• About
  • Book Retailing
  • Contact
  • Ficton Reviews by Title
  • Poetry Reviews
  • Upcoming Reads

Richmond Hill Reading @ The Roebuck

~ a multi-author blog of bookish delights

Richmond Hill Reading @ The Roebuck

Monthly Archives: May 2016

Hot Milk by Deborah Levy

30 Monday May 2016

Posted by Christine A in Book Review, Reading Reflections

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

contemporary British fiction, Deborah Levy, Family, female writer, Group Choice, Novel

We were a small but nonetheless very engaged group on Tuesday last and had a really good discussion both on the chosen book, Hot Milk by Deborah Levy and then on the current state of the novel in general, inspired by Louise telling us that in a recent lecture at Goldsmith’s College, Will Self had announced the death of the Modern Novel.

 

Firstly, the book itself.  A brief synopsis – the protagonist, Sofia is an anthropologist and offspring of ill-matched and now divorced parents.  Over the years her mother has developed a problem with her legs leaving her unable to walk. Mother and daughter go to a specialist clinic in Spain to try to discover whether mother’s inability to use her legs has a physical cause.

 

In the course of their visit they run into an exotic assortment of characters – the suave, impossibly expensive doctor (is he a quack ?),  an over-helpful bisexual embroiderer and her executive trainer boyfriend. None of these characters are fully developed and in the course of this short novel (217 pages) exasperation sets in (in the reader that is). There is a sense that the author is working through a tick box of requirements – mother/daughter relationships, daughter/father relationships, feminism,  hypochondria, gender fluidity. There’s a fair amount of obligatory psychobabble too – “You are using your mother as a shield to protect yourself from making a life.” So overall there was a sense that Deborah Levy was trying too hard to produce a book with global appeal, quirky enough to get on a major literary prize longlist, and it didn’t quite come off.

 

Which led us on to consider whether contemporary novels try to cram too much in, leaving the reader with indigestible content ?  Is there a hidden list of issues which authors feel they need to introduce in order for their work to be relevant.  And is the all-pervading tone of “elusive ambiguity” – never knowing quite where you are with any character – the dominant theme of current writing ?  Answers in the Comments Please !

Advertisement

Recent Posts

  • The Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers
  • The Poetry of Amy Clampitt
  • The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
  • The Short Stories of Somerset Maugham
  • Poems about Gardens

Recent Comments

Day on The Power of the Dog by Thomas…
Travel Gourmet on Theme: Five books that shaped…
Tim on Theme: Five books that shaped…
Travel Gourmet on Theme: Books on the Nightstand…
Christine A on Theme: Books on the Nightstand…

Archives

  • September 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • November 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • January 2019
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013

Categories

  • Book Review
  • Guest Posts
  • Reading Habits
  • Reading Lists
  • Reading Reflections
  • Reblog
  • Uncategorized
  • Upcoming Reads

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Richmond Hill Reading @ The Roebuck
    • Join 70 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Richmond Hill Reading @ The Roebuck
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar