Wreck and Order: A Novel

What a satisfying anti-"Eat, Pray, Love" novel - this could be titled "Eat, Meditate, Be Completely Confused By A Lot Of Sex". Funded by a grandmother's inheritance, narrator Elsie slip-slides through her mid-twenties via endless travel. In Carpinteria, a small weed-economy-based town in California, she spends her time in bed and in bars with an unstable man whom she knows is a perfect match for her less-than-perfect life. In NYC, Elsie gets engaged to a stable man whom she knows is a horrible match for her less-than-perfect life. In Sri Lanka, she lives as an honored white girl guest with her friend Suriya, whose family sees her as an US employment ticket for their daughter.

Every adventure here is a restless pleasure, a truthful show more journey, an exciting and wild ride. Elsie disappoints and confuses everyone (including herself) except the appreciative reader. show less

Do you ever run across something that makes you feel old? Hannah Tennant-Moore's novel Wreck and Order was one of those things. I was intrigued by the premise before reading it but I spent much of the novel wanting to shake some sense and motivation into the self-destructive, annoying, and thoroughly unlikable main character. Obviously this does not bode well for my eventual overall impression.

Elsie is a thirty-something young woman who drops out of college and thereafter coasts on the money her father gives her. She is intermittently translating an obscure French novel, which is somehow supposed to reinforce her own (misguided) idea that she is intelligent and special. But her navel gazing narration of an unmoored life lived as a show more series of destructive sexual encounters or, when not actively engaged in those encounters, fantasizing about them, makes the reader question any implication of intelligence previously granted. Elsie connects with a lying, cheating, boozy boyfriend who becomes an obsession in her life, the man she returns to again and again. At one point when she has broken free of Jared, she is too bored by her colorless (a synonym for violence-free to Elsie) sex life with the normal man she's met so she sabotages their life together. At another point she travels to Sri Lanka and stays with Suriya, a young woman she intends to help achieve her dream of teaching English. And yet even in this trip, which just highlights over and over again her self-centered preoccupation, ennui, and unpleasantness, Elsie can't maintain an interest in this poor girl and her family, ending up treating Suriya as an embarrassing and disposable project she can just abandon rather than as a human being she should care about.

Perhaps Elsie's character as written would be forgivable if the book had been more interesting all around. Instead, she is a caricature of a vapid, spoiled millennial and who wants to read about that? Self-destructive characters can be worth reading about if they serve a greater purpose. Elsie does not. Character and plot are both aimless. The erstwhile philosophical pieces were tiresome, overblown, and filled with circular ramblings that didn't actually mean anything if you took the time to parse them out. I think the book is meant to come off as profound but sadly, it only came off as profoundly boring. Then again, maybe it will appeal to readers a generation younger than me who can more readily connect with the Elsies of the world. But if this is their reality, I have to say I pity them. show less

Wreck and Order by Hannah Tennant-Moore grabs the reader in an unrelenting grip of the consequences of choices Elsie makes. Self-destructive and searching for herself, Elsie constantly seeks out relationships that take her down dark paths and allow her to fall apart before abandoning a string of people in her life. Tennant-Moore write Elsie's self-destruction with a rawness that left me aching and identifying with the emotions even when I didn't identify with Elsie's actions. At times, I found Wreck and Order difficult to read because of the bluntness surrounding abuse and sexual trauma yet I couldn't stop. Even through my frustration with Elsie I wanted to convince her that eventually things get better. I saw in her a girl with too show more much and too little at the same time searching for something that would give her life meaning. Wreck and Order explores the addiction to drama that seems prevalent in modern society without apology or excuse. show less

A day after reading it I still literally no positive thoughts about this book (other than that I'm glad I don't have to read it anymore) - cliche after cliche, no plot, RELENTLESS rich white person ennui, dumb characters we're told to see as smart due to pasted-on intelligentsia jobs, faux confessional/memoir writing style but the true protagonists are a few shitty, "ambiguously abusive" boyfriends, as though someone read Eat Pray Love and thought "what if I fused this with the concept of 'HBO's Girls, but worse' and added some rape to it?"

I keep coming up with words like dull, tired, and literally repulsive - as I read I kept wanting to interpret this as a parody novel or piece of deliberate satire about white privilege or something, show more but even with that charitable interpretation it's still a bland, meandering, plotless book.

I left my copy (with a warning note) in a coffee shop for a stranger to take, but I honestly felt guilty about passing such a waste of time on to another person. show less

At the end of Part Two of Hannah Tennant-Moore’s Wreck and Order Elsie says, “I’m the type of human who will die out.” Given the type of lifestyle she leads, particularly with her “friend,” Jared, one would think she’s probably right, but when you follow her through Sri Lanka and witness her interactions with that country’s inhabitants, particularly with her friend, Suriya, you certainly hope she’s wrong. I was perhaps the wrong person to read this book. While turning its pages, it reminded me of a millenial’s version of “Eat, Pray, Love.” Twenty-something feels lost and goes on a soul-searching mission to Paris and Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, she is never quite able to leave her past behind and that past is pretty show more sordid. I admired Elsie’s guts, I thought she had heart and I ached at her capacity for self-destruction. It just wasn’t enough for me to love the book. show less

Wreck and Order by Hannah Tennant-Moore follows Elsie, a young lady who is a mess. Struggling with an inherent emptiness and a desire to be left mostly alone, Elsie leaves her chaotic relationships behind and uses money her father throws at her to skip college and go traveling.

Partly influenced by growing up with her mother's New Age search for Enlightenment, Elsie goes to Sri Lanka to meditate, to change her life. She meets young Suriya who challenges her a bit, and whose presence in the novel allow readers to further get to know Elsie for who she really is.

Rather than being another Eat Pray Love, Wreck and Order is full of refreshing human honesty. During meditation Elsie fights the urge to scratch itches and ignore bugs. She is show more self aware, realizes she isn't going to have some grand Ah-Ha moment and be changed forever.

Elsie is aware of her privilege, and she is aware that her dissatisfaction and perception of life is more debilitating than it should be. She knows her relationships are unhealthy, is aware of her destructive behavioral patterns ("'He made me this way.' This wasn't untrue. But it was also true that I'd chosen him because he did this to me. He was my excuse." "I liked when the word *abusive* came up. It was neat and respected and freed me of responsibility.")
Still, I found sympathy for Elsie due to how relatable she is, as she feels "still entirely at a loss as to how to be a human being."

But Elsie does understand some things about being human. Wreck and Order is full of many quotable lines, and Elsie gaining understanding of people around her. When wondering about why people worship, she answers herself "because we want to live well and we don't know how." This highlights her intelligence and insight, and makes her Privileged White Girl Traveling a Poor Country situation more palatable and human.

Another thing about Elsie is that she likes sex. This is prevalent throughout the novel, and because this is an honest book about a lost woman, the sex scenes are not beautiful. Sex is not a beautiful thing to Elsie. Sex is sex. (In fact she often finds herself feeling emptier still after her encounters.) The descriptions in these scenes are therefore just that, and some readers may find the language crass. However, they paint a picture of Elsie's psyche, the way she interprets the world. The last thing she is is a romantic.

This fact may make her less endearing of a main character to many readers, but I found I could appreciate the novel for what it is: the raw, gritty journey of a lost young woman.

*I received Wreck and Order in exchange for an honest review. This review also appears of Goodreads and Amazon show less

I was given an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

An unexamined life is not worth living. But what happens when the examined life turns out to be not so great?

Wreck and Order, the debut novel by Hannah Tennant-Moore, is not an easy book to review because it is not an easy book to read. The basic story is easy enough. Elise is an only child of wealth who is on a life-long journey to find, understand, and improve herself. While this may sound similar to many recent novels and movies, in this case the result is very different. That is because despite all the new locations and lovers she travels through in the end she is left with herself.

Wreck and Order is a great example of how your greatest strengths can also be show more your worst weakness. What makes this book so compelling is its honest depiction of Elise and her struggles to find answers. What makes this book so hard to read is its honest depiction of Elise and her struggles to find answers. Many new books are hyped with terms like honest, fierce, raw, fearless, and unnerving. In Tennant-Moore's obviously capable hands these are understatements. I found that I could not read this book for long without putting it down because it was so stark and intense. I also found that I could not stop myself from picking it back up because it was so intense and stirring.

This is not a book to read lightly. But it definitely is a book to read if you want to be challenged. show less