Kudos: A Novel (Outline Trilogy, 3)

Rachel Cusk’s “Kudos” is fine work—the best of the breed some have dubbed auto-fiction, or autobiographical fiction. My awe for her style stems from how deftly she renders reality’s approximation on the page—a creative problem rooted deeply in psychology and identity creation that she seems to effortlessly overcome through that which we hear, which baffles me more. Admittedly, (sadly), I came to Cusk late. Lost in the Karl Ove Knausgaard’s own quite sublime autofiction, the pace of which lags for me at points, when I at last discovered Miss Cusk I had the thrill of an undergrad seeing something new that impressed me to no end. I concede I find Cusk superior in the way she represents reality on the printed page to so many of today’s master-set.A bit about me: a first-generation college student from a working class milieu, I cut my teeth in literature late—on Faulkner, Bellow, Nabokov, and Roth (Philip) in my twenties, before descending down a first William Gaddis, then Thomas Bernhard, rabbit hole. In those heady days, my absorbing phase, I believe, like a new wine drinker, I would have lacked the maturity in palate to appreciate Cusk’s project, although her specific, clear prose would not have been lost on me. In this book—I know so little of how she works—I’d imagine Cusk employs a Cusk stand-in, in author Faye.The novel opens with her listening to the woes of a very tall man mistreated in a plane; he is tired; he needs to stretch his legs; in order to avoid sleep, he talks, and Faye listens. Often his dialogue is filtered through her. A device I too often neglect due to bad writing program advice that so often constrains our creative arsenal, not unlike the frowning so many MFA program’s have for leaping in P.O.V.I had to backtrack to the other elegant books in her “Outline” trilogy; in one—was it “Transit”?—she relays an early relationship—with oh so simple moment when we run into someone on the street with whom we were once deeply involved—a man who has (seemingly) barely changed. This, too, shows her high craft and art. In this volume, the third in a brief, elegant trilogy, she would like to see her life flower…to explode wide after her remarriage, as she suffers the indignities of Britain’s political climate. The big difference here, for me, is that Faye seems to say so little; her encounters—like that of the Taxi Driver in the Iranian classic “A Taste of Cherry”—I hope I have the title right; it has been a while—drive what narrative is; she is defined, in essence, by what is said to her, and this makes her live and breathe. LOVE.

At times it feels rather unconsequential, still a lot of observations and descriptions are very interesting and to the point. I did not want it to finish (I mean the whole trilogy) but in fact it has done so abruptly in my face.

The whole trilogy is brilliant.

This final installment of Cusk's OUTLINE trilogy is perhaps the most enigmatic novel of the series, especially the ending (its poetry notwithstanding). As with the previous two books, nothing much happens in this novel, so one's enjoyment of KUDOS depends upon how interesting one finds the discussions among the characters. There are long monologues as it were that are sometimes interesting, sometimes confounding, sometimes tiresome. By this point, perhaps we simply get too much of a good thing, as the originality of the whole idea begins to wear thin, to the point where readers might just be glad to see it conclude. This reader certainly was.

Rachel Cusk’s latest novel in her Outline trilogy is KUDOS. The writing is animated. She captures the simplest of thoughts, movements, the everyday, and turns them into vignettes that seem to lift themselves off the page.Whether our protagonist, an author herself, is sitting next to a man on a plane, who can’t get comfortable in his own seat, is being interviewed about her new book by a journalist who takes neurotic to a whole new level or is listening to the bitterness of a woman who confides her jealousy of her sister to such an unhealthy, all-consuming degree, by the time you reach the end of this compact story, satisfaction is guaranteed.

The third installment in a well crafted, well written trilogy. Cusk’s writing is spare yet full, a trait I admire. Her ability to observe is telling. The main character, an author on a literary tour of sorts, was interviewed about her work or asked to discuss it, but listened far more than she spoke. Perhaps that is why she was receiving such Kudos.

The style is separate episodes linked by the person who narrates by asking questions. The themes throughout the trilogy are relationships and how major life events affect identity. Her descriptions are worth the price of admission but the greatest strength is her observant understanding of characters. There is no plot per se but curiosity about the narrator carries the reader along.

I think a trilogy is too much, she said to me. I really only have enough material for two and a half books.I said maybe the missing half isn't missing but lost.I'll publish three anyway, she continued. It will delight the many people in my life who have chosen to root for NY failure.I looked to the window, the sky turned grey.I bought a book about robots.

The condition of the ordered book was very poor though it was supposed to be a new copy.

Geweldig rijk aan sociaalpsychologisch gedoe

A novel that doesn't just give you the answers but that makes you think about life, communication, the role of the writer, observer; and about women and their lives. First book I have read by Cusk and I finished it thinking, "I will read that again one day andfind more within it."

très bien écrit, mais pas de story telling

What a strange and compelling force runs through this, the third in Cusk's trilogy. There is no discernible plot to any of the narratives, more a picaresque cameo of the thoughts and experiences of various characters delivered to us in meandering fashion by the narrator, who reveals some details of her own life. Told in a languid and hypnotic style the narrative left me feeling I haven't heard everything but will have to go back to book 1 and start again. These are narratives that can be opened randomly and something complete will reveal itself; sharp and sometimes mournful insights into the human soul.