In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods
Ratings6
Average rating3.2
In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods tells the story of a newly married couple who take up a lonely existence in the title's mythical location. In this blank and barren plot far from the world they've known, they mean to start the family the unnamed husband wants so obsessively. But their every pregnancy fails, and as their grief swells, the husband─a hot-tempered and impatient fisherman and trapper─attempts to prove his dominion in other ways, emptying both the lake and the woods of their many beasts. As the years pass, the wife changes too, her suddenly powerful voice singing some new series of objects into being, including a threatening moon hung above their house, its doomed weight already slowly falling, bending their now-starless sky. In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods is about marriage, parenthood, and the dreams parents have for their children─as well as what happens to a marriage whose success is measured solely by the children it produces, or else the grief that marks their absence.
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I'm not sure I actually liked or even understood this fairy tale. However, the writing is gorgeous and the tone very evocative, so an extra star for that. More sensitive readers should note that this is a fairly brutal tale. If you are squeamish it all you might not even make it past the first 20 pages.
Despite the poetic prose and interesting elements, this one just didn't click for me.
I asked on Twitter for some horror/spooky type recommendations and I had a few people respond but I only ended up getting around to reading one of them. In The House Upon The Dirt Between The Lake And The Woods was recommended to me by Cathy. Thank you so much for the recommendation now I just need to figure out how to review this.
Ok first off I want to mention the title. I don't think I have ever read a book with such a long title before. I could never remember what it was so I was always having to look at the book for the name.
Umm I really have no clue how to put into words my thoughts on this book. I guess I will start by saying this isn't a plot driven book. It's a fast read but at the same time it moves slowly. There were some passages that I thought were overly descreptive and repetitive that I could have done without because those instances made the book drag for me.
When I was reading the book I was so immeresed in it but when I put the book down I had to force myself to pick it back up again. Not because it was bad or anything but because it was well I don't know it was just so weird.
It's very desciptive and I would say somewhat graphic in its descriptions. I am just so torn on how I feel about this book but I think in the end I am going to go with a 3 star rating because while I was completely immersed in the book while reading it I am left wondering what the heck I just read in a sense. I don't know guys like I said this one is a hard one for me to review.
