Checkout 19

A Novel

De: Claire-Louise Bennett

Narrado por: Claire-Louise Bennett

A NEW YORK TIMES 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR AND A NEW YORKER "ESSENTIAL READ"

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORKER AND VOGUE

“Bennett writes like no one else. She is a rare talent, and Checkout 19 is a masterful novel.” –Karl Ove Knausgaard

From the author of the “dazzling. . . . and daring” Pond (O magazine), the adventures of a young woman discovering her own genius, through the people she meets–and dreams up–along the way.

In a working-class town in a county west of London, a schoolgirl scribbles stories in the back pages of her exercise book, intoxicated by the first sparks of her imagination. As she grows, everything and everyone she encounters become fuel for a burning talent. The large Russian man in the ancient maroon car who careens around the grocery store where she works as a checkout clerk, and slips her a copy of Beyond Good and Evil. The growing heaps of other books in which she loses–and finds–herself. Even the derailing of a friendship, in a devastating violation. The thrill of learning to conjure characters and scenarios in her head is matched by the exhilaration of forging her own way in the world, the two kinds of ingenuity kindling to a brilliant conflagration.

Exceeding the extraordinary promise of Bennett’s mold-shattering debut, Checkout 19 is a radical affirmation of the power of the imagination and the magic escape those who master it open to us all.

A few too many shards

I loved the innovative storytelling and the channeling of Anne Quinn or Virginia Woolf or Leonora Carrington in this piece. Super high marks for the attempt. And I'm sure part of my disappointment comes from missing cues I wish I were smart-enough or informed-enough to have recognized. I am sure its very clever for the bits I did recognize, I really enjoyed.

Bennett masterfully contrasts the brainy aspirations the narrator has formed from her imaginings and the things she has read on the page with the reality of her life at checkout-19. Despite this juxtaposition, In terms of eliciting an emotional response, this book did not do it. I felt nothing.

Although the pacing felt slow and the hiccuping style dragged on the story, I never found the book dreary or boring. There were spells when I was lost in the shattered fragments, not sure if I was in the narrator's imagination, in her reality, or in some story she had written. Despite losing the thread of the story, I remained engaged. This must be due to the repetition and poetic voice. Anyway, I did like this book. I found it very intriguing.

I think what she is doing is artful and clever. I'm not sure it is entirely successful.

I wish the story stayed with the exploration of her creativity and didn't get sidetracked into all the other aspects of her life. I feel the style lent itself very well to showing us how thoughts drift in, drift out, develop, grow, fade, vanish, become monstrous, turn into a tale, resolve. But when she was trying to tell the story of a women from a poor area of Brighton, I felt the style choice was in the way. Still, Kudos to Bennett for the attempt and for making it onto the NYTimes Best Books of 2022. I'm quite sure it deserved that ranking. I recommand any struggling fiction writer to read it. Butt keep an open mind.

Genius

I loved every minute of this wonderful book and we would listen again yes we would yes we would listen again

Hmmm …

A strange story. Yes. That’s right. But beautiful writing. Once I sat back and stopped trying to follow every incongruous thread and simply let the words wash over me like poetry I enjoyed the experience a lot more.

Interesting

Very interesting and unusual book - I enjoyed it. Strange and varied it's worth a read

Exquisite.

A captivating voice. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Yes I did. I got the actual book from the library. I had taken out seven other books. Turns out I only wanted one. Only one at the time. Yes, this one was deliciously intriguing. Hard to imagine anyone reading it other than the author. Might have been difficult to get into it had I not heard her reading it. But I wanted to review parts esp. the interesting references to other authors and books.