Fiction

The Birdcatcher

The Birdcatcher

  • Downloads：8796
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-10-04 11:21:46
  • Update Date：2025-09-14
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Gayl Jones
  • ISBN：1666581666
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

Elise ，

Usually I write my review of a book right after reading it， but I finished reading this one three hours ago， and I am still ruminating and trying to figure out what I just read。 The Birdcatcher was intense， uncomfortable， beautiful， ugly， surreal， and puzzling。 I think I figured it out， and it’s such a clever study of genius and mental illness and relationships between women and men， artist mothers and daughters， and friends。 I want to say so much more about this psychodrama， but if I do， I will Usually I write my review of a book right after reading it， but I finished reading this one three hours ago， and I am still ruminating and trying to figure out what I just read。 The Birdcatcher was intense， uncomfortable， beautiful， ugly， surreal， and puzzling。 I think I figured it out， and it’s such a clever study of genius and mental illness and relationships between women and men， artist mothers and daughters， and friends。 I want to say so much more about this psychodrama， but if I do， I will give too much away， and I don’t believe in spoilers。 If you can get past the Gwendola episode without being too disturbed， keep reading。 The main draws for me when I went in search of this book is that it takes place in Ibiza; it’s about art and mental illness; the author， Gayl Jones， was promoted by Toni Morrison， and Tayari Jones also admires her work。 That’s why I kept reading past Gwendola， and I’m glad I did， but I desperately need someone to talk to about it now， like a support group。 。。。more

Mocha Drop ，

Disclaimer: I've read Gayl Jones before and I found her content disturbing， graphic， and raw - but relevant and resounding - some topics are seriously deep and disturbing。 Her writing can be a bit heavy， biting， and nebulous， full of metaphoric passages， abstract concepts， and allegories that can easily fly over reader's heads。 I'll guess that this is what happened to me with this 2022 National Book Award Longlist nominee。 In short， this was a complete "miss" for me - It started with a set of q Disclaimer: I've read Gayl Jones before and I found her content disturbing， graphic， and raw - but relevant and resounding - some topics are seriously deep and disturbing。 Her writing can be a bit heavy， biting， and nebulous， full of metaphoric passages， abstract concepts， and allegories that can easily fly over reader's heads。 I'll guess that this is what happened to me with this 2022 National Book Award Longlist nominee。 In short， this was a complete "miss" for me - It started with a set of quirky characters; odd-couple with a third wheel in a curious friendship but it just went nowhere for me。 I lost interest very early on - in both character and "plot" （if there is one）。 Admittedly， I forced myself to read/skim/read with hope I'd glean why this is considered award-worthy at the national level。 I ended it and still have no clue what this was supposed to be about or accomplish。 I read this article from The Guardian， written a day after I closed the book that seems to imply a connection to the author's earlier works: Corregidora and Eva's Man （I read both 19 years ago！） andPalmares which I haven't read yet。 Maybe if I had refamiliarized myself and/or read Palmares （since it is more recent）， I may have enjoyed/appreciated The Birdcatcher better？ I don't know。 Perhaps I am still too early in my literary journey and （obviously） failed to recognize the references and parallels to great works/books， sage writers， and the pure genius behind her writing/stories that others see and praise so highly。 I can only hope that one day， I'll get there and recognize it for myself -- however， at this moment in time， I closed the book and was left wondering what was all the hype about。 。。。more

Laura Sackton ，

I did not know what was happening。 Not for me。

Maddie ，

This short book is incredibly well written （I kept thinking， oh great line， great metaphor， great thought！…） and while the last part in particular felt like a series of vignettes， the first two parts also read like a group of stories this platonic threesome was recalling。 At one point， a character says something like “if you asked 1000 people their side of a story， you’ll get 1000 stories”， and that really reflects the “we all contain multitudes” theme of the book。 The narrator （writer Amanda Wo This short book is incredibly well written （I kept thinking， oh great line， great metaphor， great thought！…） and while the last part in particular felt like a series of vignettes， the first two parts also read like a group of stories this platonic threesome was recalling。 At one point， a character says something like “if you asked 1000 people their side of a story， you’ll get 1000 stories”， and that really reflects the “we all contain multitudes” theme of the book。 The narrator （writer Amanda Wordlaw…pun intended） befriends Catherine Shugar （who is anything but sweet like sugar） and Catherine’s husband Ernest （again， the name fits…） Catherine tries to kill her husband so many times that he keeps commuting her to an insane asylum， but he keeps staying with her when she gets out。 It’s a weird little quirk—and it’s a frankly it’s a quirky little book！ I definitely enjoyed this， and after doing to reading of reviews， I’m fascinated by this book’s story！ It was originally published in the 80s in Germany， and it’s just now being released in English （as it was originally written！） very interesting and I’m glad it made the NBA Longlist， or I don’t think this would have crossed my radar。 。。。more

Megan ，

A shifting， sly， and agile shuffle through ideas about madness， mutilation， material， marriage， and frames of reference。 The latter part of the book was harder for me to hold on to coherently， but even then， it was engagingly re-inventing。

Gregory Duke ，

I am so curious about the history of this novel。 Gayl Jones seems to have written this in the mid-eighties， when she was in her original "heyday" publishing period， but this was never published in English。 For some reason， this was published in 1986 in German translation as Die Vogelfangerin （a literal translation of the English-language title）。 And now it exists in its original English。 I don't think I've ever seen a book be published in such a roundabout way before， particularly since that mea I am so curious about the history of this novel。 Gayl Jones seems to have written this in the mid-eighties， when she was in her original "heyday" publishing period， but this was never published in English。 For some reason， this was published in 1986 in German translation as Die Vogelfangerin （a literal translation of the English-language title）。 And now it exists in its original English。 I don't think I've ever seen a book be published in such a roundabout way before， particularly since that means this book has existed in this form （unless she majorly edited it） for over forty years。 It's funny then to think that a novel that's inching closer to being half a century old has now been longlisted for the National Book Award， which typically is meant to highlight the cutting edge/best fiction of our time in America。 Anyway， I'm glad the literary world is acknowledging Gayl Jones' many talents， but it makes me laugh that this and Palmares are her works that get the Pulitzer/NBA nods other than her far superior past NBA-longlistee The Healing。 Her main run of books （Corregidora， Eva's Man， The Healing， and Mosquito） are all far more formally innovative and much more successful as beautifully written novels with Gayl Jones' idiosyncratic style。 The Birdcatcher feels like Gayl Jones' wonderful sense of character get plopped into a shoddily constructed series of vignettes that interest you enough to get through it but end up being substantially less satisfying than you'd hope。 It's like Gayl Jones wrote three quarters of her first draft， kept in the notes for revisions， and decided to simply edit down what was there and chisel it into something recognizably novelistic。 I think this would only really appeal to the Gayl Jones fans （however few there may be）， but it seems like she's surprising enough that other first-time readers of her work find much appeal in The Birdcatcher。 At least it's better than Palmares。Sidenote: What is going on with this cover？ The book jacket says that the graphics come from ISTOCKPHOTO。 Why can't Gayl Jones get a budget！？ The differing fonts！ Hideous。 You can't see it with the goodreads cover image， but the spine has the title set in the same font as the front cover but in hot pink。 It's frightening stuff。 。。。more

Casondra Bee ，

I really wanted to like this book but it was just all over the place。 Really hard to keep track of what was going on。 Maybe I just don’t “get it”。 I’ll try another one of her books at a later date。

Edward Champion ，

Well， this was my first read for the National Book Award fiction longlist。 （Come on， did you honestly think I WOULDN'T start with Gayl？） With all the references to Karl Malden and mercurochrome， it seems clear to me that this novel had been sitting in a drawer for a while before Beacon rescued it。 It is not quite on the level of CORREGIDORA or EVA'S MAN， but it is wild and fierce and stunningly original。 We follow an erotica writer and the strange couple she hangs with。 The first 150 pages are b Well， this was my first read for the National Book Award fiction longlist。 （Come on， did you honestly think I WOULDN'T start with Gayl？） With all the references to Karl Malden and mercurochrome， it seems clear to me that this novel had been sitting in a drawer for a while before Beacon rescued it。 It is not quite on the level of CORREGIDORA or EVA'S MAN， but it is wild and fierce and stunningly original。 We follow an erotica writer and the strange couple she hangs with。 The first 150 pages are breathtaking， questioning the nature of sanity and art and body disfigurement。 But it starts to go off the rails with the third part， losing some energy and， with that energy， some of the outlandish metaphor。 It's still a wonderful read。 And I'm glad that this novel was published。 It turns out that the world had to catch up to Gayl Jones。 。。。more

Oscreads ，

I LOVE THIS WRITER！！！

Marc Nash ，

No idea what I just read。 Video review https://youtu。be/GE5Ae8XDvmQ No idea what I just read。 Video review https://youtu。be/GE5Ae8XDvmQ 。。。more

Emily ，

I’m not entirely sure what happened。 The first half of the book was funny and I loved the narrator。 As I got into the last half it felt rushed and all over the place。 Maybe I missed something and missed the overall message？

Tricia Sean ，

What an intriguing story！ The Birdcatcher is a story narrated by a writer （love stories about writer， authors， and bookish people） named Amanda who befriends a gifted sculptor and her husband， who she attempted to kill many times。 And he refused to leave her。 The writing was very lyrical and gave me so many brillant quotes to highlight。 Parts had me captivated， while other parts had me wondering what the heck is going on。 All in all， it was very good book that encourages me to read more of Jones What an intriguing story！ The Birdcatcher is a story narrated by a writer （love stories about writer， authors， and bookish people） named Amanda who befriends a gifted sculptor and her husband， who she attempted to kill many times。 And he refused to leave her。 The writing was very lyrical and gave me so many brillant quotes to highlight。 Parts had me captivated， while other parts had me wondering what the heck is going on。 All in all， it was very good book that encourages me to read more of Jones' work。 。。。more

M。 ，

It was a good read。

Allison ，

Stunning。 More detailed review tk。