Ottessa Moshfegh's 'Lapvona' Is the Feel-Bad Hit of the Summer

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The response to the brazenly unpleasant Lapvona is as divisive as it gets for a contemporary book. This is a good, good thing.

The book’s ostensible protagonist, 13-year-old disabled peasant Marek relishes his father’s abuse in a manner that sometimes takes on an erotic, masochistic bent but mostly derives from piety . Because we can read other characters’ thoughts, we get to see them call bullshit on each other. “Villiam thought Marek’s waking martyrdom was a kind of barbarian vanity,” writes Moshfegh. Villiam, meanwhile, hires bandits to terrorize the poor people he rules over and plunders their resources .

Moshfegh trades in negativity, which means that she effectively offers herself up for brutal criticism. Those who might think better of taking down a book they don’t like that is bland or cheery in tone may feel more justified throttling something that is more or less predicated on contempt for humanity. At least, that’s my theory on why the glee behind some takedowns ofis so palpable. Something else that may factor in is Moshfegh’s literary status.

 

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