Ottessa Moshfegh

A Novel

Lapvona

Arie P

None of them would have believed such a thing could happen, that life could begin again so quickly.

In a village in a medieval fiefdom buffeted by natural disasters, a motherless shepherd boy finds himself the unlikely pivot in a power struggle that puts all manner of faith to a savage test, in a spellbinding novel that represents Ottessa Moshfegh's most exciting leap yet

Little Marek, the abused and delusional son of the village shepherd, never knew his mother; his father told him she died in childbirth. One of life's few consolations for Marek is his enduring bond with the blind village midwife, Ina, who suckled him when he was a baby, as she did for many of the village's children. 

Ina's gifts extend beyond childcare: she possesses a unique ability to communicate with the natural world. Her gift often brings her the transmission of sacred knowledge on levels far beyond those available to other villagers, however religious they might be. For some people, Ina's home in the woods outside the village is a place to fear and to avoid, a godless place.

Among their number is Father Barnabas, the town priest and lackey for the depraved lord and governor, Villiam, whose hilltop manor contains a secret embarrassment of riches. The people's desperate need to believe that there are powers that be who have their best interests at heart is put to a cruel test by Villiam and the priest, especially in this year of record drought and famine. 

But when fate brings Marek into violent proximity to the lord's family, new and occult forces upset the old order. By year's end, the veil between blindness and sight, life and death, the natural world and the spirit world will prove to be very thin indeed.

james cao

Perhaps it is most miraculous when God exacts justice even when no human lifts a finger. Or perhaps it is simply fate. Everything seems reasonable in hindsight. Right or wrong, you will think what you need to think so that you can get by. 

Didn't they know that the land was God itself, the sun and moon and rain, that it was all God? The life in their seeds of wheat, the manure from the cow, that was God. The priest had nothing to do with it.

Little Marek, the abused and delusional son of the village shepherd, never knew his mother; his father told him she died in childbirth. One of life's few consolations for Marek is his enduring bond with the blind village midwife, Ina, who suckled him when he was a baby, as she did for many of the village's children.

Ina's gifts extend beyond childcare: she possesses a unique ability to communicate with the natural world. Her gift often brings her the transmission of sacred knowledge on levels far beyond those available to other villagers, however religious they might be. For some people, Ina's home in the woods outside the village is a place to fear and to avoid, a godless place.

Among their number is Father Barnabas, the town priest and lackey for the depraved lord and governor, Villiam, whose hilltop manor contains a secret embarrassment of riches. The people's desperate need to believe that there are powers that be who have their best interests at heart is put to a cruel test by Villiam and the priest, especially in this year of record drought and famine.

But when fate brings Marek into violent proximity to the lord's family, new and occult forces upset the old order. By year's end, the veil between blindness and sight, life and death, the natural world and the spirit world will prove to be very thin indeed.

mallorie 🦌

"Forget him. He'll rot now. He'll feed the worms. Shall we pick some flowers on the way home?" 

Jordan Card

‘What about heaven, Ina? Don't you want to go?’

‘It doesn't matter,' she said. ‘I won't know anyone.'

Helen 

Lispeth never complained of hunger or hardship. But Petra could see the bruise on her spirit, the little cuts of sadness. 

His face was not something she had studied, but something that acted upon her. Like wine, it took hold of her mind and drew it into a golden light, the dawn of heaven, and her body tingled and relaxed. She felt more alive in these dreams, but woke up wishing that she, too, were dead.

dropped nearly 200 pages in, did not like this one i'm afraid. 

i'm not scared of books that depict vile and disgusting situations and explore them and this certainly was it, but not in the way it felt compelling. i felt like this was just a collection of unsettling overly-detailed moments that serve no purpose other than shock value that can't sustain the stretched out story that is so incredibly boring to read. i know the aim of this book was a commentary on religion which i honestly thought was very average. Ottessa's writing is really good but it just fell flat for me overall. i like the cover though

marceline

dropped nearly 200 pages in, did not like this one i'm afraid. 

i'm not scared of books that depict vile and disgusting situations and explore them and this certainly was it, but not in the way it felt compelling. i felt like this was just a collection of unsettling overly-detailed moments that serve no purpose other than shock value that can't sustain the stretched out story that is so incredibly boring to read. i know the aim of this book was a commentary on religion which i honestly thought was very average. Ottessa's writing is really good but it just fell flat for me overall. i like the cover though

Perfectly written to the point the filth caught up to me and I was drowning in it. 

Claire Maguet

carla t ho

Obscene story that conjured an intense feeling of disgust but also simultaneously triggering an itching sense of curiosity and a fierce urge of wanting to read more

Alison Hinklom

Stas

Moshfegh is not afraid to go there. Vile, shocking, and illuminating, Lapvona reduces the world to its most base and chaotic essence. 

Lapvona is a depraved village full of secrets, treachery, and deceit. A pious, unloved, and disabled child commits a grave sin that uproots everyone’s selfish life under the corrupt and cultic rule of its lord. This twisted novel is written in a very plain, factual style with each sentence being more horrible than the last. A masterclass in dramatic irony; the secrets and lies shape each character’s world view and, ultimately, their demise. This book needs every single trigger warning I can think of— plague is the only awful thing that I can think of that was not described in the book. If you’re enjoy gruesome true crime (derogatory), you’ll love this book. It read like the most traumatic soap opera, with several disgusting plot points on each page. I haven’t devoured a book so fast in ages, and I didn’t want it to end. 

constance

absolutely NO ONE is allowed to have a good time. this was gross and depraved and moshfegh’s writing never fails to amaze me. 

Elizabeth Denny

While reading Lapvona, I was engrossed with the story and it’s development, however the morbid nature of it all put me off at times. In saying that, I should mention I have a rather weak tolerance for the macabre. All in all, I had a fun time reading, though I doubt it will be one i revisit.

bonnie

Idk who I'm writing this for, it's mostly a wtf did I just read. Moshfegh's writing is applaudable and her skill in dealing with low-plot stories is what I love so much about her books. I can deal with a lot of overall grossness, but this book left me with such a pit in my stomach every time I put it down that I found myself reading it super quickly so I would save my future self from a long, drawn-out read of these scenes. I really wish she omitted more of the vile imagery, because it otherwise could've made a compelling read. Lots of these descriptions, like the overindulgence in descriptions of bodily fluid and different forms of "milk", the scene with the grapes, and the Freudian parent-child relationships were too much. It wasn't even the violence that dissuaded me, but just the complete sexuality in things that didn't need it. The grape scene will haunt me 

Katy

Karmen 

no clue on where to even begin, it’s definitely an upscale from my years of rest and relaxation. the background being a medieval town, intertwined with witchcraft allows the book to venture to a morbidly peculiar disgusting, but also decorated with hints of beauty. a very bizarre read that somehow aligns with current events on how people are so willing to believe in good, they can deliberately choose to ignore the horror of even imagining the bad. and also everyone in this book perhaps except Grigor are just personifications of selfishness to different degrees, and maybe humans are really just selfish beings, through and through. “people don’t like it when the truth is easy, let them think what they want”. also, the book is on Christianity, this cycle reminded me of the Buddhist teachings of karma, 因果关系. perhaps i should let that simmer a bit more in my mind before coming to a conclusion. 

Kira L

Jillian McParland

toni

this book was so disgusting, i physically cringed whenever i read something 'immoral' or things that doesn't normally happen. but at the same time i was really entertained (idk why). 

yeah, this book proves how scary people can be with their faith

i genuinely don't know how to rate this.

this book was so disgusting, i physically cringed whenever i read something 'immoral' or things that doesn't normally happen. but at the same time i was really entertained (idk why). 

yeah, this book proves how scary people can be with their faith

Maya 

Listening to Ethel Cain while reading is an experience for sure…

Abbie Duggan

2.5 rounded up. I’m not sure I’m smart enough to understand the meaning in this book. After finishing the last page just now, I can only think, “what in the fuck did I just read?”

armoni mayes

To begin, this is one of Moshfegh’s best work that I have read. Her writing style: flawless. The plot: gripping. The main themes: intriguing.

Lapvona, in my opinion, is a satirical take on religion. There is no way this book cannot be a joke of some kind. Before anyone thinks I did not believe this book had characters that were depraved and cruel, that’s not what I’m saying. Perhaps it is my sense of humor or something but I was amused and laughing at a lot of the things that were said and did in this book (obviously not the awful parts!). 

Something interesting I noticed was that all of the female characters within the novel felt very familiar in relation to the MCs in Eileen or MYORAR. They have horrible thoughts about other people, namely Lipseth and Agatha, but in a darkly humorous moshfegh-style. Everything that Lipseth and Agatha thought about Marek was incredibly spot on to how I was personally feeling about him…not sure what that says about me but I digress. 

I believe if you don’t like this book-you honestly missed the point. The villagers and other named characters throughout the novel did everything in the name of God-and they were horrible people. 

My favorite quotes: 

 Perhaps God liked her best, she thought, because she asked for so little. 

God had not appeared to her in all that time. So she preferred to stay faithless than hold on to a fantasy. 

“I am an object in the room” she told herself. “That is all I am.” 

He knew not to flinch, as that would show disgust, and God would judge him.

tori 👻

paigev

moshfegh’s worst by a mile. i appreciate the swing and don’t think she’s unsuited to write in an omniscient perspective but she’s definitely in her wheelhouse when she’s able to create intensely personal, subjective stories. when everything is objective, like it is here, it’s hard to get swept up in the twisted morality and idiosyncrasies of her best work

Mitch

𓆨

it was good at first but then something went wrong somehow

Lapvona A Novel

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