This is a stream-of-consciousness novel about reading and writing. The narrator talks about how she read books as a kid, lists the books she had and had not read at a certain age, describes some pivotal moments in her life, and describes in great detail a novel that she wrote (and, like Borges's map, in describing the novel, she essentially writes it again). The thread that ties all of this together is the extent to which books - both those she reads and those she writes - do and do not relate to real life. In particular, she focuses on the scene in A Room With A View where Lucy witnesses the murder of the Italian man in the piazza. As the narrator travels to Venice, and experiences her own upheavals in life, she comes back to that scene and how her own experience was similar or different. Since the book is stream-of-consciousness, it seems to ramble very arbitrarily, but there is a stunning moment towards the end of the book when the whole thing comes into very sharp focus. This is not an easy book to read, but Bennett is brilliant and the payoff is worth it. ( )

I thought this book was bizarre. The girl is a writer, imagining stories and writing them in her exercise book. She talks about her love of books and all the books she read throughout her life. Starting with her childhood, exploring her mother's shelves, and then moving through her life and her experiences.
I did like the multitude of books she mentions, and the style of writing, but I just couldn't connect with the story itself. ( )

NPR sums up Bennett’s novel by saying it is “life tracked through the lens of books.” Yes. This novel is a book-lovers delight. The protagonist gives books to friends and acquaintances, receives books, and provides commentary on books as a life’s vocation. She is a writer and develops her thoughts and establishes her identity through reading and writing.

The storyteller speaks in a stream-of-consciousness style, and since she has read so much and connects many seemingly unrelated ideas, some of her passages can seem like ranting. The reader must recognize her creativity and genius in combining so many thoughts with memories of so much she had read.

The protagonist marks time in her life by the books she reads and the authors available to her. Her relationships focus on discussions and agreements about the written word.
She shares her books with others and determines whether they have common ground based on their ability to discuss ideas proposed in books. Her writing is autobiographical, painfully honest, and sometimes alarming. No topic is sacred, and she will write about whatever invades her psyche; she has done that since she was young and often refers to a teacher who has read her private thoughts in the back of a notebook.

The epigraph of this book states that “Expression is insanity.” Sometimes the text of this novel sounds like insanity. Still, it is fascinating to a reader who is impressed and intrigued by the unpredictable nature of a well-read mind interpreting the world.

The 10% of this book I understood was good. What I don't understand is how it was named one of the best books of the year by the NYT. ( )

Fantastic and fantastical confession of how words and books and writing are life to a young woman who becomes a writer and who has always been a reader. Checkout 19 is where she works as a cashier in a market back home when not at school. ( )