The Mars Room

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It s 2003 and Romy Hall is at the start of two consecutive life sentences at Stanville Women s Correctional Facility, deep in California s Central Valley Outside is the world from which she has been severed the San Francisco of her youth and her young son, Jackson Inside is a new reality thousands of women hustling for the bare essentials needed to survive the bluffing and pageantry and casual acts of violence by guards and prisoners alike and the deadpan absurdities of institutional living, which Kushner evokes with great humor and precision. Download The Mars Room – kino-fada.fr 2 1 2 stars It s taken me a long time to admit that I just didn t like The Mars Room very much Even as I was struggling to keep my eyes on the page, keep reading, and not get distracted by that piece of fluff on the floor, I was doing my best to write a positive review in my head.I thought I would love it It felt like I should What doesn t sound great about a gritty prison novel dissecting class, wealth and other power structures in the penal system Diverse characters, complicated family dy 2 1 2 stars It s taken me a long time to admit that I just didn t like The Mars Room very much Even as I was struggling to keep my eyes on the page, keep reading, and not get distracted by that piece of fluff on the floor, I was doing my best to write a positive review in my head.I thought I would love it It felt like I should What doesn t sound great about a gritty prison novel dissecting class, wealth and other power structures in the penal system Diverse characters, complicated family dynamics, and unfair bullshit that sees poor, working class women given shoddy legal representation Sign me up to be pissed off in the way that leads to 5 star ratings.But I found this book so disjointed, aloof and boring Even Romy s first person chapters felt distant and impersonal, like she was looking down on events from far away and not living them Perhaps this is some kind of literary technique, but it did nothing except make me feel completely disconnected.I understand the importance of The Mars ...3.5 stars I read an in depth article in New Yorker Magazine that made it apparent why Rachel Kushner can so vividly bring her characters in this book to life The link to the article is below She followed an inmate at a California prison because she wanted to have people in her life that the State of California rendered invisible to others She brings these real people to us through a cast of characters in her fictional account of life in prison This book definitely depicts experiences tha 3.5 stars I read an in depth article in New Yorker Magazine that made it apparent why Rachel Kushner can so vividly bring her characters in this book to life The link to the article is below She followed an inmate at a California prison because she wanted to have people in her life that the State of California rendered invisible to others She brings these real people to us through a cast of characters in her fictional account of life in prison This book definitely depicts experiences that are far removed from mine Not just in the prison but the world where the prisoners came from strip cubs , doing and dealing drugs, hit jobs, getting beaten, enduring abuse as children I found this stressful to read and it was defin...If I had never worked at The Mars Room If I had never met Creep Kennedy If Creep Kennedy had not decided to stalk me But he did decide to, and then he did it relentlessly If none of that had happened, I would not be on a bus heading for a life in a concrete slot The Mars Room grabbed me from the get go and I was hooked Romy Hall is serving two life sentences for murdering her stalker in front of a child Before this she worked as a stripper in a club called The Mars Room We follow bothIf I had never worked at The Mars Room If I had never met Creep Kennedy If Creep Kennedy had not decided to stalk me But he did decide to, and then he did it relentlessly If none of that had happened, I would not be on a bus heading for a life in a concrete slot The Mars Room grabbed me from the get go and I was hooked Romy Hall is serving two life sentences for murdering her stalker in front of a child Before this she worked as a stripper in a club called The Mars Room We foll...Library Overdrive Audiobook.read by Rachel Kushner I didn t even consider this book when it first popped up Telex From Cuba was a little too politically dense and long There was a good story inside but I remember the time effort I put in and wasn t looking forward to that experience again Plus I have a paper copy of The Flame Throwers which I ve started and stopped too many times the damn print is tiny.So with low expectations I downloaded the public library s Au Library Overdrive Audiobook.read by Rachel Kushner I didn t even consider this book when it first popped up Telex From Cuba was a little too politically dense and long There was a good story inside but I remember the time effort I put in and wasn t looking forward to that experience again Plus I have a paper copy of The Flame Throwers which I ve started and stopped too many times the damn print is tiny.So with low expectations I downloaded the public library s Audiobook.I m BLOWN AWAY BY Rachel..and what she did with her VOICE Absolutely I think this is a phenomenal novel and I still can t get over how perfectly magnificent her voice is for the character of Romy Hall Her audio voice is so darn praiseworthy I just can t say it enough about the impact I ...When a friend asked me whether I liked the book I was reading, I told her, It s refreshing A novel about women in prison I was dead serious It was only after my friend was losing it, laughing so hard, that I realized how weird my comment was Laughing now too, I tried to defend myself I just get tired of straight old life there s so much regular out there Can I help it if I like to read about down and outers The truth is, the dark is sometimes my light I prefer rain to sun, for instan When a friend asked me whether I liked the book I was reading, I told her, It s refreshing A novel about women in prison I was dead serious It was only after my friend was losing it, laughing so hard, that I realized how weird my comment was Laughing now too, I tried to defend myself I just get tired of straight old life there s so much regular out there Can I help it if I like to read about down and outers The truth is, the dark is sometimes my light I prefer rain to sun, for instance A friend once read that that was a sign of mental illness Really lol Yes, this book was refreshing, with its grit and spit, edge and energy It s mostly the story about Romy, who s serving a life sentence for murder It s impossible not to feel sorry for her She had a bum lawyer and a crazy long sentence, and she has a 7 y...I m one to admit when I just do not get the hype on a book This is one that I just did not jump on the train with I am bit confused by it actually The majority of the book is about Romy, who has been sentenced to two life sentences for murdering her stalker She is poor and worked as a stripper..so she basically stood no chance in the justice system.This part of the book kept me interested For some sicko reason prison type dramas are one of my favorite subjectsand it does not have to be I m one to admit when I just do not get the hype on a book This is one that I just did not jump on the train with I am bit confused by it actually The majority of the book is about Romy, who has been sentenced to two life sentences for murdering her stalker She is poor and worked as a stripper..so she basically stood no chance in the justice system.This part of the book kept me interested For some sicko reason prison type dramas are one of my favorite subjectsand it does not have to be farting unicorn type storylines.For example..one of my favorite shows of ...Orange is the New Bleh.The Mars Room is a provocative, raveworthy exploration of choices or, indeed, the absence of any perceived choice for adolescent and teen female criminals on the lower echelon of the socio economic scale who grow up sexually abused, addicted to street drugs and or engaged in a sex related trade because they ve had no choice in where, how and by whom they were raised, the adverse societal effects being the counterproductive institutionalization of a legion of women, their repetitive recidivism an The Mars Room is a provocative, raveworthy exploration of choices or, indeed, the absence of any perceived choice for adolescent and teen female criminals on the lower echelon of the socio economic scale who grow up sexually abused, addicted to street drugs and or engaged in a sex related trade because they ve had no choice in where, how and by whom they were raised, the adverse societal effects being the counterproductive institutionalization of a legion of women, their repetitive recidivism and a vicious intergenerational cycle of passing down the pain Ms Kushner avoids the easy traps of a excusing crimes wi...The Mars Room pushed all the right buttons for me I liked Kushner s The Flamethrowers, but this was something else altogether Here Kushner uses her talent to extraordinarily potent effect The story is set in the early 2000s, focused primarily on Romy Hall, who is in a women s prison for life for murder Kushner does a great job of showing the reality of Romy s life where she came from, how she got to prison, and her life in prison There is no sugar coating Romy s life is harsh and she is The Mars Room pushed all the right buttons for me I liked Kushner s The Flamethrowers, but this was something else altogether Here Kushner uses her talent to extraordinarily potent effect The story is set in the early 2000s, focused primarily on Romy Hall, who is in a women s prison for life for murder Kushner does a great job of showing the reality of Romy s life where she came from, how she got to prison, and her life in prison There is no sugar coating Romy s life is harsh and she ...At first this seems like a monumental achievement a masterful storyteller giving voice to the incarcerated Difficult characters come to life in unexpected ways They re complex, flawed, a little evil and a lot good The writing as in, the actual formulation of words is truly impressive About a third of the way in, however, it becomes abundantly clear that no plot will emerge and the same old theme will be sung many times over The edgy characters lose their edge, and the mystery of how ever At first this seems like a monumental achievement a masterful storyteller giving voice to the incarcerated Difficult characters come to life in unexpected ways They re complex, flawed, a little evil and a lot good The writing as in, the actual formulation of words is truly impressive About a third of the way in, however, it becomes abundantly clear that no plot will emerge and the same old theme will be sung many times over The edgy characters lose thei...

The Mars Room
  • English
  • 19 July 2018
  • Hardcover
  • 338 pages
  • 1476756554
  • Rachel Kushner
  • The Mars Room