Two Girls Fat and Thin

Gaitskill's first novel is dense, dark, and fiercely evocative. It depicts two very different yet similar women who eventually bond in a way neither one has experienced. Both have endured abusive childhoods, and are connected by their mutual interest in a once influential novelist. The story is simple enough, but Gaitskill's writing is sophisticated and precise; she has a talent for fully submerging her audience into the internal lives of her characters. This book is not for everybody, and I mean that in a good way.

The book is about a freelance journalist looking to do an article on the founder of the Definist movement who interviews the narrator whose entire 'sane life' has been based on her teachings. The book traces the lives of the girls - now women - highlighting their differences and yet some underlying similarities to their histories. It seems unlikely and plausible at the same time that they should become friends or that their lives should mean anything to each other at all. Yet, somehow, they continue to enter each other's thoughts after the interview and their paths continue to cross as they seek each other out.

It is well written and the descriptions are powerful. The psychology of these women is powerful and the author is fearless in show more exploring rather base human impulses and emotions. I found the characters heartbreaking in their loneliness in current time and their difficult pasts. I found the book very disturbing in parts throughout as it dealt with one of the main character's appetite for violence and need for debasement. I won't lie that in parts the novel was very difficult to read.

I think the hardest part is seeing yourself anywhere in the novel whether it's the simple loneliness of modern life or bad relationships or a lack of self-respect. To see yourself anywhere in this book or perhaps just the recall the cruelty of childhood whether you were the victim or perpetrator of thoughtless cruelty is very difficult.

And the book is full of cruelty. But perhaps that only makes the small glimpses of kindness shine all the brighter as the reader can see the characters cling to them desperately. It's a book about the darker side of humanity and I'm not entirely convinced that the resolution was adequate in the face of everything awful that happened in the book.

In conclusion: interesting read but very heavy emotionally and not a completely satisfying ending. show less

Huh. I think I may have read this too close to The Robber Bride to properly appreciate it. Both books have women carefully selected to contrast each other. Both focus on their childhood, their adolescence and then their adulthood, starting with adulthood then going back to childhood and working their way forward. Both grapple with dark themes and child abuse.
In contrast, Two Girls, Fat and Thin has beautifully vivid writing, particularly in the chapters narrated by Dorothy where her imagination roams free, but less substantial characterization.

did not know it was her first novel. well written in a heart stopping way at times, a bit tedious at others, uneven, shocking, kinky, dark, goes there, very mean-mouthed but thought provoking. it wasn't an easy read, it's a rough one, shot through with beauty and wry wisdom

I read this years ago and stil remember the almost visceral power of Gaitskill's style.

This is a very good book, though some of it-- a sub-plot about some followers of the teachings of Ayn Rand, in particular-- I didn't understand or got too impatient to follow. Gaitskill renders troubled and intelligent young-adult women brilliantly. Parts of this book are extremely disturbing.

dark psychological book. Well written but painful at times