´My parents weren´t after shiny things or even beautiful things. They simply liked getting the things that stupid people threw away´.
Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso features a very normal family from Waitsfield Massachusetts through the eyes of Ruthie, a Jewish-Italian girl coming at age in ruthless times. The story unfolds with an increasing intensity from the average life account, enfolding like a diary installment, until a very violent and individual ending. Still, there is no crime committed, but a violent growing up and a counter-reaction.
As seen through a young girl eyes, the details are naturally dense and descriptive and this is the moment when the social observations are inserted. The social status and whiteness, as well as the bourgeois interactions, within the clearly assigned social and racial borders are very important as the context of the story. Therefore, Ruthie´s difference and unsuitableness are instanly sanctioned by her own parents.
The social critique is spread all over the text, in a way that does not affect the literary quality of the text.
Talking about the literary qualities of the text, it definitely has an extraordinary fluency. There is a permanent evaluation of meanings. Here is my favorite example: ´Snowfalls have unique bouquets. Snow isn´t just frozen water; it carries a remnant of the sky. A blue hailstone tastes different from a white one because they´ve taken on air at different altitudes´.
Definitely, Manguso has a beautiful voice in the contemporary American literature that I would love to meet again soon.
Rating: 4 stars
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