Reviews

The Other Place by Mary Gaitskill

sidharthvardhan's review

5.0

Read it here:

http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2011/02/14/110214fi_fiction_gaitskill?currentPage=all

littlemoss83's review

dark hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

rainbow_kitten_five's review

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

alloula's review

5.0

Very creepy! The narrative is amazing. Even though the narrator is definitely terrifying and dark, he is portrayed honestly and seems vulnerable and human. It would have been so easy to portray him as a stereotypical deranged psychopath, but instead we get something much more interesting: a man who is upfront about his unpleasant thoughts/behaviors and almost judges himself for them.
Expect to be unsettled and intrigued.

thefrogmenace's review

3.0

came from their this is pleasure work and wasnt disappointed 
eerie and ghoul-y… facinating exploration of a father’s grotesque feelings and his son’s inherited interest in death, murder and all things gore. 
gross but gripping 

constantki's review

5.0

Very creepy! The narrative is amazing. Even though the narrator is definitely terrifying and dark, he is portrayed honestly and seems vulnerable and human. It would have been so easy to portray him as a stereotypical deranged psychopath, but instead we get something much more interesting: a man who is upfront about his unpleasant thoughts/behaviors and almost judges himself for them.
Expect to be unsettled and intrigued.

ces's review

4.0

Hmm. A look into a father's past as he worries about his son. Similar (dark) thoughts they share. Should the Dad be worried? I liked the flow of the story and yes there were unsettling parts.

lnatal's review

2.0

Opening lines:
My son, Douglas, loves to play with toy guns. He is thirteen. He loves video games in which people get killed. He loves violence on TV, especially if it’s funny. How did this happen? The way everything does, of course. One thing follows another, naturally.

You may read online here.

cathygeagan's review

2.0

This one fell flat for me - it had the makings of an incredibly creepy supernatural tale; OR of an incredibly creepy true crime origins tale... and somehow it was neither, and just petered out.