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savaging's review against another edition
2.0
I love the premise of getting some revenge on Sigmund Freud. But I found this writing unbearable. Nearly every page holds an ablist slur (r-word or clever derivation thereof). I'd try to chalk that up to the immature narrator, but Yuknavitch uses the same language in her memoir. And the narrator is full of fury and violence for anyone else who isn't as enlightened as she is, so my judgment feels sort of fair. Yuknavitch would probably insist that she's just not interested in being 'pc,' but I think it goes deeper than that. I think she needs to consistently denigrate people with mental disabilities so she can feel that her own (and the narrator's) mental problems are different - they're hip and cool and smart and edgy and will win you art prizes.
There are some good characters, like the trans black woman refugee - but she is perpetually mothering and giving to this mean little rich white girl narrator. Same with the person in a wheelchair, who shows up just to help her out several times.
In the end this book is a lot of sentences like these (an actual quote): "I can't tell you how much better I feel when I'm not in the Nazi daughter box - our so-called home. But ten o'clock at night in downtown Seattle is uber cool."
One of the glowing reviews calls this book "a smart, fast, chick Fight Club." With disappointment I agree.
There are some good characters, like the trans black woman refugee - but she is perpetually mothering and giving to this mean little rich white girl narrator. Same with the person in a wheelchair, who shows up just to help her out several times.
In the end this book is a lot of sentences like these (an actual quote): "I can't tell you how much better I feel when I'm not in the Nazi daughter box - our so-called home. But ten o'clock at night in downtown Seattle is uber cool."
One of the glowing reviews calls this book "a smart, fast, chick Fight Club." With disappointment I agree.
lizawall's review against another edition
5.0
I don't really like teenagers or Freud fanfic, but this was amazing and basically blew my mind.
suburbanlawns's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
kluidens's review against another edition
4.0
Dora is an utterly remarkable headcase of a book.
Our narrator is a thieving, drug-abusing, partying, art-making, sexually confused punk seventeen-year-old. Her voice is a caricature of teen slang and attitude in the digital age. She cuts herself, graffitis her bedroom wall with purple ink, and refuses to do any schoolwork. When her desperate parents dump her in a psychiatrist’s office, she spikes his tea with a cocktail of drugs that sends him fleeing to the emergency room, then records his ordeal for an art project.
And yet… somehow we sympathize with Dora as the protagonist.
Truly, it’s remarkable that Yuknavitch accomplishes this. But she does. Even through a thick screen of sarcasm we sense that Dora is a well-meaning kid who just wants to be loved by her parents, and was abused and neglected instead. Her story simply aches with all the ways adults screw up children.
Especially old white men with their heteronormative power structures.
Enter Dr. Sigmund Freud, who through a stroke of… magical realism? …is practicing psychiatry in Seattle in 2012. Rather than attempting to understand Dora as a young woman, he skims her therapy sessions for sexual symbolism and evidence of oedipal dynamics, then preaches his interpretations back to her. Understandably, this irritates Dora to no end. It is both painful and satisfying to watch as she takes her revenge on his phallic obsessions by creatively taking aim at his phallus.
If Yuknavitch’s first stroke of genius is Dora’s vivid characterization, her second is Freud’s. The old doctor comes to life beautifully. He is, of course, a symbol of outdated patriarchal worldviews. But he is so much more than that. He suffers, he strives, and he forms a strange bond with Dora that needs to be read to be believed.
Throw in a band of complex colorful friends, a few problematic parents and parent figures, an elaborate art project, money-hungry media moguls, some run-ins with the law, and even a brief appearance by a modern-day Jung, and you’ve got Dora: A Headcase. The plot races along as if high on blow, which it kind of is about half the time. It really is a page-turner by the end--a psychological thriller in a very unique sense of the term.
Our narrator is a thieving, drug-abusing, partying, art-making, sexually confused punk seventeen-year-old. Her voice is a caricature of teen slang and attitude in the digital age. She cuts herself, graffitis her bedroom wall with purple ink, and refuses to do any schoolwork. When her desperate parents dump her in a psychiatrist’s office, she spikes his tea with a cocktail of drugs that sends him fleeing to the emergency room, then records his ordeal for an art project.
And yet… somehow we sympathize with Dora as the protagonist.
Truly, it’s remarkable that Yuknavitch accomplishes this. But she does. Even through a thick screen of sarcasm we sense that Dora is a well-meaning kid who just wants to be loved by her parents, and was abused and neglected instead. Her story simply aches with all the ways adults screw up children.
Especially old white men with their heteronormative power structures.
Enter Dr. Sigmund Freud, who through a stroke of… magical realism? …is practicing psychiatry in Seattle in 2012. Rather than attempting to understand Dora as a young woman, he skims her therapy sessions for sexual symbolism and evidence of oedipal dynamics, then preaches his interpretations back to her. Understandably, this irritates Dora to no end. It is both painful and satisfying to watch as she takes her revenge on his phallic obsessions by creatively taking aim at his phallus.
If Yuknavitch’s first stroke of genius is Dora’s vivid characterization, her second is Freud’s. The old doctor comes to life beautifully. He is, of course, a symbol of outdated patriarchal worldviews. But he is so much more than that. He suffers, he strives, and he forms a strange bond with Dora that needs to be read to be believed.
Throw in a band of complex colorful friends, a few problematic parents and parent figures, an elaborate art project, money-hungry media moguls, some run-ins with the law, and even a brief appearance by a modern-day Jung, and you’ve got Dora: A Headcase. The plot races along as if high on blow, which it kind of is about half the time. It really is a page-turner by the end--a psychological thriller in a very unique sense of the term.
brireading's review against another edition
2.0
maybe like 2.5
read this for class, uhhhhhghhhhh idk
i thought the narrator’s choices and actions (especially those with her friends) were not the best lol
the voice & tone is similar to that of moshfegh, but i would say yuknavitch’s is more stylistic
did think that the overall message was good, the reclaiming of this image of Freud’s case study of “Dora” was impactful as well
just couldn’t get over the narrator, her friends, & some of the writing
read this for class, uhhhhhghhhhh idk
i thought the narrator’s choices and actions (especially those with her friends) were not the best lol
the voice & tone is similar to that of moshfegh, but i would say yuknavitch’s is more stylistic
did think that the overall message was good, the reclaiming of this image of Freud’s case study of “Dora” was impactful as well
just couldn’t get over the narrator, her friends, & some of the writing
corvingreene's review against another edition
5.0
I actually really liked this book, but the constant fat phobia, ableism, odd racism regarding the Native American character (exoticizing her in a creepy way), and the continual use of the word tran*y was entirely unnecessary and took me out of the story repeatedly. I don't think Yuknavitch needed any of those things to capture the voice of a teenage girl--which she does expertly, by the way. After having been forced to read quite a bit of Freud's oeuvre, it felt nice to read this sort of revenge against him. It's really a hilarious and moving book, just wish we didn't have to wade through the offensive bits. They have zero redeeming value.
shoosha's review against another edition
4.0
Visceral. Funny. Heart pulsating novel. I absolutely flew through this book. It's dirty, juvenile, beautiful, queer, human, surreal, nasty in all the best ways. I laughed out loud. I cried real tears. I saw some of myself, I only dreamed about being and I saw others that I longed to always be. It's just fucking smart. Highly recommend! (Plus it's Palahniuk Approved, so extrapolate from there!)
annab33's review against another edition
Not sure how to feel about this one. Equal parts brilliant satire and shock factor. The ending is great tho
tuc03229's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting reinvention of one of Freud's most famous cases. There were times when Yuknavitch got the teen girl voice thing exceedingly well, other times not so much. I liked the book for its rule-breaking but I think in 10 years it's going to seem really dated because of all the specific technology references. Also hated the constant ableism and insulting people with disabilities, fat phobia, and exotification/othering of the characters of color. Marlene, although I liked her character, seemed to fit pretty well into the magical Negro stereotype and also into the wise magical transsexual stereotype. Also the ending was kind of ridiculous and too easy.
dolcezzina21's review against another edition
5.0
I rate this book 5+++++. It took me on a wild journey, an escape into an irrational, yet rational mind where the tables are turned on our sick society. I love how Lidia brought Sig Freud to life and wrote her own take on Freud's Dora case. The characters' actions are so deplorable, yet you find yourself understanding and even relating to them. I really felt parts of Lidia from The Chronology of Water come out in this story. This book seems like an extension of her autiobiography, told in a different way and about a different time in her life. This was a rollercoaster of a story and made me think of the adrenaline rush I felt from reading Chuck Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters. I think Lidia and Chuck would write an excellent book together. I hope they consider it.