Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Heimweh nach einer anderen Welt

I wanted to give this book 2 stars, but the very last story broke my heart to pieces, and it's for these emotions that I give this book 3 stars. However it if far from perfect - the author writes like a man who read a little bit too much of Bukowski's prose and let it get into his head. To say the least.

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nialiversuch's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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emory's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

When I was reading the second story in this collection and the protagonist started thinking about sexual acts involving swimming in sewage, and then further details the acts this character performs on a young sex worker, I was going to stop reading, despite my aversion to not finishing books. I wish I had.

I was puzzled reading this about all the positive reviews I had seen of it. Every story seemed a pointless excuse for Moshfegh to describe something disgusting, insult a random fat side character, and call somebody r*tarded. A few of the later stories, such as Slumming, The Beach Boy, and A Better Place were (comparatively) charming and driven, but the abrupt endings in the latter of these two were discouraging.

The only saving grace I could find for these stories was that Moshfegh is clearly creative in thinking of vignettes of different shades of upsetting people. However, I don't feel as if her writing was strong enough to carry them. Each sentence was short and blunt. The simple sentences lent themselves to the subject matter I suppose, but it was not an artful or particularly nice reading experience. It read more like the begrudging English assignment of a super senior than that of a critically acclaimed author. Not to mention none of her characters were distinguishable from one another. All spoke with the same voice. The most discription anything received were fat characters that Moshfegh seemed to delight in calling disgusting and horrible. And anytime someone from a minority was mentioned, there was some weird aside that the narrator needed to have.

The idea of challenging what the purpose of fiction is and the role of a main character is an intriguing prospect, and this, along with the few stories that stood out to me as genuine, are the reason I'm giving this a higher rating than 0 or 1. But there's no skill or point behind it, to me, other than to shock and disgust. Most of these stories had nothing to say. To make something realistic in its unappetizing circumstances means nothing when you're doing the same trick over and over again. "It's so bad here, what if there were something better? Well, there's not." Cool!

And unfortunately there's not even a single story that's about aliens.

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parton4proletariat's review against another edition

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this is my third (and honestly, final) attempt at trying to enjoy moshfegh. genuinely do not understand the hype around her work. having characters be horribly racist, ableist, and fatphobic is a low-effort way to make them unlikeable. instead of actually developing these characters, moshfegh just throws in a slur and calls it a day. and it is such a constant theme that it's hard not to assume these are the author's own biases.

as for the writing, most of it is incredibly dull and gross for the sake of being gross. i did enjoy the writing in the book more than her other works, but all of the characters felt pretty much the same. I love unlikeable characters and gothic-leaning books, but moshfegh just fails to deliver. cool cover, though.

the vulture article says it best. what the hell is it with her and donuts?

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theminimalistbookclub's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

are you kidding me? do i want to read about perverts? about disgusting men who rape, stalk and despise woman? about cheating husbands (and about cheating wives tho')? no. this book really pisses me off, it makes me angry, it haunts me.

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jordannikol's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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