Sheila Heti

I enjoyed it a lot. One would expect it to be disjointed (Heti was taken a 10-swath of her diaries and alphabetized the sentences) and it is, but I found it less so than expected. It remains held together by Heti's person, personality and prose. I defy anyone to read it and not come away with a good sense of Heti, her life, and who she is.

The specific joys include many well-crafted and well-observed sentences, and the comedy of unexpected and unplanned juxtapositions created by the alphabet.… (mere)

*I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads Giveaways program in exchange for an honest review*

This book is a very cool concept, alphabetizing sentences from 10 years of the author's diary entries, however it didn't do much for me. Outside of some really incredible sentences and musings, I found it difficult to follow (perhaps part of the point) as sentences weren't in any sort of chronological order and there was no context between one sentence to the next. Partway in there are some clear themes that emerge but I would have enjoyed it more as a narrative; honestly found it too easy to put down whenever because there was no plot keeping me engaged, and tough to pick back up for the same reason.

Highlight for me is that the author is a fellow Torontonian and I liked some of the local references.… (mere)

Kurze Inhaltsangabe
Was wird gewonnen und was geht verloren, wenn eine Frau sich entschliesst, ein Kind zu bekommen? In ihren späten Dreissigern, als die Freundinnen sich fragen, wann sie endlich Mutter werden, fragt Sheila Heti sich, ob sie es überhaupt werden will. In einer mehrere Jahre umspannenden Selbsterkundung, mal hierhin, mal dorthin gezogen von ihren Mitmenschen, ihrem Partner und den Verpflichtungen gegenüber ihren jüdischen Vorfahren, versucht sie eine weise und moralische Entscheidung zu treffen. Nachdem Philosophie, ihr Körper, die Mystik und der Zufall nicht geholfen haben, findet sie die Antwort viel näher bei sich.… (mere)