My Favorite Novel of 2022 - A Review of Look at Me by Anita Brookner

This is a bit of a ramble on one of the last books I've sneaked in for this year... Anita Brookner's 1983 novel Look at Me proved to be a poignant psychological drama with nods to classic writers from the past. Though bleak enough to warrant a year-long break, and not without its flaws, Look at Me is literature to find yourself in and to learn from. Apologies for the lack of visuals in this review - when it comes to more contemporary fiction there really aren't a lot of open-source options for artwork that would be fitting. It may be best listened to as a podcast! Chapters: 00:00 Why I chose this book 00:54 Brief author bio 01:52 A sample of Look at Me 02:37 Plot overview (no spoilers) 06:24 Comparison with Villette 08:27 Brookner's writing technique 09:34 Contrast with The Great Gatsby 10:46 Writing technique, cont'd 12:00 DID I MENTION THIS IS A SAD BOOK 12:23 What are Frances's motives? 13:24 A reference to She (Who Must Be Obeyed) 15:15 What's up with James? 17:30 Gender portrayals and psychology 20:00 Comparison with The House of Mirth 20:47 Symbolism in the underpass scene 23:31 Quotes 27:34 Some unsolicited life advice for loners 31:19 2k subscribers shout-out!!! *** BLOG: https://classicsconsidered.com/ GOODREADS:   / classicsconsidered   BOOK LIST: https://throne.me/u/classicsconsidered