by Jenny Offill
I will add a caveat to my review—I rated this on the high side to compensate for the fact that I would have given the audiobook a 3. While I generally love listening, especially when the author (or anyone British, honestly) reads to me, I don't think this book lent itself to that form. The writing w...
I just spent the last hour and thirty four minutes reading the entirety of a novel that left me unsettled, sad, and impressed. The text is primarily made up of short paragraphs, thoughts really, that include references and quotes and are somewhat a stream of consciousness but taking a form that is...
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill is a short novel that provides glimpses that, taken together, form a life. It is the story of a marriage through its ups and down as seen through the eyes of “the wife” - no name, just the wife. The book has a unique writing style that settles into a lyrical rhyt...
Heartbreaking and too familiar. I am very sad after reading this, even if the ending wasn't a breakup. :(
Two stars for the first half, four stars for the second, so I'll go with three overall. I was deeply ambivalent about the first 50 pages or so but found the second half to be genuinely moving.
Amazing how such a seemingly simple book can really cut to the quick.
Unique, choppy, straight-from-the-hip, honest: these are the words that come to mind when I think about Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill. Made up of 46 chapters this book covers the inner workings of a married wife and mother. Sometimes just random thoughts cover the pages and I had to laugh as...
I just couldn't connect to the characters. I couldn't get involved, I didn't care as much as I should have. Certain lines are beautiful, or heartbreaking, or both. There are chapters where the book easily reaches five-star quality. Those pieces will stick with me, I'm sure. But the book as a whole w...
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