Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi

I’m glad I reread this, I liked it better this time. It’s not an easy book to read or to love, but I appreciated the decidedly offbeat humor much more this time, particularly early on:

I told him that my ill-fated ancestors and I had survived death through our intimate engagement with literature. Then, I thought to myself, engagement is too mild a word, so I replaced it with refuge. I said, “We, the ill-fated, have taken refuge in literature.” But this description also failed to communicate a sufficient level of intensity. With a hint of violence, I added: “Hear me! We have pitched our tattered tents in the dark forests of literature!”

Zebra is... a lot. She’s a lot! Obsessed, over the top, heedless of anyone else’s feelings, deeply wounded. The repetitive philosophizing that also wore me down the first time still was there this time, though I didn’t mind it quite so much now, and the pathos of Zebra struggling to accept that she needs love in a cruel universe of meaningless suffering, near the end of the book, was more affecting.

So, better!
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Slap me with a pickle, this is in the upcoming Tournament of Books. I’ll try it again.

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Oloomi writes with such an air of unreality. Her debut novel took place within the mind of a madman and this, her second, continues its repetitive, circling patterns. Not for me.… (más)

I found the actual story being told through this book was a great one. It was filled with emotional moments, both highs and lows, but I did find it hard to keep up. Sentences seemed to run on and with each new paragraph it seemed to switch to a different place, past/present event, or a different person. It seemed like some paragraphs should/would have indicated a new chapter. It was a bit (quickly) back and forth throughout a given chapter. The story itself was compelling and heartbreaking. Being an adult and looking back on the life events that have changed you, or made you have the "what ifs" is sometimes a very hard thing to do. It is necessary to do this in order to grow and overcome current struggles. To have a best friend who understands you and is willing to go on that journey with you says a-lot. Disclosure - I read an ARC copy so some of these things I am pointing out could have been changed a bit in the final copy!… (más)

To be honest, I found this difficult and sometimes grating. But that was all a part of it, and the more unlikeable our subject the more empathy I had for her. This is a heartbreaking exploration of how it is to process emotions through your intellect and to construct and deconstruct defenses against trauma. Well worth it, if only to consider how Zebra would be received as a person with more privilege and what that says about, about everything. I should write a more thoughtful review; instead, I'll read others.
… (más)