Jesus Christ, Nevada is bleak and I kind of hate it? Like, the last 10% made me feel like a fucking idiot for loving the first 90%.
@cute_weeds it just feels incomplete to me? like i feel like the narrative doesn't have a structural resolution/conclusion, the words just kind of . . . stop
@glitternoodle And for me that sudden stop made the whole thing desolate as hell.
Like, yeah, you fell for these characters, identified with them, were excited to see yourself in print *for the first time,* and read like a maniac to get to the part where there's some kind of a turn, where their arc bends upward toward literally anything — a tiny but genuine glimpse at themselves, a promise of growth, consolation. A CHANGE.
But no, the narrative is like, "yeah it just goes on and on like that forever, plus James stole a bunch of heroin nobody actually wants, everything is punk as fuck, whatever."
@cute_weeds no, yeah, totally. it's a super bleak novel, and i can't say i found it particularly satisfying. the structural thing is just me trying to figure out why i had that reaction to it, b/c i'm p obsessed with storytelling structure
@glitternoodle Which, I mean, hey, about time we got a Trans Catcher in the Rye, I guess?
@cute_weeds hm, interesting, i hadn't heard that before! i guess i can see where she's coming from, but it's not the kind of art that i'm most excited about
@glitternoodle I still love Imogen Binnie because she nails the things that make me tick: voice, character, and, well, me. But damn that book broke me in half.
@cute_weeds v v v relatable
@glitternoodle Casey Plett wrote that she thought the structure (toying with conventions about resolution, James appearing like some kind of "second-chance" moment, the sudden blackout ending) invite you to continue the story on your own and realize that trans people have no conventional narrative, but that real life is just about "going on" not towards an already-known resolution but just a general hope. Except any hope in that ending has to be imposed on the story from the outside, which you're not really "invited" to do.
Dunno. Maybe I got way too excited only to find it's basically Trans Catcher in the Rye.