Study for Obedience
ISBN 9781039009066 | |
Study for Obedience is a 2023 novel by Canadian author
The novel was shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize,[1] and was the winner of the 2023 Giller Prize.[2]
Narrative
The unnamed narrator moves to a remote part of an unnamed northern country to become her brother's caretaker after his divorce. A series of unexplained and bizarre events occur in the town shortly after her arrival, including a dog's "phantom pregnancy", a sow crushing her own piglets, a potato
Reception
In a negative review in The Guardian, literary critic Chris Power criticized the novel's abstract plot and lack of detail as being inadequate to portray the immigrant or the Jewish experience. He states: "The nature of her crisis, withheld like so much else, is revealed as a generational form of survivor’s guilt, but its rapid resolution, and the vagueness of her engagement with its root cause, makes for an oddly frictionless, even privileged, journey into trauma."[3] Also writing for The Guardian, Miriam Balanescu states that "The narrator's encounters with modern-day antisemitism are captured acutely and absurdly." Balanescu concluded that "This masterly follow-up to her debut acts as a meditation on survival, the dangers of absorbing the narratives of the powerful, and a warning that the self-blame of the oppressed often comes back to bite."[4] The CBC stated that the novel is "a finely tuned, unsettling novel that confirms Bernstein as one of the most exciting voices of her generation."[5]
References
- ^ Ella Creamer, "Just one British writer makes the Booker prize shortlist". The Guardian, September 21, 2023.
- ^ Brad Wheeler, "Sarah Bernstein wins 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize for fiction". The Globe and Mail, November 13, 2023.
- ^ Power, Chris (July 19, 2023). "Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein review – life in limbo". The Guardian.
- ^ Balanescu, Miriam (July 2, 2023). "Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein review – a masterly meditation on life as a survivor". The Observer.
- CBC Books. August 29, 2023.