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Cassie (book__gal)'s Reviews > Doxology
Doxology
by
by
This was my first time reading Nell Zink and I see now why she has such a cult-following: her writing style is this wonderful mix of intellect, wit, and sharpness. Doxology’s voice tells, it doesn’t show. Often in literary fiction we prefer showing, not telling, but Zink’s reversal of this really worked here. Doxology is the story of a family of multiple generations and how history and politics (think: 9/11 and the Trump era) have marked their own personal histories.
It’s undeniable that Zink has her finger on the pulse of the political and cultural landscape of DC and New York. Whether or not you agree with her diagnosis’s or prescriptions is beside the point; you must have a base-line admiration for how intelligently she writes about our state of affairs both presently and from the 1990s and early aughts. Most writing about the Trump era in recent fiction is pretty milquetoast in my opinion and leaves us with conclusions that most of us already feel (trump=bad), so I enjoyed Zink delving into subjects beyond the surface level, like elitism, the idealism of millennials, the various ways privilege presents, etc. That being said, I still had an insipid taste left in my mouth with some of the conclusions Zink draws, but perhaps that is because I’m politically active and politically aware. I think any author in this era would have trouble truly shocking or presenting radical inferences among select populations of readers.
I also need to commend that I really never got bored reading, which can invariably happen with books over 400 pages; however, I never found myself speed reading to move it along. I think that says a lot about Zink’s singular writing. It sounds cliche saying her sentences are just so sharp, but they really are. I can see the writing coming across as too high-brow to some readers, but Zink had my prompt attention for the full course of the book. I’m looking forward to picking up her other novels. Doxology has a lot to unpack in terms of politics and culture and I think it would make a great book club read, even if it may not seem like an obvious pick on the surface. There are some really interesting discussions to be had on the differences between boomers, Gen X, millennials, and the way history has shaped these generations respectively. Many thanks to Ecco for sending me a copy!
It’s undeniable that Zink has her finger on the pulse of the political and cultural landscape of DC and New York. Whether or not you agree with her diagnosis’s or prescriptions is beside the point; you must have a base-line admiration for how intelligently she writes about our state of affairs both presently and from the 1990s and early aughts. Most writing about the Trump era in recent fiction is pretty milquetoast in my opinion and leaves us with conclusions that most of us already feel (trump=bad), so I enjoyed Zink delving into subjects beyond the surface level, like elitism, the idealism of millennials, the various ways privilege presents, etc. That being said, I still had an insipid taste left in my mouth with some of the conclusions Zink draws, but perhaps that is because I’m politically active and politically aware. I think any author in this era would have trouble truly shocking or presenting radical inferences among select populations of readers.
I also need to commend that I really never got bored reading, which can invariably happen with books over 400 pages; however, I never found myself speed reading to move it along. I think that says a lot about Zink’s singular writing. It sounds cliche saying her sentences are just so sharp, but they really are. I can see the writing coming across as too high-brow to some readers, but Zink had my prompt attention for the full course of the book. I’m looking forward to picking up her other novels. Doxology has a lot to unpack in terms of politics and culture and I think it would make a great book club read, even if it may not seem like an obvious pick on the surface. There are some really interesting discussions to be had on the differences between boomers, Gen X, millennials, and the way history has shaped these generations respectively. Many thanks to Ecco for sending me a copy!
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