The Girl Who Never Read Noam Chomsky

Review

I really liked the interior, judgmental tone of this novel - I found Leda easy to like precisely because she seemed equal parts interested in and detached from the other characters (with the exception of her daughter). I particularly liked her own insights and idiosyncrasies when it came to what it's like to be a woman. There were certain moments in the book – her obsession with linearity, John's lack of character and relevance, her breakdown while shopping for a bathing suit, her vicious assessments of Elle's life – that really rang true to me, although they certainly didn't give an overwhelmingly positive impression of womanhood. I also really liked the ending, when it becomes totally obvious that the standards and expectations we set for ourselves our whole lives about who we "should" be have been meaningless and self imposed all along.

_A few days later Leda called to check up on the pigeon's progress.

"I'm so sorry," the lady on the phone said. "It didn't make it."

"Oh, that's too bad." Leda tried to think of something consoling to say but nothing really worked. She finally settled on: "At least she died peacefully."

"Yes," the lady said. "Hopefully next time the outcome will be better."

Next time? Leda thought._