nut free nerd

“The large-scale changes in fact were of no interest to me at all; it was the small things that remained constant which sort of attracted me.”

We all have those books that we pick up and put down in the library or in bookstores — pick up and put down, time and time again, but never check out or purchase. Pond was one of those books for me, until I recently borrowed it from the library after eyeing it for what had to be several years. As it so often happens, I felt like I read Pond at just the right time.

Pond is a brilliant exploration and refutation of narrative voice and structure. The reader is dropped directly in the interior of the narrator’s life, one spent mostly living by herself in a coastal village. While much of the narrator’s general personal life and past remains a mystery, the reader quickly becomes privy to even her most minute daily mundanities. In that way, the novel reminded me a lot of Ulysses by James Joyce, blended maybe with the modern spin and stream of consciousness of Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann. Reading Pond truly feels like reading someone’s inner monologue.

I enjoyed the ephemeral, recurring image of the pond — such a connection to the title always feels so satisfying. But more than anything, this novel offers a fascinating look at a woman living on her own and how such a role functions in society. Is the reader surprised to learn of her unabashedly strong opinions, of her vibrant inner world despite her traditionally unconventional status in life? I loved that tension with and rejection of gender stereotypes.

While I did find this novel a bit confusing at times, on the whole it was a really enjoyable, interesting read. Bennett’s writing is endlessly intriguing, and I can’t wait to read more from her.

Read this book if you’ve enjoyed:

• Ulysses by James Joyce
• Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
• Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
• Outline by Rachel Cusk

What are your thoughts on this book? Have you read anything else by Claire-Louise Bennett? I’d love to know.

Take care xx