Art is subjective. We see what we want to see. Second Place is one such book. While it's great for some, it just didn't hit the mark with me. I didn't see what the author wants to say. While reading, I was sitting there thinking, what is the point?





The tidbits on parenting and the complex emotions one feel when they conflict with their mind are written like a dream. I enjoyed reading M's point as a mother. I have read many books on the daughter's view but this is refreshing. One can also spot a lot of paradoxes in here. For example, M wants to be seen and the moment she's spotted, she couldn't stand the agony. She is content being invisible. She wants a husband who complements her but instead she's with Tony who gives her a comfortable space.





Her obsession with L is kind of startling to read. I can see why she is obsessed. But the whole thing seems unnecessary. L being an entitled brat, march into the Second Place both literally and metaphorically. I also like how the author used him as a device to showcase male privilege. An artist with no penny in his pockets living off of his wealthy friends and mostly expected nothing in return. Imagine that with a female artist!





I do find these occasional places where I see the male privilege, especially the part where the author talks about being born with a male body in itself as freedom. But female fate? I am confused here as to what she wants to convey as female fate. Is it the continuous effort a woman takes to keep the brewing storm at bay? Is it the body of a woman that is always subjected to scrutiny, young or old? Is it the inability to accept oneself as her own or is it the compassion a woman continuously denies herself? I am confused. Because I see a bit of all in here and I see all of it in me.



Some chapters are better than the others and the same goes for the chapters. I have to read, reread and read some more to get the hang of it. But in the end, it all felt like an elaborate drama. The writing did in a few places (okay, in many places) sounded pretentious. Like it's written for the intellectuals who can explain the line of the theme by line. 



But oh well! I am no intellectual and that's a me problem. With that all said, I do feel this is the right book at the wrong time for me. Maybe I should've read her other works before reading this one to understand Cusk better. I don't know if it'll make the shortlist but it's too early for me to say that. 

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I didn't delve into much of the plot as it's all over bookstagram and some of them has written excellent reviews. So I am writing only the impressions I made after reading it. Last, of all, I have chosen this particular cover as I feel this represents the book much better than that yellow modern art thing. Have you read Second Place or any of Cusk's works? What do you think of it?