In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods

I listened to this on audio. The premise is interesting: This is what the Adam and Eve myth would read like if Joseph Campbell were to have written it while baked on CIA-grade acid. In other words, the story is trippy and weird. But not just that -- the entire story is told in stilted, stertorous, and self-important King James English. Think of some great actor Method Acting in a slightly irritating accent for eight straight hours of your time. That's this book. Plus, none of the characters have names -- i.e,. the protagonists are The Man and The Woman; the antagonists are The Bear and The Squid, etc. -- which is SOP for post-modern allegorical tales such as this one. I suppose the author chose to tell the story this way in order to show more lend the thing a kind of mythic quality. But let me tell you, the language is like molasses. Which, for a short-story, it totally would have worked. (Bell is primarily a short-story writer.) But for a novel -- the book should have been half its present length.

Here it is, no spoilers: A man and woman marry. The woman can create physical objects in the real actual world through the power of song. But she can't have children (i.e., can't carry a pregnancy to term), and can't create a child through song, and the man really wants a kid. The man hunts carnivores in the forest. At some point, the man ingests one of the stillborn children, the Fingerling, and then things turn dark. And that's only 1/4 the way through the novel. Before the last, as it were, audio page is turned, the man will have intentionally scalded a child, the woman will have sung an entire underground mansion into existence, a squid will have ingested the man, a bear will have remade him, and a Foundling Child (pomo Initial Caps) will have (maybe) saved his mother and father. BTW, I have not spoiled a single one of the book's surprises.

Tell you what, if Bell had told this story in a normal voice, I probably would have given him two maybe three extra stars. The premise really is very interesting. But he didn't, and, while this is, in fact, America, that choice cost him at least, let's say, two and one half Goodreads stars from this Goodreads reviewer. I hope it was worth it. show less

Hoo, boy, how do I even begin to talk about this book? I could try saying that it's about a man and a woman in, well, a house upon the dirt, between a wood where there's a bear and a lake where there's apparently a squid, and they want to have children, but all the woman's pregnancies keep failing, and then...

Nah. That doesn't give you the sense of what this book is at all, and honestly I have no idea how to even finish that sentence after the "and then..." Better, maybe, to say that it has the feel of a dark fairy tale, or a strange mythology, or, better still, some kind of dream that seems to be made up of metaphors I don't feel like I entirely understand, shaped into a whole that I feel like I might sort of understand if I glance at show more it sideways, but maybe not. It's fascinating, though, in its own surreal way, and the writing is impressive. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what the hell I just read, but I do think I'm glad to have read it. show less

I read this book as an ARC from Netgalley.

In [book:In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods|16041846], [author:Matt Bell|678844] has crafted a disturbing extended fable, in which he explores themes around marriage and parenthood, creation and destruction, and memory and aging. In haunting prose that echoes the cadences of oral tales and creation myths, he tells the story of a nameless couple who leave their families and friends after marrying and create a home for themselves in a quiet land, with a lake on one side of their house and woods on the other. The couple longs for children to make their family complete, but their efforts lead to a series of heartbreaking complications and misunderstandings, exacerbated by the show more husband's perplexity over his wife's seemingly magical powers of creation. I hesitate to tell more about the plot, such as it is, for fear of spoilers, but I can tell you that the novel features shape-shifting bears, foundlings and ghosts, acts of anger and revenge, and songs of creation and healing.

This is not a plot-driven novel. Bell's pacing is slow and meandering, and certain passages seem overly drawn out, which almost led me to give this book a three-star rating. However, his approach adds to the feeling of mystery and old magic in a book that is not at all a conventional work of fantasy or magical realism, but instead echoes the cadences of old tales from a long-lost oral tradition. My sense is that the novel could have benefited from some tighter editing. However, for readers who are willing to take their time with the novel and read it slowly, there's a wealth of themes to explore, and eerily-effective passages to read and savor. Much of the novel focuses on tensions surrounding fatherhood: Oedipal relationships, pain over losing closeness with a spouse, fear of death and loss of power to one's children. These themes are especially pronounced because much of the novel is told from the point of view of the husband. However, as we get deeper into the story, his wife's perspective also emerges. leading to depth in Bell's exploration of the complexity of marriage, and some sense of hope for generations to come. show less

First and as usual, I received this book from a giveaway of some sort. Unfortunately I'm no longer at all sure which one so I can't give credit where it's due. Suffice to say, however, that I didn't pay for it but will nonetheless give my candid opinions below.

Summarizing this novel is approaching impossible because it has only the most tenuous thread of anything real or concrete about it. On the surface, it is the tale of a man and his wife and their life together in the wilderness. They try to have a child but their first born arrives terribly deformed and the man, tasked with disposing of the malformed product of their love, secretly eats the baby. After the first ten pages which I have just summarized, things go on pretty much in show more this bizarre manner for the rest of the novel.

So to the positive side of things, this book has a terrible and mythological feel to it that fills the reader with something which can be considered to approach awe. Matt Bell pulls no punches and will write just about anything to get his point across. His style is dark, lyrical and deeply satisfying. One reads on and closely for fear that something important might be missed. The story brings to mind ancient religious traditions with turtles piled upon turtles as far as the eye can see or the mind comprehend. This is the mode in which this story unfurls.

To the negative side, all this spun cotton of words, this Gordian knot of a narrative does, have a distinct tendency to make your mind wander and it requires the utmost concentration to follow what's going on and even after utmost attention there's no guarantee that you actually understand what is going on. But, that is very much the tendency of the mythological. This book will be 1,000 things to 1,000 readers as they all pick their own thread of truth to pull out of the web of story.

In summary, this is not a book to be taken lightly. Those seeking fluff or mental ease by the pool should run quickly and desperately in the other direction. That said, if you want a tale as complex as a master's thesis and with a lot to say about relationships, between humans and the world around them then dig in. Merely be warned that 7 readings will reveal 107 meanings. show less

Reading like a twisted fairy tale, Matt Bell's debut novel is about a newly-wed couple who leave the bustling city that had been their home to make a new life in the land on the other side of the mountains. Embracing a life of simplicity, the husband, our narrator, builds a house upon the dirt using only basic tools. His wife furnishes their humble home with the objects she magically sings into being. The young couple desires to start a family, but the wife's repeated miscarriages lead to deep splinters in their relationship.

This is a tricky book to write about. I'm not sure how much I should say about the plot, so I'm not giving away anything that isn't already in the book's blurb. This is really only a tiny portion of the novel, but show more if I went on any farther, you would probably think I was talking about a strange fever dream and not an actual book. It's that surreal. I will say, though, that there is a giant bear in the woods, a squid/whale in the depths of the lake, and a labyrinthine series of chambers filled with memories under the house.

In addition to being unsure of how to write about this book, I'm not entirely sure how I felt about it. On one hand, the writing is absolutely beautiful, and man can Bell construct a sentence. His words are poetic and the book's tone evokes the magical fables of old. On the other hand, this book is very dark and disturbing; there were some grotesque descriptions that made me feel nauseated. Let's just say they involved dead fetuses, ghost children, and horrible, disfiguring injuries. This is not a book for the faint of heart.

I also thought there were some problems with the plotting and pacing. I had no idea where this book was going most of the time, and I would have liked more momentum to propel me forward in my reading. Come to think of it, though, this actually fits pretty well with the surreal, dream-like quality of this narrative.

In the House Upon the Dirt contains really interesting ideas about desire, regret, marriage, and fatherhood, but sometimes they felt muddled and repetitive. However, Matt Bell does have a very strong voice, and there is a burning power behind his words.

I usually love books with elements of surrealism or magical realism, like The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht, No One is Here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel, Understories by Tim Horvath, anything by Karen Russell, and some of Murakami's books, but I think this one was a bit too warped for my taste. I would recommend this novel to fans of fabulism who also have a strong stomach and an interest in the dark side of the psyche.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review on Books Speak Volumes, a book blog. show less

I enjoyed In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods, but I don't know if I really liked it. What I mean by that is I'm not sure I'd read it twice. The reason for that is because it's a fever dream. Specifically, the fever dream of a child dying of brain cancer who fills his time reading fairy tales. All the old elements of myth are there but at times they seem present almost for their own sake, the gore heaped on to shock, the logic of the world indiscernible. It makes for a very interesting journey, and the book explores important issues revolving around fatherhood, and the disconnect between what it means to be a father and what it means to be a man. It certainly makes one empathize with the plight of fathers show more everywhere, if nothing else. I can't say I cared for the coda, either, which added nothing to the book save for unnecessary confusion.

All that aside, it's a fantastic journey. Very interesting, with an ephemeral atmosphere. If you enjoy fairy tales, you'll probably take something away from The House. show less

There is so much to be said in favor of this book, and so much more that I feel like I missed somehow. First, the writing is simply breathtakingly beautiful - so lyrical, so descriptive - it seemed that I could see and even feel each scene described, but some were so dark and disturbing I wasn't sure I wanted to feel those things or even know about them. The story is about love, relationships, family, and loss - but so much more that I can't even describe. I would say the book is very much worth reading, if not for the story itself, then certainly to get lost in the author's language & turns of phrase. I am still deeply moved by the reading of it.