Not every book here is a book that I would recommend to others. Mostly I think that that’s something that each reader should decide for themselves. These “books of the day” are just descriptions of the books that I’m reading that will hopefully give other people an idea of some books that may interest them.

One book that I didn’t like that I recently got from the library was Lust by Elfriede Jelinek. It’s the story of a woman who is living in an abusive relationship and who ends up falling in love with another man who also turns out to have some serious issues. The story itself is pretty good and the book is one that people must have liked because it was a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

So why didn’t I like it? There were two reasons:

1. It’s translated. I don’t know what the original version sounded like but the translation felt odd to me. It’s hard to describe but it reminded me a bit of Gertrude Stein who has a great style but who I find hard to read entire books of without it feeling too dense.
2. It’s violent. Some of the abuse and sexual abuse scenes in the book were just too violent for me. I must have a weak stomach or a too-vivid imagination because I didn’t want to keep reading through them.

If those things don’t bother you, you might like the book. It’s certainly unique and it does have a story to tell.

Tags: book review, books, elfriede jelinek, kathryn vercillo, lust, reading