A review by toffishay
Last Words from Montmartre by Qiu Miaojin

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book is so honest, so willing to detail the painful, ugly inner workings of a mind in distress, that I really felt like I shouldn't be reading it. It felt like reading someone's diary. It is a fictionalized or hyperbolized or mythologized autobiography, but you do get to see the inside of the narrators head in a way that made it feel like I was standing over her shoulder. It's experimental and so it is very hard to read at times. It is also like a diary in that it goes in circles, where the narrator flips between moments of realization and dedication to improvement and returns to the depths of mental anguish and despair. It makes sense that Qiu puts themself in conversation with Osamu Dazai, because I couldn't help but think of No Longer Human. But, I don't want to dilute Qiu's work too much with comparison. If you are interested in lesbian literature and/or experimental fiction, I think that this is more than worth the read.
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