The American Woman in the Chinese Hat

For me, Maso's prose is addictive. I read and reread paragraphs like this one: "Often she tried to hold back despair, stave off depression with another affair. To lose herself there. In dazzling silence with a stranger. Where everything disappeared, every place, every name. Until she became a blank page." Maso loves the word "dazzling," the idea of the blank page, liminal spaces filled with possibility. I've tried teaching her books (not this one--too erotic), but my students always dislike her, finding her language too self-absorbed, too pretentious.

For me, Maso's prose is addictive. I read and reread paragraphs like this one: "Often she tried to hold back despair, stave off depression with another affair. To lose herself there. In dazzling silence with a stranger. Where everything disappeared, every place, every name. Until she became a blank page." Maso loves the word "dazzling," the idea of the blank page, liminal spaces filled with possibility. I've tried teaching her books (not this one--too erotic), but my students always dislike her, finding her language too self-absorbed, too pretentious.

This is definitely not your typical read. In my opinion, in order to truly enjoy it, you need to be pretty good at French as most of it is not translated and you would definitely be missing key elements of the story. The writing style is also very poetic, hence very hard to follow at times. I was able to relate well to many aspects of the setting and story having been many places - both physically and emotionally - that the author describes. If you're a more advanced reader, I would definitely recommend this book. I'm curious about Maso's other book, Eva, and will definitely read it some day...

I *hated* this incredibly depressing, pointlessly over-written book about a 'tortured artist'. Bah! I read Sylvia Plath in hs, thank you very much, and have no need to revisit *any* of that. Maso should use her powers of language for good, not evil. An American writer goes to the south of France to try to get over her depression, but simply spirals out of control into a world of self-conscious self-fashioning through sex, language, and madness. Not recommended.

A great book to introduce Carole Maso, a difficult but worthwhile writer of the highest caliber. While some of her novels are hard to follow, this one has an actual plot and narrative sequence. Well worth the effort.