Wetlands

by Charlotte Roche

Book Overview

In a sexually and anatomically explicit novel, Roche exposes the double bind of female sexuality, delivering a compulsively readable and fearlessly intimate manifesto on sex, hygiene, and the repercussions of family trauma.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802118925
• ISBN13: 9780802118929
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

heals the body but not the soul

by creating a protagonist with nasty and excessive habits, sexual and non-sexual, and a painful physical failing, a character in need or already in the care of a physician, charlotte roche writes a novel philip roth might had written were he a woman in his 30s. roth somewhere said that everything he writes he strains through the works of kafka, no surprise coming from the novelist who gave us one of his most kafka inspired writings, The Breast. however, in roche's fiction we're not privileged to a transformation. the body part troubling eighteen year old helen memel is her anus. and not only her hemorrhoids which she describes, as she describes whatever is at hand, in minute detail, but, specifically, an infected lesion inside her anus requiring excision. helen asks robin, her male nurse: 'Do they stretch your [ ] open wide enough to fit multiple hands into it?' 'Yes, I'm afraid so. That will be the source of most of the pain when the anesthesia wears off in a few minutes.' the operation and aftermath finds her confined to the hospital, mostly her room, mostly her bed, in the theme of kafka's enclosed spaces, where, like portnoy, but without the psychologist, memel pours out her story to an invisible listener, the reader, in a voice reminiscent of salinger's holden caulfield. and like roth's mickey sabbath, helen memel ends her story with an act of transgression without revelation -- unless helen's moment of acceptance that her parents are in control of their own lives suffices as an intimation that childhood has to end; though, i suspect that's not how helen leaves the hospital. also metaphor, represented by two symbols, helen's tush and her hobby of growing avocado trees, further elevates Wetlands to intelligent fiction. disgustingly funny.

a refreshing look at all the most taboo parts of normal human experience

As someone who studies the psychology of disgust this book was recommended to me by a colleague. It is a startlingly refreshing book that engages with subjects that I have never seen so well described before. This book takes an unflinching look at so many things which make human beings uncomfortable, disgusted, ashamed, embarrassed and aroused. The reader is put inside the mind of a young woman who is totally comfortable and even fascinated with all of her body's secretions and manifestations. Thus the book forges a deep intimacy with the main character but also will make a self-reflective reader analyze their own responses and attitudes towards the most private, mundane and animalistic aspects of human beings. This book is not amazing because it deals with anything extraordinary or has a complex plot or character development but because it handles so comprehensively taboo subjects that are at their heart a totally normal part of the human experience.

Only buy if mature and intelligent

It is a depressing to read many of the reviews posted here for this very good book. I feel sorry for those people so lacking in sophistication and intellect that they see this book as nothing more than 'pornographic' and 'disgusting'. To those men who bought it hoping to be 'turned on' and have expressed themselves disappointed, you represent all about the male sex that embarasses me - shallow, immature and simple. To those who think that this book is, or is meant to be, titillating and erotic: the joke is on you. Indeed, the graphic, crude descriptions in this book are a sideshow and not what it is ultimately about: thankfully, some of the reviewers here have the intelligence to grasp this. It is about mental illness, in both the main character and her family. It is about the terrible damage done to children by abusive MOTHERS. That is the taboo exposed here: abuse perpetrated by mothers, both physical and psychological. Helen Memel is a pitiful, vulnerbale, psychologically damaged and very lonely human being who would rather take anyone to bed with her than be alone. It is not the gory scenes that moves one most of all, even if, astonoshingly, these scenes are the only thing many readers are capable of registering and distilling form the book. No, what moves one most is the internal suffering of this young women, the attempted murder of her brother by her mother, the harm done by the divorce of her parents and her longing for them to be reunited, her sterilisation and her self-hate. Yes, I appreciate that a facet of this book is the honest, no-holds-barred description of sexual body parts and female sexuality and that some will find that aspect to be refreshing. It is clearly also, in parts, meant to be humerous and funny (another aspect apparently missed by many). However, the 'dreams' and imaginings of gas in the air, the 'dreams' of her mother cutting off her eyelashes in her sleep and the hints of much worse things done, buried deep in her subconscious and driving her destructive behaviour, are what shocks most of all. It should be obvious to all that her extreme behaviour and actions are a manifestation of her subconscious anger towards her mother, representing rebellion and enormous anger.

interesting read. kept my attention.

I really enjoyed this book. It's almost everything that I would not do but everyone is so uptight about addressing. I like that about it. You can actively piece together the storyline and understand what's going on from the character's perspective.

If you like bizarre and shocking books...this is for you.

Wetlands is a very succinct little book. I read it in a few hours on the bus, although I did need to put it down once because of the graphic description of a certain plot twist involving the wheel break on a medical bed. It's funny and absurd in certain aspects, but also just very true when you take into context the fact that most young women, and people in general, all have their own personal hygiene habits, or lack thereof. Get this, it's entertaining. I hope Charlotte Roche writes more.