Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2023 Study for Obedience is a startling work. It presents almost as a stream of consciousness, more structured perhaps than say, Kerouac, there is an underlying precision cementing the narrative, but it is as if you can barely take a breath as you read.
A strangely offkilter tale that reminded me of a modern day parable with no small debt to Kafka. Set in a nameless land, in an almost nameless country but it could be Scotland? No, it could be anywhere. Anywhere you don’t belong. The narrator and all the characters remain nameless. And the narrator seems to remain disconnected from what’s going on no matter how much she strives to be a part of it. There’s an attempt at some backstory. The narrator has become a housekeeper to her brother, whose wife has left him. He seems to have some issues, but we only have the narrator’s word for that. The childhood of the siblings seems troubled or at least that’s what’s hinted at. Some strange events occur that seem to be attributed in some way to the narrator’s presence in the area and gives rise to quite considerable hostility towards her.
Thematically the novella explores xenophobia and disconnection, but also endurance - cerebral and emotional as well as physical with a smattering of guilt. It’s a perturbing tale and made me feel uncomfortable, yet not much really happens! It is not a story of action, but rather benign inaction on some levels. And yet I felt there was a degree of doubt regarding the reliability of our narrator. Everything is told through her eyes.
Much is hinted at implied, encouraging the reader to make up their own mind and draw their own conclusions and inferences. But there’s something quite mesmerizing and beautiful about this prose. I borrowed this book from my local library.
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