Feb 03, 2009
Katharine
marked it as to-read
Dec 16, 2012
Julia Fierro
marked it as to-read
Feb 10, 2013
Sara
marked it as to-read
Mar 06, 2015
Laura
marked it as to-read
