Green Girl: A Novel (P.S.)

The story is about a young 20-something American woman, Ruth, who moves to London following a heartbreak, of which the reader is only vaguely informed. In fact, the reader is not really fully aware of most of the "action" in this book; rather, the bulk of this book is snippets of feelings and thoughts. Ruth is going through a dark time, and the tone of the novel reflects her mood perfectly. She is clearly sad and lost, and possible explanations are only gradually exposed. But again, the sad events of her past are only incidentally featured in the story. Her depression holds the story very much in Ruth's present-day life and lingers in every action she takes and every thought she has. She bounces around in a near-aimless existence trying to make sense of her life, and as the reader tries to do the same, the book is really able to make its mark. While reading, this book made me sad. It made me feel sorry for Ruth and sympathize with her but at the same time made me want to pull her up and yell at her to get her life together. I think it's difficult to provoke strong feelings in a reader and this novel does it perfectly. It is a quick read and definitely worth your time.

I think a lot of young women (young people, really) go through unanchored periods in their 20s. Stumbling around trying to figure out who and what we are, what we want, where we belong. Kate Zambreno's Green Girl focuses on this exact time of life. Ruth, an American in her early 20s, is living in London and working at Harrod's, which she's nicknamed Horrid's, selling perfume. Ruth's insecurities about herself and her place in the world are reflected even in what kind of wares she hocks. She's not assigned to the fancy prestige brands, but rather the celebrity scent of a teenage American pop star.Ruth is recovering from the dual shocks of losing her mother and the end of an intense, damaging relationship, and is desperately lonely. She's "friends" of sorts with a young Australian woman who lives down the hall in the rooming house she lives in. There's little real connection between them, but at least it's another person to spend time with. Ruth makes some hesitant stabs at new relationships, but between the two men who both treat her as an object in their own way (one by putting her on a worshipful pedestal, and the other as a muse for his own artistic ambition), she can't actually bond with anyone. She knows she's stuck, but has no idea how to free herself.Green Girl is relatively simple in terms of plot, but I found it challenging in its own way. It's not structured like a typical novel: each section (there are many, I don't believe any are longer than 10 or so pages) is prefaced by a quotation from another author writing about young womanhood. Zambreno's own writing is almost like prose poetry, short interlinked paragraphs that are about as much about the feeling they capture as moving the story forward. It's not even as much a portrait of Ruth as a character as it is a portrait of what it is to be struggling into womanhood in one's early 20s, feeling the openness of one's potential future to be as much threat as promise.I was initially put off by it and was glad that at least it was short so I wouldn't be spending undue amounts of time on something I found alienating, but eventually I got used to its rhythm and once I got there it was hard to put down. Although she's not a strongly drawn character, Ruth's aching sadness comes across so vividly that watching her stumble and make mistakes is heart-wrenching. It's an odd little book, and its flaws (the lack of character development and story structure) are real, but it has power. I'd recommend it if you're down for something a little less conventional or had a messy time of it in your 20s.

This novel reads like a song of a lost American shopgirl Ruth, living in London ever hoping to get something else and disappear in the underground clubs she finds men in with her drunken sex kitten pal Agnes.Ruth paints her pretty face,cuts her blonde hair short,obsesses for fashion in high end department stores, slips into a great depression, and wanders alone in the city streets at night hoping to be invisible.She loves an ecstasy induced high cuddling with Agnes in their pig sty apartment and is always thinking about HIM...her ex lover.Ruth doesn't know who she is or wants to be celebrating.This leaves you turning the pages and leaves you always wanting more. It's about coming of age, femininity, sex, drugs, changing jobs,religion,putting a mask on and freedom.

This novel takes the pedestrian idea of the interior life of the young girl and allows it to soar. The green girl is Ophelia from Hamlet, "You speak like a green girl, unsifted in such perilous circumstances. " She cannot escape from herself and is doomed to observe herself, usually mercilessly, as she searches for the form of herself in her ideal setting. She lurks ambivalently through the "glow of thingness. Everything so beautiful." It is "porn for impressionable women", women such as she.I picked this book up after reading a critique in the flawless "Bad Feminist", and I am beholden for the reference. It is wonderful witty book that achieves what so many fail attempting: it transports the older woman to her past. It has some sting, but it is a careful sting. I winced at times, but it was a good ache from remembered pain. This is a great book.

This book was so profoundly acknowledged in Bad Feminist that I immediately purchased it before I finished reading the chapter. It was kinda sorta disappointed. While it gives a great portrayal of a lot of female situations that are typically ignored in most novels, I feel like there is a lot of over the top things that happen that clash with the aforementioned detail. It also just …ends. I looked around the metro for someone to give me the rest of the book. The whole time I was hoping that she would get with the supporting character…she probably did…I don’t know…Recommendation: It will not add to your life.

This was a very different book to what I was expecting. The writing style is wonderful, though it will take you a few pages to get used to. It is almost reminiscent of a drunk person giving a monologue about their life, and an almost childish way of repeating words and giving things nicknames, both of which helped set the theme of the story.I picked up this book after reading Roxane Gay's 'Bad Feminist', which rates 'Green Girl' highly. For the first few chapters I was feeling glad that I was not the protagonist, Ruth, but getting further into the book I realised, almost uncomfortably, the many similarities between myself and her, and that perhaps I too am a 'Green Girl'.The descriptions of sex and drugs used in the book are almost uncomfortable in that Zambreno so accurately describes the feelings and the shocking complacency of Ruth as she finds herself in often questionable situations. Descriptions of her everyday life are similar, and it's almost hard to imagine what it would be like having a conversation with Ruth, as she seems intelligent and ignorant at the same time. She accepts every situation she finds herself in. At times she seems like a mean girl, and at others a lost girl, and indeed this is the life of the modern female. We are often both at different times. We may seem friendly and intelligent on the surface, yet we may be scathing and ridiculous in our minds.Green Girl is such an accurate description of real life it's almost frightening.

Really really excellent book, a must read!

Loved it! Was feeling inquisitive and that's how I ended up reading this. Not my usual choice but I think that's why I enjoyed it. You have to think about the characters and imagine a lot. Highly recommended.

A fabulous book that I devoured within a day. Completely absorbing. Like a more modern Sylvia Plath.

I sort of loved this book even though it is not a happy story. I couldn't put it down.