Lapvona

pretty much just vile people doing vile things for the sake of being vile, but thats Ottessa Moshfegh for you.

on a real note though, the vibes in the first half CARRIED. I'm not sure why but I kinda got disinterested in the second half, so that's why I bumped it down to 3.5 stars. still love ya though Ottessa you brilliantly sick woman.

This is an interesting one. While in some ways the questions posed and content is striking and makes you think, there's a lot of taking the long road to get to the point, and tons of grossness that doesn't serve much of a point other than...well, grossness. That last part didnt bug me too much but the roundabout ramblings did a bit. But I also did enjoy this read, I found it strange but also interesting enough to be digested and thought about for days after.

Still, she couldn't stand his inquisitiveness. Everything he asked her was a plea for affection. He didn't care for her, not really. He only wanted to seduce her by seeming to care, so that she would care for him. Children are selfish, she thought. They rob you of life. They thrive as you toil and wither, and then they bury you, their tears never once falling out of regret for what they've stolen.

Marek, the misshapen and pitiful son of of an abusive and self-flagellating shephard, learns that ascension is achieved not through religious servitude, but (as we knew all along) nepotism. But can anything fill the void left absent of a father's approval?

For the most part, a captivating, repulsive, absurdly humorous work of fabulist fiction. The first half pounds along, driven by shocking events and revelations (achieved by subtle, well-timed shifts between characters' perspectives), but the pace of the second half slows considerably—hijacked by the will and whim of Villiam, who holds the reader hostage at tedious dinner table conversations.

The conclusion brings a rush of change and resolution, but it feels disconnected, hurried, and lacks impact. I expected a neat and considered pay-off owing to the fable-like tone, but was left wanting.

Still loved it, though.

I think I loved this? I've only read My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Moshfegh before and didn't super like it. This is really different and bizarre but really beautiful too. I liked that it's real but sort of magical things or miracles happen. It was really good but weird but interesting and enjoyable.

I actually really enjoyed this. even though what’s actually written about is pretty stomach churning it helped with the visuals a lot. the had a good amount of detail and different stories being told to pull together the characters designs and the main plot. i thought the themes behind everything were current. i also liked this because i’m interested in historical feeling stories that are complete fiction and this happened to really pull me in.

I hesitate to call this a medieval novel, because it's so unmoored from any sense of time or place that it almost solely functions as an allegory. The message? Rich and powerful people hoard resources at the expense of the underclass whose labor generates their wealth. Religion is the opiate of the masses. Yawn. Fortunately, the character work here is strong enough that I still had a good time reading this. I have a soft spot for depraved and damaged degenerates and there is no shortage of these here. Overall, this was salacious and edgy enough for me to enjoy, but not as funny, original or profound as Moshfegh's excellent My Year of Rest and Relaxation.

so I came to the reviews and I was shocked by the amount of people that were like ooooooh the grape scene is soooo visceral and ooooh the cannibalism meanwhile I was just like oh... that was important? i think the book just, from the get-go, desensitized me to like poopenfarten stuff so when those things do happen I had no real reaction. so sick of coming to novels reading 5-star reviews like “this was deeply dark and disturbing” and actually reading the book and finding it boring in its banality

4.5 stars
omg what a wild and disgusting book. you wouldnt know that it was the same author as myorr if it wasnt printed on the book. its a complete 180 in story telling and content of the book. yes there are writing similarities but damn.
i finished the book late last night and was super tiered when i threw a sticky note in their listing the 7 deadly sins. idk how i thought it was supposed to connect but with the story revolving around god. i thought somehow maybe each of these “main” characters represented a sin. i still havent thought it through but still think it's interesting.

SPOILER SECTION

every singe character disturbed me and made me feel gross but by far the worst for me was Ina. cuz wtf was she doing this entire book besides being a fucking menace. like old asf witch comes to town and all the villagers think is omg let her nurse our babies. and letting marek eat her out is absolutely foul as marek is a fool and doesnt know shit.
i had a feeling as soon as marek started his stay at the castle that he was going to end up king by the end of the book but it was really quick and fast how everyone happened.
the fact that the story starts with marek unknowling watch his real father die and then ends with marek killing his brother knowingly is so silly to me. like okayyy go off ottessa.

END SPOILERS

overall i really enjoyed this book and how everything was laid out and you had to look for the details.
ottessa you sick son of a bitch, thank you.