The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith

I think several people on this group can pat themselves on the back for their endorsement of this one

Absolutely

I really enjoyed this one - not my usual type of book but I think that’s part of what I liked about it! The way it weaves the more supernatural elements in is very effective, and in terms of creating atmosphere it’s pretty top notch! Beautiful cover too (not that that matters, of course).

I echo Suzanne’s comment. I wouldn’t normally have picked this to read - I requested it by mistake on NetGalley and decided to give it a go.

It was great fun to read. Good to see it on this list.

I loved it!

Suzanne wrote: "I really enjoyed this one - not my usual type of book but I think that’s part of what I liked about it! The way it weaves the more supernatural elements in is very effective, and in terms of creati..."

I loved this one too - especially for the 'weaving' you mention, Suzanne. Not only the 'real' vs the supernatural, but also the way she has timelines weave into each other. She took a juicy story and gave it so much depth.

That's promising, this is one I'm very tempted to try.

I only managed a few pages pre longlist and have still not got around to picking it back up - but that's more as I want some good time to set aside to read it and savour it rather than I don't want to return to it

I'm tempted to try this too but feel like I'm already at the point where I won't get to other books I want to read.

I really liked it, but kept wondering if it was good or did I just like it? I guess if so many of us liked it, it’s a good story, but I could understand others not liking it, to me it balances on the thin line between literary and genre.

I am only 40 pages in but really enjoying it so far.

This could be a contender.

Would this work on audio? I have an audible credit to use.

I think it would. There’s a fair amount of dialogue and not too much interiority.

I went ahead with the audible version and I’m about an hour into it (out of 14-15 hours). It’s fine but one of my pet peeves is the use of overly clever verbs and adverbs like the writer is trying to impress us with their vocabulary. This has that in spades. But at least the narrator of the audio doesn’t try to mimic Asian accents like the narrator of Burntcoat did.

That’s why I was uncertain if it was a book others here would like. I knew I was really enjoying it, but wasn’t sure if others would think it was good.

On another thread, lark used the term “faux-lofty” to describe this. It bothers me too.

There’s a sentence early in this where a front gate was “accordianed” open. I have a low tolerance for that kind of writing.

But the story is fun. The writing is serviceable, but the haunted, burnt out rubber tree forest, the missing girls, and the supernatural make it fun. It’s not Booker material, but it’s a good story for the sliding scale that is the WP.

Yes the story is good so far.

I am getting some Murakami vibes so far

Hopefully though with more rounded female characters as, much as I like his books, there is an argument Murakami’s novel and their ilk are why we need a prize for books written by women.

Yes much more so and I am not sure it’s a great comparison

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "I am getting some Murakami vibes so far"

Correct - the author is a huge Murakami fan

OK OK then it was a good comparison - in which case its a little derivative I think

WndyJW wrote: "But the story is fun. The writing is serviceable, but the haunted, burnt out rubber tree forest, the missing girls, and the supernatural make it fun. It’s not Booker material, but it’s a good story..."

I love how we can interpret writing so differently - David sees "...overly clever verbs and adverbs like the writer is trying to impress us with their vocabulary..." while Wendy calls it "serviceable". I read it a few weeks ago, and I don't have a memory of puffed up vocabulary, or serviceable-ness exactly - I'd say the writing perfectly served the story and didn't get in its way, but in a sensitive, not utilitarian manner. Maybe the effect is entirely different on audio, the way David consumed it.

I don’t mean serviceable in a negative way. Sometimes language is lyrical, haunting, compulsive…pick an adverb, and other times it simply does its job, it doesn’t get in the way, as you say. I don’t recall too many clever adverbs, but I bet you’re right, Nadine, they might pop out on audio.

WndyJW wrote: "I don’t mean serviceable in a negative way. Sometimes language is lyrical, haunting, compulsive…pick an adverb, and other times it simply does its job, it doesn’t get in the way, as you say. I don’..."

I sometimes think of myself as 'serviceable', but now it won't feel so pejorative when I do. So thanks for that little mental health boost, Wendy!

Ha! I’m quite sure you’re even better than serviceable, Nadine! You’re right though, one’s person’s lyrical is another’s too flowery.

WndyJW wrote: "But the story is fun. The writing is serviceable, but the haunted, burnt out rubber tree forest, the missing girls, and the supernatural make it fun. It’s not Booker material, but it’s a good story for the sliding scale that is the WP..."

Having finished this I think that's an excellent description Wendy - perhaps it can be added that it's really clever how she links all the stories (even small details) together - and I suspect I missed a lot of links and ways the stories tied together

When a few more people have read this - this would be an ideal one to discuss with some spoilers I think so as to resolve how everything ties together. Goodreads reviews are interesting - as they range from the "this made no sense" to "everything ties together perfectly"

It’s not Booker material, but it’s a good story for the sliding scale that is the WP.

But returning to this - I think this is also very true. My concern here from what I have seen so far is that books like this one - which I would normally think of as in the middle or even genre end of that scale in most years, look like they may close to the literary end of this longlist. I would put Great Circle in that camp as well and One Sky Day.

I would have to read this again to talk about the links - it’s been a long time since my NetGalley ARC!

But I agree with all the comments about it being fun. I was reminded of the TV series Lost which I enjoyed a few years ago. That was also a lot of fun until the finale which I am still not sure, several years later, whether I am angry about or intrigued by.

Well I have written a review - although I think it only scratches the surface (although surface scratches - well more cuts, gouges, bites etc are one of the many many metaphors in this novel)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

This one just did not work for me. I really wanted to like it too. But from the very beginning, the writing felt overwrought and so excessive: "Leaving the air-conditioning of the baggage claim, she felt her edges soften immediately in the humidity. The yellow-uniformed taxi drivers, like half-spilled yolks in their cracked-open car doors, stretched out their necks in unison as they followed the movements of the new passengers exiting the airport."

Ouch.

Trying too hard. Or at least, that's how it felt to me when I read it. I liked it better when there was dialogue and action and less of these burdened similes and sentences heavy with adjectives. But it felt like she was trying to fit way too much in to a single novel, and the overall impact for me was too jumbled to be enjoyable. I know many of you liked this one, and again, I hoped that it would make me feel better about this year's longlist. But it had the opposite effect.

Cindy, I agree 100% and that’s what I was trying to get at with my comment. It’s just too much.

I really like that simile but felt it was an exception - so much of the imagery and detail here is either heavily metaphorical or retrospectively crucial to pulling the story together

Or maybe I was too busy trying to understand the book to notice the overwriting.

It is a very difficult book to understand.

All of these comments are why I asked myself if it was good or not, but knowing I enjoyed it. At times I found Winnie too annoying, but all in all I think it was a good book in spite of the flaws. I completely understand Cindy’s and David’s thoughts, though, and can’t argue with their criticisms. I think it comes down to if one likes this kind of supernatural story enough to forgive the excesses in the writing.

I think this is Kupersmith’s first novel and she clearly has a lot of ideas. I’ll read her next novel, if there is one, and hope that she fine tunes her prose as she writes more.

Your review is excellent, Gumble. I didn’t even attempt a review because I couldn’t think of a short way to get my thoughts down. This was tricky to review, but you nailed it.

Thank you.

Cindy wrote: "It is a very difficult book to understand."

I found it like a puzzle - everything is linked by small details. For some strange reason the writing reminded me of Amelie Nothomb

WndyJW wrote: "Your review is excellent, Gumble. I didn’t even attempt a review because I couldn’t think of a short way to get my thoughts down. This was tricky to review, but you nailed it."

Me too. You distilled the complicated plot so clearly!

Thanks Nadine.

Nadine in California wrote: "WndyJW wrote: "Your review is excellent, Gumble. I didn’t even attempt a review because I couldn’t think of a short way to get my thoughts down. This was tricky to review, but you nailed it."

Me t..."
agreed!!

Alternating between the WP and IBP longlists is an interesting experience. One thing that pops out to me about this book is how clearly it is written in an American voice for an American audience. Even the Vietnamese characters seem to think/act with an American sensibility. I realize the author has spent time living in Vietnam, but I wonder what this story would have looked like in the hands of a native Vietnamese writer.

Did anyone else struggle with the orientalism in this?

No. Is that insensitive? It’s set in Vietnam and written by a Vietnamese American, I didn’t pick up on any blatant racism. What did I overlook?

The Vietnamese characters are mysterious and unknowable. All the exotic mysticism. Feels very obvious to me.

Couldn’t that just be because Winnie really doesn’t know them and the book is a mystery? We learn a lot about the brothers, whose names I have already forgotten, and the girl who was their childhood friend.

Perhaps. I’m still uncomfortable about it.

You might be right and I was insensitive.

The fortune teller and grandmother are where it’s most obvious.