Manbooker Review: Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

PURCHASE~GOODREADS

OK, honestly, I was thrown when Eileen made the short-list. It wasn't disappointing, it was highly suspenseful, but I found the ending forced and highly anti-climaxed. Still, the writing was good, the anal imagery pervading the writing was unusual and interesting. Here's my review on Instagram, 'followed by my congratulations for making the short-list' photo:

Would it make Tomorrow's MANBOOKER shortlist? 😐 Well, Eileen was something else. Eileen the book takes patience to read, the narrative is slow. A short story of a few two hundred pages that focuses on one single event: her escape from her small-town. 😕 While I thought an amazing work was done on character development of Eileen, her drunkard father who emotionally abuses her, the prison guard she's romanticized and loves from afar, the woman, Rebecca, who eventually leads her to her escape, the characters are not exactly likable. All very quirky like the lead Eileen. This is a very strange book with lots of unsettling (bordering on disgusting) imagery. I wished the narrative was fast. The writing was good enough and its main character detestable enough to keep me reading. 😈 Photo Info: #AfricaThroughABook, it's rumoured that in Ghana you could get designer shades for as little as ten cedis, that's a $3. But if you hold a good bargain, you could get two that price. 👓 #Eileen #Manbooker #bookstagram #ottesamofegh #bookish #bookporn #bookworm #bibliophile #bookish #literary #fiction #sunglasses #Africa #trade #manbookerprize

A photo posted by Kobby Ben Ben (@bookworm_man) on Sep 12, 2016 at 1:43am PDT

Partying bookworms are nothing without their books! A Toast to Eileen for making the shortlist! (Everyone who knows me knows I hate wearing #white! So I stand out almost everytime!) 😍 Photo courtesy: Albert @ghana_undiscovered, #manbookerprize2016 #manbookerprize #drinks #partying #bookworm #bookstagram #bibliophile #bookish #bookporn #alcohol #blackmen #menwhoread #readingissexy #fun #happy #toast #wine #Eileen #ottesamoshfegh

A photo posted by Kobby Ben Ben (@bookworm_man) on Sep 15, 2016 at 3:29am PDT

Book Review: The Swimming Pool by Louise Candlish

Purchase|Goodreads 

My Synopsis 

Imagine This: There's an opening of a new lido in your suburban neighborhood. And it's the place to be this summer. You have always loved to swim. But there's your 13year old daughter who wouldn't want to be anywhere near the pool. 

You'll do anything to make her deal with her phobia. But as a teacher, you've made plans this year—with an unshakable resolve—to live this summer like a normal citizen! So you go to the pool, partly with a hidden agenda in mind:

To see Lara Channing, the woman who single-handedly recommissioned the lido for the neighborhood. 

A little brush with Lara Channing, neighborhood celebrity, and you're spending more time with her gatsby-like crowd, drinking, toasting and partying your summer away. By and by you're getting estranged from your husband who doesn't want you to hang out with Lara. But who cares? There's something about Lara that you can't just opt out of. And not surprisingly, Lara, the schemer that she is, has something under her belt of tricks for you.

Before the summer is over, you'll regret ever knowing Lara Channing. 

My Review. 

As always, I love Louise Candlish's storylines! She puts the 'Domestic' into the Domestic Thriller by writing about suburban neighbourhoods in which disasters have happened and one character has suddenly fallen from all-high grace, to all-low scandals. In this story played around the opening of a new lidobin a neighborhood, you wouldn't be able to have enough! A star to the storyline!—★ 

Her writing! I would always keep saying this! And sadly, only my Desperate Housewives junkies would get this reference! Imagine Mary Alice Young narrating a tragedy that had happened in Wisteria Lane with her intonation and her use of 'You see...', 'I remember...', 'I should have known...' depicting how irreversible the situation was...? That's how Candlish writes! You'll find your inner Mary Alice Young reading along with you! Extreme pleasur(e)! A star! Plus you know this sort of writing can only create suspense and too much of it! So two stars for Candlish here—★★★

The characters in this novel! I spent my nights dreaming about them. What will happen next? I should have probably woken up and quenched my curiousity. But I'm sure if I did, I wouldn't be able to get enough of intriguing Lara Channing! And her sultry tones! In Candlish's novels there's always that character that sticks and is mostly the neighbourhood queen bee, but how she manages to make new characters out of this stereotype, who are actually different and all the more intoxicating... it must take such excellence to pull this off!—★★★★

Now my praises end here. Because while I feel this book is a must-read... it hurts me to think I can't give it five stars because I feel Candlish's previous title (The Sudden Departure of the Frasers) which I urge you all to read too, is better than this! Of course, had I not read her previous title, I would have given this a five star!

So my rating: 4.5 stars.

Find The Swimming Pool on Amazon. 

I recommend it to anyone who still craves a Desperate Housewives binge. Anyone who wants a Thriller about suburbia life they can and must relate to should also go get this! A perfect summer read!