White Is for Witching
Helen Oyeyemi
2009
227 pages
Published by Nan A. Talese
Publisher Comments:
“Miranda is at home — homesick, home sick…”
As a child, Miranda Silver developed pica, a rare eating disorder that causes its victims to consume nonedible substances. The death of her mother when Miranda is sixteen exacerbates her condition; nothing, however, satisfies a strange hunger passed down through the women in her family. And then there’s the family house in Dover, England, converted to a bed-and-breakfast by Miranda’s father. Dover has long been known for its hostility toward outsiders. But The Silver House manifests a more conscious malice toward strangers, dispatching those visitors it despises. Enraged by the constant stream of foreign staff and guests, the house finally unleashes its most destructive power.
With distinct originality and grace, and an extraordinary gift for making the fantastic believable, Helen Oyeyemi spins the politics of family and nation into a riveting and unforgettable mystery.
I made the mistake of reading this on my nook. It just doesn’t work. It might not have worked on paper, either, but at least I would’ve been able to flip back and forth in the beginning when I was having a hell of a time figuring out all of the different narrators. Especially the house. Yes, the house is a narrator, too. Not that there’s anything wrong with a house narrating a story. I mean, really, I have a goat as a blogging buddy, I can handle a house. But the thing is, it wasn’t that clear that it was the house speaking. Heck, it wasn’t even that clear who Ore was for a long time, and she was a person. It took me about halfway through the book before I finally knew who everyone was and what was going on.
So, note to self: always read Oyeyemi in print, like you did the first time (The Icarus Girl), when you actually liked what she wrote.
Note to readers: If you’re not into creepy, Shirley Jackson-like tales, and you don’t like experimental fiction, skip this puppy. And if you do read it, don’t read it on an e-reader.
I’m into creepy Shirley Jackson-like tales, enjoy experimental fiction and read it in print but it still didn’t work for me. Better luck next time.
I am also midway through reading this… on my Kindle. I think I would have a much easier time in print, though so far I’m really enjoying it still. 25% through so far.
The inability to flip is precisely the reason I no longer read on my ereader. I’m just glad Jason loves the ereader. He bought it for me but I ended up hating it…so I gave it to him for his birthday and he ended up loving it.
The lack of flipping is one of the things that totally drove me bonkers on the nook and is one of the reasons I love my Sony eReader. It’s really easy to skip to a particular page (or search for a word and find it!). I agree though that even with the Sony, quickly skimming through previously read stuff is not accomplished as easily as with a regular book.
I’ve not read anything by Oyeyemi, but based on the really mixed reviews I’ve read on this one, I probably would not start here!
Oh no, this one sounds like one I will definitely skip. I am not a big fan of experimental literature, but also, when you can’t figure out which character is talking, and one of the characters is a house…well, I am not going to be running out for that type of book!
I read this in print and I still didn’t understand what was going on! Don’t worry – I wouldn’t blame the nook – it is just really complicated
I will definitely read this in print…not that there was ever any question about that. I’m so old school.
Good point about an e-reader … but could you do a search or something for a particular term or name?
And it sounds like one weird book.
I found this one to be a bit difficult as well but ended up liking it after leaving it to settle in my mind for a while.
Also, I would like to apologize x a million. I don’t think I ever thanked you for the copy of House on Mango Street. I am absolutely embarrassed by my lack of grace. So, in short… THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU and I am sorry I am so lame and awful. Feel free to throw some tomatoes.
I was going to comment to say that lots of people who did not read it on an e-reader appear to have been bewildered by it just as much as you–but everyone else commented that already! So I will just say, sorry this wasn’t better for you.
It is extremely confusing—I enjoyed it in spite of that but was certainly not always sure what was going on.
I also read this in print and was 50% confused 50% enjoying it the entire time. So no worries. I got the house thing (but only because I’d read Eva’s review already) but that’s about it. The rest of the weird stuff kind of made me go “wait, what?…). I LOVED the one Shirley Jackson I read but this one wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. Oh well.
It’s true that some books are just not suited to e-readers…..I’ve found that to be true of books that have a genealogy chart in the front of the book….grrrr.
I know what you mean – some books just don’t work well in e-book format. I’ve had the same problem with some audio books as well.
That sounds like me and an audio book that I was listening to last week. It just wasn’t working in that format for me at all, even though it was a highly recommended book.
I’ve got this on my shelf but have heard so many mixed reviews on it that I don’t know if I should even bother picking it up! I do have it in print copy, though
Sounds like one I’ll probably skip for a while. I’m definitely looking for more books to read on my iPad so if this is bad for an e-reader, I’m already losing interest. But still, I do like experimental fiction so i’ll keep it in mind when I need a break from the e-reader and need to read something in print. Thanks for the review.