Chrysalis

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For the woman part of this process of change, and later promotion of solitude, may be founded in childhood trauma and then her experiences while living with an abusive man.

One is a loner who thinks he’s in love with her, the second is her mother, who doesn’t seem to think a lot of her and one is a colleague, who is desperate to be accepted by her, but is ultimately just used and then discarded when she is no longer needed. While the text suffers from some flaws, especially the transparent construction of the plot, it's also an absorbing and smart read and blossoms in its ambivalence. I think it was in the show Friends, where Joey (the lovable himbo of the group) makes an observation that no action is selfless. I enjoyed the story, and read it as an entertaining and interesting fictional narrative of triumph over adversity (individual shortcomings, bullying, abuse) through an act of self-invention, as well as a persuasive allegory about aspects of our society . It looks at the influence we allow people to have, especially when we don't actually *know* them, and asks the question - even if people give themselves freely online, should we take?She’s particularly adept at dealing with ambiguities, in each of the interactions with her unnamed woman it’s difficult to discern whether these are relationships grounded in mutual or one-sided exploitation or based on fantasy and projection borne out of each individual’s unfulfilled desires – the narrators’ recollections are often far more revealing of the observers than the observed. Among the grey and black machines, between the gleaming mirrors and the miniature televisions, surrounded by people in shiny leggings with go-faster stripes on their shoes, she looked like something from the past. It was hard to be in the present, she said, but if her body were heavier and more in control, then her thoughts would clear and her mind would recover its power. Everybody knew Simon, he was that good-looking—one of those people who might accidentally become famous at any moment.

A strange story about an unnamed woman undergoing a metamorphosis of sorts, observed by three different people, all once important people in this woman’s life.They sound alike too, their language limpid and eerie, a queasy wellness blend of psychoanalysis and internet niceness that has them speak of transitional objects, optimisation, flow, authenticity, containment. Our unnamed girl does just that, leaving her friends, lovers and family none the wiser and cast adrift. Her mother gives us a history of how she was growing up, her personality and the kind of daughter she was. The videos, which are made for high-speed playback, show her statuesque body, surrounded by plants, often outdoors, holding itself exquisitely still for hours at a time. Utterly original and with shades of Ottessa Moshfegh, Patricia Lockwood, Yoko Ogawa, and Alexandra Kleeman, this brilliant portrayal of desire and transcendence had me totally entranced.