thank god it's over. mary gaitskill's book was hell for me to get through.. pushing myself to finish this book felt a lot like pushing myself to finish assignments last semester, nearly impossible. that said, parts were quite moving, but overall i found myself making brittany's BLAH noise a lot.
basically this story is about how fucked up we become because of our families, our peers, our feelings of inadequacy, and our fears. it also focuses on a "great thinker" named anna granite (read: ayn rand, an author that always pissed me off a little too much) and her movement, definitism. both women had screwed up pasts and have very screwed up presents. one is quite large, and the other is thin... one is lonely and friendless and turns to food for comfort, the other is lonely and friendless and turns to sado masochistic sex for comfort... both seem to be responsible for their current state of suffering and despair, both are grasping for something they can't seem to attain. in the end, they find what is perhaps their first moment of safety and comfort in each other, something neither ever found in themselves. something that goes against the claims of definitism too.
it was just weird, and i just kept waiting for that turning point in the book where i'd go "oh, that's what i've been trudging page by page for" but it never really happened. much of this book disturbed me as well, it was like ripping someones body open and staring at their guts, entrails stringing along the ground, sliminess, meanness, cruelty, and hatred just oozing out.