Paint it Black by Janet Fitch
Oohh, I know I was all "this will be a BOOK journal and I'm going to post all INTELLECTUAL posts about what I'm READING and it will be so SMART, yada yada!" Yeah, uh...sorry about that.
I just finished this book by Janet Fitch. It's her second novel (her first was White Oleander) and since I loooved her first, I couldn't wait to read this. My coworker was enough to unearth the arc (advanced reader copy) that the store had received so that I could finish the book I was sneaking down to the bassement during lunch breaks. Well, when after I started it I wasn't sure if I could finish it, because, man. Was it depressing. And I'm not usually one to shy away from depressing books. Bring it on, I say. I usually can't stand it when people claim a book or movie "wasn't good" just because it had depressing themes. There's beauty in that. Learn to deal with it, I say. And this book was beautiful. I love her writing style. It's intense, it's, I don't know...earthy, for lack of a better word. She seems to have hit on two main themes, writing about women and writing about the city of LA. This book was also set in 1980, and the protagonist Josie was supposed to be a "denizen of the LA punkrock scene" so it was cool in that respect as well. But the reason I didn't think I would be able to finish it is because at the heart of the book there is a suicide, and the first chapters--actually the whole book, but especially the first chapters--deal with the suicide's (Michael, early 20's, a brillient Harvard dropout) girlfriend's (Josie, age 20, art model and aforementioned "denizen")anguish at first finding out and subsequently dealing with his suicide (and eventually becoming involved in a twisted codependent relationship with his mother out of grief). I mean, she is absolutely ripped apart, and it is all over every page. And that is the worst thing I can possibly think of happening, so I personally had trouble reading it. It was like I sympathized so much with her, I almost thought I was her. Man, that's good writing.
But if I haven't scared you away (heh) definitely give this book a try, especially if you liked White Oleander. And reading about women. And can handle "mature themes."
I just finished this book by Janet Fitch. It's her second novel (her first was White Oleander) and since I loooved her first, I couldn't wait to read this. My coworker was enough to unearth the arc (advanced reader copy) that the store had received so that I could finish the book I was sneaking down to the bassement during lunch breaks. Well, when after I started it I wasn't sure if I could finish it, because, man. Was it depressing. And I'm not usually one to shy away from depressing books. Bring it on, I say. I usually can't stand it when people claim a book or movie "wasn't good" just because it had depressing themes. There's beauty in that. Learn to deal with it, I say. And this book was beautiful. I love her writing style. It's intense, it's, I don't know...earthy, for lack of a better word. She seems to have hit on two main themes, writing about women and writing about the city of LA. This book was also set in 1980, and the protagonist Josie was supposed to be a "denizen of the LA punkrock scene" so it was cool in that respect as well. But the reason I didn't think I would be able to finish it is because at the heart of the book there is a suicide, and the first chapters--actually the whole book, but especially the first chapters--deal with the suicide's (Michael, early 20's, a brillient Harvard dropout) girlfriend's (Josie, age 20, art model and aforementioned "denizen")anguish at first finding out and subsequently dealing with his suicide (and eventually becoming involved in a twisted codependent relationship with his mother out of grief). I mean, she is absolutely ripped apart, and it is all over every page. And that is the worst thing I can possibly think of happening, so I personally had trouble reading it. It was like I sympathized so much with her, I almost thought I was her. Man, that's good writing.
But if I haven't scared you away (heh) definitely give this book a try, especially if you liked White Oleander. And reading about women. And can handle "mature themes."