Reviews
There were too many metaphors with elaborate set ups competing for space; the effect was muddled.
the opening lines alone gave me goosebumps. edinburgh is like a compact version of a little life with possibly less misery. it's interesting to read in chee's acknowledgement for yanagihara, with both of them seemingly bonded through stories about grief, pain, loss, love and the aftermaths in a span of thirteen years. this would be a perfect read if not for the middle part that leans too heavily to lyrical prose. i love beautiful sentences, i devour them like air but i found that in edinburgh it was just too much. i understand the necessity of a beautiful surface to conceal the ugliness underneath but sometimes in some part, the less is more approach is the way to go i guess. what i really appreciate was how chee incorporate his korean ancestry and folklores especially about gumiho (fox) into the story. it worked effectively as metaphor about changes where in some way, edinburgh was fee's coming of age story. what i truly love was how chee wrote about fire and blue. i was stupendously in awe with how seamless and encapsulated were everything by the end of it all. fire as demons inside us. fire as thing that consume. fire that burns and destroys. also fire that comes from love and desire. blue as the color of flame. blue body paints that lead to intoxicating interlude. blue the color of the sky. blue as lightning's edge. also to think that this was chee's debut novel. *plunge into deep existential crisis*
Beautiful, heart breaking, lyrically brilliant, emotionally difficult to get through. I cry.
i'm literally in pieces...
4.5 stars. Edinburgh by Alexander Chee is a beautiful book. The writing is gorgeous and I just loved the main character Fee so, so much. I loved this book. This book is about Fee, and particularly about how sexual abuse and trauma reverberates through his entire life. Fee is in a boys choir when he is young, and the choir director sexually assaults many of the boys, including Fee and his best friend Peter. Peter kills himself a few years later, and Fee blames himself for not warning Peter of the abuse to come. I don’t want to give too much away, and this is really simplistic version of the plot that leaves a lot out, but trigger warning for sexual abuse, pedophilia, and suicide. Chee’s writing is stunning. His sentences are lyrical and the structure of the book works really well too. This book is extremely moving and has a haunting, dream-like quality to it. Despite being filled with trauma, this book is also full of grace. It will stick with me for a very long time. I am so sold on Chee! I bought this book months ago along with How to Write an Autobiographical Novel (which I’m now even more excited for) and I’m so glad that I finally picked it up. I would highly recommend this book to everyone, but of course I recommend keeping in mind the difficult themes and making sure you’re in a headspace where you’re reading to engage with it. It’s a moving portrait of a boyhood and beyond, and Chee is an amazing author.
This was hard-hitting, incredibly sad, haunting and beautifully written. So many times I wanted to pick up "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara, but it's a huge chunker of a book. Edinburgh was along the same lines and I heard good things about it, while having a page count of 224 pages. I was excited to find it on Netgalley and wasn't disappointed. Even after finishing I'll know that this story will linger in my thoughts and I'll try and pick up A Little Life as well, although I'll be needing a funny and entertaining read after this one. From the description you'll already know about all the triggers in this book. This is certainly not for everyone, but if you like to read a thought-provoking, important but sad book I'd encourage you to pick this one up. Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.
