Alannah Dalton

Thought provoking, delves into disturbance much more than I expected it to, and paints a fantastically bleak setting for depressing characters with terrible lives. If you’re a fan of making yourself a bit uncomfortable, if you’re a fan of disturbing imagery that you just can’t seem to shield your eyes from, Lapvona is for you. A review on the back worded Moshfegh’s writing well: “..most interesting writer on the subject of being alive when alive feels terrible”. This description suits Lapvona. When life is terrible, I feel like I’ve lost the plot, Lapvona is similar in this way. The lack of a distinct plot line, even the lack of identifiable conflicts and resolutions, excellently mimics how life feels when being alive feels terrible. Lapvona’s ability to mirror how dreadful existence can be sometimes is wonderful, yet disgusting at the same time. But again, I just cannot seem to fully cover my eyes with my fingers. I’d say that Lapvona “lost me” at some point during the writing, specifically, towards the ending of the book, before we saw the demise of a few important characters. A lull in events occurred, but so is life. If Lapvona is a painting of terrible lives where the characters have little (if anything) to genuinely look forward to, why should I be concerned about a lull? Nonetheless, the lull did not feel intentional, and if it had been so, I think I’d have appreciated it more. Disturbing? Yeah, but for fans of the “genre” (horror? Macabre? Just plain old screwed up?) the grotesque actions and topics thrill and only add to the bleakness and misfortune Moshfegh details in Lapvona. I would not recommend Lapvona to someone who prefers reading as lighthearted escapism. I would recommend Lapvona to others who enjoy analyzing scum-of-the-Earth characters, understanding depressing outlooks, and reflecting upon how dark and disturbing life can be.