I haven't read a lot of Mary Gaitskill. In fact, her short story, "Girl on the Plane," is the only other Gaitskill work I've read. Based on the strength of that story, however, I picked up this novel. I had some reservations because I normally don't like sex in fiction (I also don't like to read about drug use and rock & roll) -- and Gaitskill relies on sex and S&M heavily in her works. It's as if she has no other lens through which to explore her themes. No matter. Her writing chops made the sex bits tolerable.Two Girls, Fat and Thin is a study of the glory, integrity, and power of the individual over the weak collective, the rational over the emotional, and mutual satisfaction. She explores these themes through the contrasting characters of Dorothy Never (the "Fat" in the title) and Justine Shade ("Thin") in three parts. Part One is a brief 30-page introduction to their initial meeting and establishes the "frame" of the novel. In order to write an article about the famous Anna Granite (a fictional version of Ayn Rand), Justine meets and interviews Dorothy to flesh out Granite's elitism philosophy and get a sense of what her followers are like. Part Two details the early years (birth to high school/college) in roughly 130 pages. Part Three returns to the present action "frame" as we see Justine and Dorothy go through their lives, in 130 pages. The chapters alternate in POV -- Dorothy's chapters in 1st person POV and Justin's in 3rd person. As the book nears the end, each chapter includes both Dorothy's 1st person and Justin's 3rd person -- a kind of melding as the two characters figuratively collide. The gem of this novel lies in Part Two, the early years, as Gaitskill skillfully fleshes out the Justine and Dorothy characters in all their painful and glorious detail. Their upbringing explains so much and yet, ironically, so little. The frame of this novel -- Parts One and Three -- was weak. But I find this to be true of many novels. See, e.g., A.S. Byatt's Possession. Lots and lots of movie plots also fall into this category. See, e.g., Titanic. While the backstory was spellbinding, the present day interactions of Dorothy and Justine in Philadelphia were "bleh." All they did was sit around and talk. When there was any action, it was of sex and S&M. Indeed, the ending felt artificial and almost Hollywood-like as we see an angry Dorothy race across town to confront Justine.An aside: When I picked up Two Girls, Fat and Thin, I was reading Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections. I was so bogged down during the first 100 pages of Franzen's book that I picked up Gaitskill's book, which made for a more joyous read -- despite my reservations about sex in fiction.There were times when the book dragged, especially during lengthy discussions of Anna Granite's philosophy. I understand that Gaitskill felt it necessary to explore Granite's Definitist philosophy. However, I was muttering "Enough already!" at times. The ending was utterly unsatisfying and rushed/forced. Despite these hangups, Part Two made this book worthwhile for me.Overall, a wonderful book. I look forward to reading her allegedly greater work, Veronica.
I had some fixed ideas about what this book would be about when I started it. I thought it would be about Ayn Rand, and I thought it would be about sexual abuse. And I guess it sort of is, but I think that these descriptions do not do it justice.In fact, what it seems to me the novel is really about is cruelty. Cruelty and weakness. Cruelty and weakness as they are somehow inscribed into the very fabric of society, of school, of families, of sex, of children. Of course, Ayn Rand is about that too, but I don't know that the point of this book is so much to satirize her, as it is to explain why people would come to be fascinated with her, even worshipful. There may not be a lot of empathy toward Rand, but there is a great deal of empathy towards those who read her, and the idea of "satire" does not really capture that expansive work. Likewise, with sexual abuse, it is certainly a feature of the experience of the two girls of the title, but it is inscribed within so many other kinds of cruelty and neglect and systematic suffering that saying the book is about sexual abuse seems to me to somehow miss the point. It's about abuse, some of which is sexual in nature, and which is pervasive and all-encompassing and inescapable. This is my second Gaitskill, and I wonder why she does not have a larger place in our conversations about literature. Reading her is not really comfortable, and I don't think everyone will like her, but what she writes seems to me to stand on its own, and to fill a space of things we don't necessarily talk much about. Perhaps the problem is with my own reading, rather than the larger conversation, I don't know.
What do You think about Two Girls, Fat And Thin (1998)?
It's always Gaitskill's observant writing, her sexy smarts that make her novels & stories so worthwhile. Tw Girls, Fat and Thin is engaging more because of the fascinating development of the characters's backstories and lives and for the singsong moments of her writing than any grand gesture or meaning, but is a fast and addictive read of escapism. As always, her depiction of sadomasochism veers toward the subversive, always with very very damaged characters (a bit ironic considering the specific backstories of these two girls in particular...), and as a good portion of the novel is spend on the development of their childhood and adolescent, particularly biting moments of cruelty or sexuality, it seems to make too much of a point of adult personality reflected back on history, and at times the history seems a bit predictably shocking, as the combination of youth and sex always are.Nevertheless, glimpses of tenderness and her sharp words make it an enjoyable read.
—Laura Yan
Wow. Gaitskill writes about subjects that you wouldn't ever think you'd want to read about: incest, child sexual abuse, rape, sadomasochism, and sexual humiliation, in a manner that is psychologically incisive and rings true. If you can stomach the unbearably graphic scenes, the sheer beauty of her writing will keep you turning the pages. Her two protagonists are lonely, afraid, hurting, and highly intelligent. Makes you just want to give them a big hug, although they'd just reject it. I didn't, however, understand Gaitskill's alternation between the 1st person narration of Dorothy Never and the 3rd person narration of Justine Shade. Both women are given pretty much the same narrative voice (although different stories), so it was too easy to confuse them. For that, I took away a star.
—Ramona
I don't know if anyone else could have pulled off this book. The plot (a journalist interviewing a devotee of an Ayn-Rand-esque author/philosopher) and theme (aforementioned philosophy) aren't the most interesting things on earth, and the characters aren't particularly likeable, but what kept me reading is just the depth and weirdness that Mary Gaitskill brings to her writing. Insights into the female mind, explications of pain. I haven't seen any other literary writers do it quite like she does.
—Vani
