A review by chichio
Second Place by Rachel Cusk

reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

“I’ve often thought it’s fathers who make painters,” he said, “while writers come from their mothers.”
I asked him why he thought that. 
“Mothers are such liars,” he said. “Language is all they have. They fill you up with language if you let them.” 

I think the prose was beautiful and that’s genuinely what kept me reading but, ultimately, the promised premise was the least interesting thing about the entire book. Maybe it’s because of who I am and because of the narratives that I normally always find myself obsessing over, but the mother-daughter and mother-son relationships explored within this book were 1000x more interesting than any and all conversations between the narrator, M, and the artist, L. Quite frankly, I didn’t care much for their dynamic at all.