Has anyone read A Life's Work by Rachel Cusk?

[sophiechristophy]

I found this piece by her and wondered if anyone had read her book in full?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/mar/21/biography.women

S

[bluesuperted]

I have it but didn't get very far (well meaning gift from husband but I found it a little depressing...). Would you like to borrow it? x

[sophiechristophy]

bluesuperted we are on the same book trail i think! i would love to borrow it. x

[Carbonara]

Reading that piece in the Guardian tempted you to read several hundred pages by her?

Good luck!

[crystal7]

I read it soon after having daughter. I liked it though couldn't identify with lots she said. I Have a copy if anyone wants to borrow it.

[edanna]

Haven't read it but loved Anne Enright's Making Babies, which is honest and funny and not depressing.

[Mathilda]

http://sarahditum.com/2012/02/20/after-the-aftermath/

Another take on the Guardian article...

[edanna]

Ouch!

[StraferJack]

One of the opening lines in her latest book is

"Recently my husband and I separated, and over the course of a few weeks the life we'd made broke apart, like a jigsaw dismantled into a heap of broken-edged pieces."

And I decided that my eyes couldn'ttake much more. That is one CLUMSY, ugly and unwieldy sentence

[Fuschia]

Mathilda Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> http://sarahditum.com/2012/02/20/after-the-afterma

> th/

>

> Another take on the Guardian article...

Brilliant

I read her book a long time ago, found it really miserable

I was expecting it to be more like 'what mothers do' by Naomi Stadlen , Which is great

[Polly D]

Mathilda - brilliant, thanks for that link. I read the article on Sat and was depressed and intrigued by it/her. Especially re her saying the children were hers, WTF!?

[chantelle]

The mum book was awful and the divorce book looks even worse. I wish I had never read the mum one - it caused me much unnecessary angst at 24 weeks pregnant.

[radhabee]

Going against the grain but...I liked it! I thought she evoked the utter strangeness of new motherhood very well: not knowing what to do; not quite believing one's new life, the shock of being being divorced from the wordly world. Deep joy and immense tedium. I also liked the "becoming a mother" idea - that this exhausting, alarming, wild experience is profoundly changing. One has a baby but one becomes a mother. She obviously had quite a time of it - and there are extremes of feeling in the book - but I'd say most mothers I've met could identify with a number of its themes, even if they experienced them on a less intense level. Give it a go!

[bluesuperted]

Sophiec - of course you are welcome to borrow, I will bring it tomorrow, but knowing you and your general enjoyment of motherhood I don't know how much you are going to get out of it! I agree with others, I read a few pages and found it bleak and not something I could identify with either. My poor husband really thought he had found a great book for me and I think that's the only reason I kept hold of it ;) bless him and his good intentions.

Agree also, nothing like the wonderful work of Naomi Stadlen.

xx

[radhabee]

@bluesuperted I have a general enjoyment of motherhood too ;)

[sillywoman]

Mathilda Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> http://sarahditum.com/2012/02/20/after-the-afterma

> th/

>

> Another take on the Guardian article...

Hilarious. So difficult to tell truth from fiction sometimes ;)

[chantelle]

loving the sarahditum take on it. scarily accurate.

[bluesuperted]

Radhabee - your comment hadn't come up when I read this thread earlier, we cross-posted! I wouldn't have worded it quite like that if I'd seen yours!

As I say I only read a short amount before bailing (as I have a massive pile of unread books, mainly child/baby/motherhood-related, by my bedside, I have to be ruthless!) and I didn't enjoy what I saw.

[radhabee]

@bluesuperted heh. Just kidding - didn't take it badly at all!

I don't think I'm going to persuade anyone to read the book but her description of the 12 week scan as like looking at a crustacean in a snowstorm did make me smile.

[bluesuperted]

Ha, glad to hear it :)

...especially as we follow each other on *the other place*...

[supergolden88]

I read the book when it first came out five years before having my daughter. I liked it very much. I re read it after having children and certainly understood it better. I like her writing and certainly identified with parts of it. It is not a joy ride but again it's her personal experience

[radhabee]

Too funny. Will PM you!