Name: Tanishq Khandelwal's review of Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
Item: Creation Lake
Rating: 2.5
Author: Tanishq Khandelwal

Rachel Kushner

"Creation Lake is a novel about a freelance agent, a 34-year-old American woman of ruthless tactics and bold opinions and clean beauty, who is sent to do dirty work in France. "Sadie Smith" is how the narrator introduces herself to her lover, to the rural commune of French subversives on whom she is keeping tabs, and to the reader. We never learn her real name. Sadie has met her lover, Lucien, a young and well-born Parisian, by "cold bump"- making him believe the encounter was accidental. And like everyone she chooses to interact with, Lucien is useful to her, used by her. Sadie operates on strategy and dissimulation, based on what her "contacts," shadowy figures in business and government, instruct. First, these contacts want her to incite provocation. Then they want more. In this region of centuries-old farms and ancient caves, Sadie becomes entranced by a mysterious figure named Bruno Lacombe, a mentor to the young activists, who lives in a vast network of underground caves on his daughter's land and communicates only by email. Bruno believes that the path to emancipation from what ails modern life is not revolt, but a return to the ancient past before civilization. Just as Sadie is certain she's the seductress and puppet master of those whom she surveils, Bruno Lacombe is seducing her with his ingenious counter-histories, his artful laments, his own tragic story. Written in short, vaulting sections, Rachel Kushner's rendition of "noir" is taut, propulsive, and dazzling. Creation Lake is Kushner's finest achievement yet as a novelist, a work of high art, high comedy, keen insights, and unforgettable pleasure. From Rachel Kushner on the title: My character Bruno refers to "a deep cistern of voices, the lake of our creation" - meaning all of human history, the whole struggle in which chains of civilizations try to figure out how to live. He believes he can hear these voices underground. To me, "Creation Lake" suggests intrigue. Creation of what? In Sadie's case, a persona, a feint, a manipulation. But also in her case, the creation possibly of her own soul"--

A Novel

Creation Lake

Tanishq Khandelwal

A fascinating mix of thriller and philosophy, woven together with precision. The concept is unique, and the story lingers... making you question where we came from and what we’ve learned along the way.

Funny, intriguing, and well-paced. Although the ending felt a bit like a cop out.

Frederik De Bosschere

Very interesting and different from The Flamethrowers. The sentences are so short and authoritative, narrator on a different side of events than Reno was even though they experience similar people. Burdmoore being apart of this was neat, makes me want to read Telex From Cuba now in case he’s around there too. I think I just miss Kushner’s prose which only comes out once in a while in this. And the cave stuff was kinda interesting but also kinda didn’t do much.

Tanishq Khandelwal &
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner

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Tanishq Khandelwal &Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner

Reviews

Join the club

Tanishq Khandelwal &
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner