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A review by futurama1979
Skin by Kathe Koja
5.0
this is the second Koja book i've read and i feel i'm slowly coming to understand some of the driving stuff behind her work. where [b:The Cipher|341930|The Cipher|Kathe Koja|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566122945l/341930._SY75_.jpg|332292] was the peak of her technical craft, i think Skin is where her themes are the strongest and clearest. this book reads both of two ways at various respective moments: it is either creepingly, brutally slow, a slog, a tired trek through sand in the fucking grimmest desert imaginable, OR it's a volcanic rush. Koja jerks the reader back and forth between pacing conventions in a way that feels disorienting and miserable - & that is a very good thing. you're in her story.
at times the syntax was a bit much, but i've never had a problem with Koja's onslaught of grammar light stream of consciousness stuff. people talk like she's Joyce but her style is always breachable and accessible at the sometimes expense of being slightly corny with the run-ons.
at its core it's gory blunt commentary on how talentless men in the art world exploit the work and lives of female artists, and the topic is handled in an incredibly angering and heartwrenching way while never proselytizing or hitting the reader over the head with it. the central love story between these two women both in the process of losing themselves to their art stands as this gutting argument against the fallacy of 'the more damaged the artist the better the art.' as they are brought further from themselves by Michael 'for the sake of their art' the meaning in their work diminishes and becomes a mockery of what they used to create. Koja took a violently realistic approach to confronting this as well as spheres of power, gender, and even the traditional love narrative with this book that just brought it way above the same feminist critique she was trying to level in the Cipher.
the atmosphere of this book is crazy strong, the downward spiral of events was well executed. there's so much about it that i can't verbalize, and Tess is a character that will be with me for a long time. it's just a devastating read.
at times the syntax was a bit much, but i've never had a problem with Koja's onslaught of grammar light stream of consciousness stuff. people talk like she's Joyce but her style is always breachable and accessible at the sometimes expense of being slightly corny with the run-ons.
at its core it's gory blunt commentary on how talentless men in the art world exploit the work and lives of female artists, and the topic is handled in an incredibly angering and heartwrenching way while never proselytizing or hitting the reader over the head with it. the central love story between these two women both in the process of losing themselves to their art stands as this gutting argument against the fallacy of 'the more damaged the artist the better the art.' as they are brought further from themselves by Michael 'for the sake of their art' the meaning in their work diminishes and becomes a mockery of what they used to create. Koja took a violently realistic approach to confronting this as well as spheres of power, gender, and even the traditional love narrative with this book that just brought it way above the same feminist critique she was trying to level in the Cipher.
the atmosphere of this book is crazy strong, the downward spiral of events was well executed. there's so much about it that i can't verbalize, and Tess is a character that will be with me for a long time. it's just a devastating read.