Customer Reviews

The End of the Story: A Novel

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Something I've gotten really into; the idea that a novel doesn't need a story. Lydia Davis asks the reader to engage her in a dialogue with the language, usage, tone and cadence of her writing.
This doesn't come as a shock; Davis' work has always been careful not to involve her audience in the kind of gratification employed by some of her colleagues in the hih-brow writing world. Take "Samuel Johnson..." a very deconstructive collection, more like a poetic undertaking than a collection. Unfortunately, her own personal indulgences shine through in this, her most recent book, and it is more of a paranoid meandering than a globular entity.
And, fortunately, her conservative embrace of the literary world, often seen through a jaundiced (French translator's) eye, is much more of a likeable read. It will remain acessible, so long as those who chose to take it on will exhibit the same amount of patience that Davis has in writing this book.

From the moment I read the first lines I found myself saying, "aaaahhhh, yes..." Lydia Davis has created an incredibly precise yet simultaneously fluid and organic work that details not only great love but also the processes of passion. It is familiar and surprising, a rare treat.

Lydia Davis has written a breath-taking book about how writing transforms both a writer and her subject. A wonderfully written study of how the process of creating a written record about her unlikely obsession with a younger man eventually freed her from it. I recommend this book to everyone I meet.

This book has an inflectionless prose style, that takes a little patience at first, but after awhile begins to produce a hypnotic effect. By the end of the book I was in love with the prose style. Also, the parts about the writing of the novel, which are included within the novel itself, are hilarious.

I love lydia davis. I love her surgical deconstruction of relationships, obsession and, for that matter, any and all matters of the heart. More people should buy this book and even if they don't lydia davis remains a god to us her loyal fans.

This book came highly recommended by a friend, but I thought it was self-absorbed, minimalist drivel. I found myself skimming through it, a thing I seldom do. Be advised that if you don't like her writing, you'll hate it.