G998 Book Review of The Pisces by Melissa Broder
Author: Melissa Broder
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6155-4
Publisher: Hogarth
Type of book: Merman, love, obsession, coldness, depression, anxiety, care, unconditional vs conditional, death vs life, California, magical realism, Los Angeles,
Year it was published: 2018
Summary:
An original, imaginative, and hilarious debut novel about love, anxiety, and sea creatures, from the author of So Sad Today.
Lucy has been writing her dissertation about Sappho for thirteen years when she and Jamie break up. After she hits rock bottom in Phoenix, her Los Angeles-based sister insists Lucy housesit for the summer—her only tasks caring for a beloved diabetic dog and trying to learn to care for herself. Annika’s home is a gorgeous glass cube atop Venice Beach, but Lucy can find no peace from her misery and anxiety—not in her love addiction group therapy meetings, not in frequent Tinder meetups, not in Dominic the foxhound’s easy affection, not in ruminating on the ancient Greeks. Yet everything changes when Lucy becomes entranced by an eerily attractive swimmer one night while sitting alone on the beach rocks.
Whip-smart, neurotically funny, sexy, and above all, fearless, The Pisces is built on a premise both sirenic and incredibly real—what happens when you think love will save you but are afraid it might also kill you.
Characters:
Main characters include Lucy, a thirty-eight year old woman who is reeling from a recent break up of her long term relationship, as well as understanding that her ex-fiance desires another woman and not her. On top of that, she is also struggling with writing her dissertation about Sappho, feeling as if she no longer cares. There is also Lucy's older sister Annika who is into yoga, married and has a foxhound dog named Dominic. Annika worries and cares for her sister deeply and asks her to fly out to Los Angeles to live in the house while Lucy tries to get her life back on track. Theo is a mysterious night swimmer who has a secret of his own that is deeply attracted to Lucy and will do whatever he can to be with her. Dominic is a foxhound who dislikes Theo for some odd reason and is loyal to people who care about him.
Theme:
I read the tale from cover to cover, and I had difficulty in understanding what I should have learned.
Plot:
The story is in first person narrative from Lucy's point of view, and Lucy is easy to hate but difficult to love, especially because I believe that she represents the self that is all impulse and little to no logic. In other words, a self none want to acknowledge or believe that exists. What I also difficulty in this story is finguring what, if anything, did Lucy learn from her experience, or how did she grow up? ultimately, I believe, she didn't grow up and still remained herself, and if she learned anything from her experiences, she will not implement it in her life.
Author Information:
(From back of the book)
Melissa Broder is the authro of the essay collection SO SAD TODAY and four poetry collections, including LAST SEXT. Her poetry has appeared in POETRY, THE IOWA REVIEW, TIN HOUSE, and GUERNICA, and she is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. She writes the "SO SAD TODAY" column at VICE, the astrology column for LENNY LETTER, and the "BEAUTY AND DEATH" column on Elle.com She lives in Los Angeles
Opinion:
The Pisces definitely reflects what I will call the modern art scenario: either you love it or hate it but I doubt that there is much in-between emotions in the pages, and because I couldn't really like it, neither did I fully want to tear it into pieces, I gave it three stars. What I enjoyed in the story is exploration of love, and of how humans tend to be more attracted to fools gold rather than real gold. But what didn't make a lot of sense to me is the whole merman erotica angle, and I also detested and felt disgusted by Lucy's care towards her older sister's dog, Dominic. Lucy is a character that you either hate or love, understand or condemn. What I also found confusing is the whole angle of Sappho and her purpose in the tale. I also will mention gross negligence of a dog. I also couldn't help but think of Charmed TV show (the old one with Prue, Piper and Phoebe) one where mermaids are described as cold, lacking empathy and lacking love, which seems to be the characteristics that the merman carries within him.
This was given for a review
3 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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