ahlam1399
02-01-2019, 06:58 PM
An emotional abyss has opened up between the sexes,â?* the sociologist Anthony Giddens observed in 1992 â?? long before #MeToo â?? â??and one cannot say with any certainty how far it will be bridged.â?* Kristen Roupenianâ??s much-anticipated short-story collection, You Know You Want This, aims to explore this abyss with stories of contemporary women grappling with â??desire, punishment, guilt and anger.â?* Part of a seven-figure, two-book deal for the author following a bidding war among publishers, the collectionâ??s release may signal an increasing appetite for works â?? historically undervalued â?? concerning what Virginia Woolf referred to as â??the feelings of women in a drawing-roomâ?*.
You Know You Want This follows the viral success of Roupenianâ??s short story (http://www.ft.com/content/dca5a966-e0d0-11e7-a0d4-0944c5f49e46) â??Cat Personâ?*, which became the New Yorkerâ??s most-read short story ever after appearing in the magazine in December 2017. Inspired by a â??nastyâ?* encounter with someone the author had met online, the story recounts the brief courtship and consummation of a relationship between Margot, a 20-year-old student, and Robert, a man in his mid-thirties. The detailed depiction of Margotâ??s consenting to sex to avoid seeming â??spoiled and capriciousâ?*, rather than out of desire, resonated as another reverberation of the MeToo movement, adding â??bad datesâ?* and unwanted sex to the discussion of outright assault.
In Roupenianâ??s take on â??the messed-up power dynamic between men and womenâ?*, the women are not always portrayed as victims. The story â??Biterâ?*, featuring a woman who seeks out opportunities to bite, plays with our preconceptions of who is the predator and who is prey: â??If a woman bit a man in an office environment, there would be a strong assumption that the man had done something to deserve it.â?* In â??Cat Personâ?*, Roupenian reveals Robertâ??s vulnerability, before it turns into aggression when Margot rejects him. Nor does Roupenian shy away from exposing the narcissism embedded in Margotâ??s sexuality: although unimpressed with their first kiss, â??imagining how excited he would be, how hungry and eager to impress her, she felt a twinge of desire pluck at her belly, as distinct and painful as the snap of an elastic band against her skin.â?*
Millennials identified with â??Cat Personâ?* as an accurate reflection of dating in the digital age. Readers looking to You Know You Want This for further insights into â??sex, dating, and modern lifeâ?* (as it says on the tin), however, may be disappointed to find that the majority of the stories involve a supernatural or macabre twist. When Roupenian stretches plausibility to provoke, as in the grisly denouement of the opening story, she loses her hold on our attention. Reality, of late, has proven surreal enough.
<img alt="" role="presentation" class="n-image" srcset="https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/http%3A%2F%2Fcom.ft.imagepublish.upp-prod-us.s3.amazonaws.com%2F36c925a4-25b2-11e9-8ce6-5db4543da632?source=next&fit=scale-down&width=300 300w" sizes="(min-width: 46.25em) 300px, calc(100vw - 20px)"/>
And it is in rendering reality with fine brushstrokes, as in her depiction of the wavering line between attraction and repulsion in â??Cat Personâ?*, that Roupenian is at her best. â??Bad Boyâ?*, which features a couple excited by exhibitionism that escalates into domination and sadism, deftly pokes fun at their failed attempts to sanitise sex: â??We promised ourselves that if we were going to do this, whatever this was, weâ??d do it respectably, with house meetings and safe words and polyamorous meet-upsâ?*. In â??The Boy in the Poolâ?*, a portrayal of an encounter with an ageing soft-porn heart-throb, holds water. â??The Good Guyâ?* illustrates the indignities of unrequited love and the mixed signals sent by an â??emotionally scarred man childâ?* â?? ample material without imagery of the protagonist picturing his member as a knife, impaling women, as a prerequisite to erection.
One can understand the impetus of the publisher to hasten the book to market. But some of the collection â?? the bulk of which was written before Roupenian stepped into the spotlight â?? may have benefited from more time to incubate. Time, I suspect, would have weeded out clauses like â??the vaginal lips of a pink ladyâ??s slipper peep out from behind some bushesâ?*.
Taken as a whole, You Know You Want This lacks the cohesive voice of recent collections by authors such as Catherine Lacey and Lauren Groff. That said, when Roupenian remains rooted in realism, she gives pause by exposing the sinister side of sexuality, and one looks forward to seeing what she might accomplish with the novel form.
You Know You Want This (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1787331105?ie=UTF8&tag=finantimes-21&camp=1634&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=1787331105), by Kristen Roupenian, Jonathan Cape, RRPآ£12.99, 240 pages
Join our online book group on Facebook at FTBooksCafe (https://www.facebook.com/groups/139838140082304/). Subscribe to FT Life (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG4Bnj7ZedwrnesSF7QjEAA) on YouTube for the latest FT Weekend videos
</p>
Source link (https://www.ft.com/content/6de9faca-23bb-11e9-b20d-5376ca5216eb)
More (http://ahlam1399.i234.me:8888/m/2019/02/01/a-date-with-destiny-you-know-you-want-this/)
You Know You Want This follows the viral success of Roupenianâ??s short story (http://www.ft.com/content/dca5a966-e0d0-11e7-a0d4-0944c5f49e46) â??Cat Personâ?*, which became the New Yorkerâ??s most-read short story ever after appearing in the magazine in December 2017. Inspired by a â??nastyâ?* encounter with someone the author had met online, the story recounts the brief courtship and consummation of a relationship between Margot, a 20-year-old student, and Robert, a man in his mid-thirties. The detailed depiction of Margotâ??s consenting to sex to avoid seeming â??spoiled and capriciousâ?*, rather than out of desire, resonated as another reverberation of the MeToo movement, adding â??bad datesâ?* and unwanted sex to the discussion of outright assault.
In Roupenianâ??s take on â??the messed-up power dynamic between men and womenâ?*, the women are not always portrayed as victims. The story â??Biterâ?*, featuring a woman who seeks out opportunities to bite, plays with our preconceptions of who is the predator and who is prey: â??If a woman bit a man in an office environment, there would be a strong assumption that the man had done something to deserve it.â?* In â??Cat Personâ?*, Roupenian reveals Robertâ??s vulnerability, before it turns into aggression when Margot rejects him. Nor does Roupenian shy away from exposing the narcissism embedded in Margotâ??s sexuality: although unimpressed with their first kiss, â??imagining how excited he would be, how hungry and eager to impress her, she felt a twinge of desire pluck at her belly, as distinct and painful as the snap of an elastic band against her skin.â?*
Millennials identified with â??Cat Personâ?* as an accurate reflection of dating in the digital age. Readers looking to You Know You Want This for further insights into â??sex, dating, and modern lifeâ?* (as it says on the tin), however, may be disappointed to find that the majority of the stories involve a supernatural or macabre twist. When Roupenian stretches plausibility to provoke, as in the grisly denouement of the opening story, she loses her hold on our attention. Reality, of late, has proven surreal enough.
<img alt="" role="presentation" class="n-image" srcset="https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/http%3A%2F%2Fcom.ft.imagepublish.upp-prod-us.s3.amazonaws.com%2F36c925a4-25b2-11e9-8ce6-5db4543da632?source=next&fit=scale-down&width=300 300w" sizes="(min-width: 46.25em) 300px, calc(100vw - 20px)"/>
And it is in rendering reality with fine brushstrokes, as in her depiction of the wavering line between attraction and repulsion in â??Cat Personâ?*, that Roupenian is at her best. â??Bad Boyâ?*, which features a couple excited by exhibitionism that escalates into domination and sadism, deftly pokes fun at their failed attempts to sanitise sex: â??We promised ourselves that if we were going to do this, whatever this was, weâ??d do it respectably, with house meetings and safe words and polyamorous meet-upsâ?*. In â??The Boy in the Poolâ?*, a portrayal of an encounter with an ageing soft-porn heart-throb, holds water. â??The Good Guyâ?* illustrates the indignities of unrequited love and the mixed signals sent by an â??emotionally scarred man childâ?* â?? ample material without imagery of the protagonist picturing his member as a knife, impaling women, as a prerequisite to erection.
One can understand the impetus of the publisher to hasten the book to market. But some of the collection â?? the bulk of which was written before Roupenian stepped into the spotlight â?? may have benefited from more time to incubate. Time, I suspect, would have weeded out clauses like â??the vaginal lips of a pink ladyâ??s slipper peep out from behind some bushesâ?*.
Taken as a whole, You Know You Want This lacks the cohesive voice of recent collections by authors such as Catherine Lacey and Lauren Groff. That said, when Roupenian remains rooted in realism, she gives pause by exposing the sinister side of sexuality, and one looks forward to seeing what she might accomplish with the novel form.
You Know You Want This (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1787331105?ie=UTF8&tag=finantimes-21&camp=1634&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=1787331105), by Kristen Roupenian, Jonathan Cape, RRPآ£12.99, 240 pages
Join our online book group on Facebook at FTBooksCafe (https://www.facebook.com/groups/139838140082304/). Subscribe to FT Life (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG4Bnj7ZedwrnesSF7QjEAA) on YouTube for the latest FT Weekend videos
</p>
Source link (https://www.ft.com/content/6de9faca-23bb-11e9-b20d-5376ca5216eb)
More (http://ahlam1399.i234.me:8888/m/2019/02/01/a-date-with-destiny-you-know-you-want-this/)