Pretty Things

Starred review from June 18, 2018
Despentes, a French author best known stateside for her feminist theory memoir King Kong Theory, delivers a forceful, visceral novel about femininity, violence, and personhood. It opens with Claudine, who is flashy, crude, and ambitious, and is willing to use her beauty and sexuality to achieve fame as a singer. Unfortunately, she has none of the talent to back it up. Enter her contemptuous twin, Pauline, who takes no interest in her appearance and looks like the sensual Claudine—but who has the voice Claudine needs. They have a fraught relationship, stemming from a childhood with abusive parents who introduced and then encouraged division between the two. Pauline’s boyfriend is in jail and her regular life is on hold, and so she has come to Paris. Soon after her arrival, Claudine commits suicide, and Pauline decides to lie about her identity, slipping into her sister’s life. What follows is a downward slide into the trap of femininity and beauty, which Pauline has rejected for as long as her sister has embraced it. As she falls further into her ruse, Pauline thinks, “I would have preferred not to know what I really am,” but perhaps who she becomes is less a reflection of her than it is of the male desires that have shaped her. Despentes’s novel is chilling and wonderful, coolly presenting the raw, jagged edge of womanhood.

June 1, 2018
As relevant now as when it was first published in French in 1998, this novel shreds the feminine ideal to pieces.When Claudine and Pauline were children, their father openly preferred Pauline, who was "cunning, mischievous, and so sharp." Claudine, on the other hand, "was not very clever, frankly, not very smart." All grown up, the twins can't stand each other. Claudine lives a promiscuous life in Paris; Pauline lives outside the city, wears shapeless, baggy clothes, and waits for her boyfriend, Sébastien, to be released from prison (for crimes unknown). One day, Claudine calls with a request: She wants to be a pop star, and she's got the clothes, the body, and the attitude; all she needs is for Pauline to come and sing for her. Pauline does, but, what's more surprising is, that same night, Claudine hops out a window, dies, and Pauline decides to step into her place, permanently. She'll wear Claudine's clothes, her makeup, and heels, and she'll go through with the plan: record an album, make a ton of money. This is where Despentes' (Vernon Subutex 1, 2017, etc.) novel really gets going. Despentes is a French writer, critic, and noted feminist, and this novel shows her at her best: It is a mean little book, wickedly funny, totally lascivious, often pornographic. Despite the bits about their childhood, Despentes isn't really interested in Claudine's and Pauline's psychology. She's interested in the way that Pauline steps into Claudine's role the way that a drag queen steps into a costume. Unfortunately, the book suffers from the kind of flatness that afflicts all ideological fiction, no matter how expertly constructed. It works best when Despentes isn't trying to make a point.A sharp, screwy, messy take on modern femininity.

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