Fiction

Mona: A Novel

Mona: A Novel

  • Downloads：7047
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-04-18 08:51:52
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Pola Oloixarac
  • ISBN：1250829577
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

From the critically acclaimed author of Savage Theories and Dark Constellations comes Pola Oloixarac’s Mona， where success as a "writer of color" proves to be a fresh hell for a young Latin American woman at a literary conference in Sweden。

Mona， a Peruvian writer based in California， presents a tough and sardonic exterior。 She likes drugs and cigarettes， and when she learns that she is something of an anthropological curiosity—a woman writer of color treasured at her university for the flourish of rarefied diversity she brings—she pokes fun at American academic culture and its fixation on identity。

When she is nominated for “the most important literary award in Europe，” Mona sees a chance to escape her downward spiral of sunlit substance abuse and erotic distraction， so she trades the temptations of California for a small， gray village in Sweden， close to the Arctic Circle。 Now she is stuck in the company of all her jet-lagged—and mostly male—competitors， arriving from Japan， France， Armenia， Iran， and Colombia。 Isolated as they are， the writers do what writers do: exchange compliments， nurse envy and private resentments， stab rivals in the back， and hop in bed together。 All the while， Mona keeps stumbling across the mysterious traces of a violence she cannot explain。

As her adventures in Scandinavia unfold， Mona finds that she has not so much escaped her demons as locked herself up with them in the middle of nowhere。 In Mona， Pola Oloixarac paints a hypnotic， scabrous， and ultimately jaw-dropping portrait of a woman facing down a hipster elite to which she does and does not belong。 A survivor of both patronization and bizarre sexual encounters， Mona is a new kind of feminist。 But her past won’t stay past， and strange forces are working to deliver her the test of a lifetime。

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Reviews

Em H。 ，

Unsure whether listening to this on audiobook was the best way for me to read this novel。 I read it in one sitting， but it's a haze––a strange fever dream。 I don't think I could name most of the characters or really what happened。 Did I like this？ No idea， so I'm not going to rate it。 Some of the satirical looks at those in the literary field are both hilarious and true。 Some are absurd。 And that ending though。 I dunno。 This is a weird one。 I could see myself rereading this and feeling like I wa Unsure whether listening to this on audiobook was the best way for me to read this novel。 I read it in one sitting， but it's a haze––a strange fever dream。 I don't think I could name most of the characters or really what happened。 Did I like this？ No idea， so I'm not going to rate it。 Some of the satirical looks at those in the literary field are both hilarious and true。 Some are absurd。 And that ending though。 I dunno。 This is a weird one。 I could see myself rereading this and feeling like I was reading it for the first time。 。。。more

Knitterknitted ，

I read it。 That's about all I can say about it。 I found it tedious， disjointed and even though it's shy of 200 pages， it was so slow， it felt like I had read my way through the entire Encyclopaedia Britanica。 Though there is one upside， the cover art is fabulous！ I read it。 That's about all I can say about it。 I found it tedious， disjointed and even though it's shy of 200 pages， it was so slow， it felt like I had read my way through the entire Encyclopaedia Britanica。 Though there is one upside， the cover art is fabulous！ 。。。more

Kennedy Parrish ，

someone called this "insufferable hot girl lit" and that about sums it up someone called this "insufferable hot girl lit" and that about sums it up 。。。more

Hazel ，

I just don’t get it？ What is the ending？ This is somehow so disjointed and so together I simply don’t understand

Charlotte Edmond ，

this was a solid 3 stars until the last 10 pages slapped me in the face。

Marc Nash ，

Video review https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=Nbw7_。。。 Video review https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=Nbw7_。。。 。。。more

Rogue Male ，

7/10

Elizabeth Anwen ，

I have no idea how I feel about this book。It was intense and at times difficult to read， I feel like the beginning started strongly and it wavered in the middle。 I think too much was being attempted but still a strong read。

Eloise Nickson ，

a whole fever dream

Ani ，

The language the author uses is truly rich and rather poetic。 It expressed dark， strong， and beautiful feelings in the most realistic yet creative way。 However， I had difficulty following the storyline at times。 It felt as if there was a mixture of styles of writing which made it hard to understand the idea being pursued。

krystal ･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ，

this felt kind of like a book that only extremely stupid or extremely intelligent people could enjoy- either way， it was definitely a little ridiculous。 despite this， it was entertaining， and， at the risk of sounding like literally every book review ever， felt incredibly human and real。pola aloixarac is ridiculously smart。 i don’t think anyone can dispute that after having read this book- she weaves it into every page。 the main character， mona， can talk about her labia for an entire page and the this felt kind of like a book that only extremely stupid or extremely intelligent people could enjoy- either way， it was definitely a little ridiculous。 despite this， it was entertaining， and， at the risk of sounding like literally every book review ever， felt incredibly human and real。pola aloixarac is ridiculously smart。 i don’t think anyone can dispute that after having read this book- she weaves it into every page。 the main character， mona， can talk about her labia for an entire page and then suddenly slip in this incredibly deep thought that makes you feel guilty about judging her for talking about her vagina so much， as if a woman can’t be emotionally complex， intelligent， and masturbate。this book is peak “cool girl” literary fiction。 satirical， artsy cover， themes of sex and mental illness and drugs and writing， and a slightly unlikeable but somehow relatable main character。 what i can say with absolute certainty is that i’m intrigued by miss oloixarac and will most definitely be reading some of her other work。 （ps。 i definitely should mention there’s a scene roughly in the middle that felt weirdly fatphobic， i’m not sure if i just missed the point of the scene but it really threw me off and felt a little too personal and specific to just be an example of mona’s character and not a reflection of the author’s genuine thoughts。 lol） 。。。more

Matthew Ted ，

36th book of 2022。 3。5。 In the same way novels by black writers are always called ‘raw’ or ‘visceral’ （something I’ve discussed before）， I’m now getting sick of novels by women being called ‘sly’， as if female intelligence can only manifest itself in the form of sneakiness。 There are the other usual suspects too: ‘spiky’， ‘wicked’， and ‘bitter’。 It occurs to me that negative words are often used to positively describe a woman’s novel。 Take a look at those words and then compare them to the prais 36th book of 2022。 3。5。 In the same way novels by black writers are always called ‘raw’ or ‘visceral’ （something I’ve discussed before）， I’m now getting sick of novels by women being called ‘sly’， as if female intelligence can only manifest itself in the form of sneakiness。 There are the other usual suspects too: ‘spiky’， ‘wicked’， and ‘bitter’。 It occurs to me that negative words are often used to positively describe a woman’s novel。 Take a look at those words and then compare them to the praise quotes on novels written by men that happen to be within reach around me: ‘Profound’， Proust; ‘Powerful’， ‘extraordinarily prescient’， Ballard; ‘Glorious’， Pynchon; ‘Important’， Rushdie。 What’s that all about？ Anyway， the worst quote is by Lauren Oyler who wrote the terrible book Fake Accounts， which despite being marketed well， has ended up with a fitting 2。95 average rating here on Goodreads （for once indicative of a book’s worth， usually I pay ratings no heed）， who said， ‘Very funny and very fuck-you。’ Whatever that means。 The best quote for this book is probably by Atlantic which says it’s like ‘Rachel Cusk’s Kudos on drugs。’ Mona wastes time somehow despite being shy of 200 pages but is a rewarding read。 It’s full of witty lines like， ‘Mona had grown up in an environment where all the straight boys were devotees of Norman Mailer， committed to the belief that “tough guys don’t dance”’ and has a number of literary references throughout。 Mona， drugged-up （mostly Valium）， is attending a Swedish village where she awaits the verdict of ‘the most important literary award in Europe’ with a number of other writers on the shortlist。 There are long speeches， descriptions of light hitting the fjords， lots of sex， a fair few pills， it is Cuskian in many ways。 All the while she has bruises all over her body and she can’t remember why; as per usual， the theme of repression runs high: I’ve mentioned this countless times but there really aren’t many contemporary novels that don’t seem to deal with repression。 Anyway， despite every popular book these days written by a woman （though this was originally published in Spanish in 2019）， being ‘sly’ and ‘ruthless’， Mona lived up a little to the overused adjectives。 I’d urge others to read it just for the absolutely wild， out of nowhere， off-kilter ending which， frankly， just left me a little flabbergasted。 Here are two quotes I highlighted for whatever reason to finish。 There’s more I just can’t find them。 “The whole Thomas Bernhard thing fits them pretty well， for one: long paragraphs that hammer away at the same thing over and over。 Anyone who reads too much of it in one go starts to lose their mind， I think。 That’s why it’s funny that Thomas Bernhard has so many iimitators in Latin America—unbelievable， really。 Whenever somebody gets depressed， you know， it’s like they have an interna sensor that tells them: ‘Do your Thomas Bernhard imitation。 It’ll be great: you’ll see。 It’ll be “literary” and give everyone the impression you’re actually saying something important。’”After all， Beckett， like Heidegger， was basically a self-help writer for the intellectual class—and today’s intellectuals seemed ready to ingest mountains of far more solid and pernicious excrement。 The idea that the Author was well and truly dead， that there could be no more valid interpretation of texts， that everything must mean something different depending on who’s doing the reading—it was the intellectual justification for the present crisis of meaning in the #fakenews media and in democracy more generally。 Pretending that the nonsense intellectuals discussed among themselves remained limited to their caste， a rarefied discourse that would never spill over into the rest of the world—it was complete bullshit。 The ivory tower was constantly being looted。 。。。more

Faith Geiger ，

idk I wasn’t smart enough for this one

Kirsty Potter ，

conflicted！ All the writers' interactions and pseudo-intellectualist musings were so well-written， full of literary references and really funny， but I felt like a lot of the other ideas of the novel were half-formed and the ending was very rushed conflicted！ All the writers' interactions and pseudo-intellectualist musings were so well-written， full of literary references and really funny， but I felt like a lot of the other ideas of the novel were half-formed and the ending was very rushed 。。。more

Erin Astin ，

Acerbic and self-reflexively pretentious。 A novel for writers and women on the brink of destruction

Zak ，

Apart from some real deep cuts to the established order of literary festivals and awards ceremonies， with some intriguing and deeper cuts to the social media boom and its disadvantages to the creative id and flow， the book is meh。 The book is repetitive and not as scathing nor funny and definitely not as affecting as so many have made this out to be。 The final chapter is tonally out of place， feels drab and cheap， in its supposed metaphors and philosophical pondering， falling into some weird Nor Apart from some real deep cuts to the established order of literary festivals and awards ceremonies， with some intriguing and deeper cuts to the social media boom and its disadvantages to the creative id and flow， the book is meh。 The book is repetitive and not as scathing nor funny and definitely not as affecting as so many have made this out to be。 The final chapter is tonally out of place， feels drab and cheap， in its supposed metaphors and philosophical pondering， falling into some weird Nordic horror novel。 It is a really disappointing read。 Some of the prose is weighty and contemporary and relevant， but it isn't as surreal and edgy as it likes to think it is。 Give this a miss。 。。。more

Fraser Simons ，

An absolutely brilliant exercise in obfuscation reminiscent of Nobakov。 Mona is basically a character that， were she a man—and she has， I’m sure intentionally， all of the hallmarks of that classic male author that is continually venerated for toxic qualities—would absolutely be more acceptable and relatable。 Which is why she is a woman。 Absolutely everything about her is made to provoke a negative reaction from the reader， when really it’s just the inclusion of the qualities people would attribu An absolutely brilliant exercise in obfuscation reminiscent of Nobakov。 Mona is basically a character that， were she a man—and she has， I’m sure intentionally， all of the hallmarks of that classic male author that is continually venerated for toxic qualities—would absolutely be more acceptable and relatable。 Which is why she is a woman。 Absolutely everything about her is made to provoke a negative reaction from the reader， when really it’s just the inclusion of the qualities people would attribute a person as a “ real character” in reality。 There’s an unwillingness to dwell to much or too deeply in the personal。 A number of vices on an endless chain of self medicating and maneuvering。 But she’s also incredibly intelligent and is an active participant in the thing she hates most: the literary “scene” as it has now become。 Because there’s absolutely an elephant in the room: America。 Never really acknowledged， but always present， as she rails against ideas orbiting what we’d call identity politics。 I don’t think Americans realize just how much of their culture they export。 As a Canadian it is just constant。 We see more news about America than Canada on social media now。 They’re The Show， and that’s completely intentional。 Some literature interrogate aspects of this， most self evident in the onslaught of death of the American dream narratives。 Where immigrants buy into the idea of America only to enter the churn。 The literary scene is no different。 It’s not immune to internalizing culture purportedly to be avant garde and progressive， but is merely the newest exercise in exclusion and policing the culture of literally every single other country。 Mona is the anthesis of this even as she plays into it out of necessity。 The choices are to be in the game， hustling and engaging in performativism… or not published not known not eating。 Simultaneously， the self medicating is in tandem with the social critique that I felt was on point and effective satire。 Sure， it offends western culture。 But it ought to。 We have little to no control over our own narratives with social media and the rules of American civility fetishism and the way in which The Conversation must take place。 It all comes to a head in a beautiful confluence of themes and notions bombarding the reader while it effectively points out that we generally all spend our time in a performative dance， completely， willfully， subscribed to Missing The Point。 。。。more

Roberta Berardi ，

What a disaster！

Sydney ，

this was a no for me dawg （love the cover and design tho！！）

Erin Corry ，

Rounding up from 4。5 its a translation with a slightly ambiguous ending in my opinion fun variety of characters peppered in heavy， awkward， uncomfortable situations a nice mix of light and dark kept me entertained and reading （ebook alongside audiobook）

rachel ，

The sense you'd get from the plot summary， that Mona is a hazy， drug-fueled satire of the global literary world， shot through with lots of sex， is accurate。 But after a promising opening leading up to Mona's arrival at the festival， the book kind of becomes a referential hipster mess itself， all thought but little insight。 From what I know of the literary community， it is very possible that this was the intent; intentional or not， I could not wait to be done。 The sense you'd get from the plot summary， that Mona is a hazy， drug-fueled satire of the global literary world， shot through with lots of sex， is accurate。 But after a promising opening leading up to Mona's arrival at the festival， the book kind of becomes a referential hipster mess itself， all thought but little insight。 From what I know of the literary community， it is very possible that this was the intent; intentional or not， I could not wait to be done。 。。。more

Sara ，

3，75 ⭐️

Rachel Bartz ，

quick and interesting， although a bit overwritten at times。 this is a tough criticism to make considering this is a translation， so i can only speak for the english text

Siewling Seet ，

wait…… ……。。 …。 … WHAT。。？？

Veronica Watson ，

This is a novel that juxtaposes wildly dispirit moods， contrasting gossipy camp with surprising existential depth， overt， even crass sexuality with painful feminine habitation， the ridiculous caricature of humanity with the otherworldly surreal。 （Wait until that final chapter） The protagonist is hard and yet vulnerable， desired and despised， belonging and Othered and she's described with such tender sincerity。。。 I found her character the best part of the novel。 I waited patiently for her talk on This is a novel that juxtaposes wildly dispirit moods， contrasting gossipy camp with surprising existential depth， overt， even crass sexuality with painful feminine habitation， the ridiculous caricature of humanity with the otherworldly surreal。 （Wait until that final chapter） The protagonist is hard and yet vulnerable， desired and despised， belonging and Othered and she's described with such tender sincerity。。。 I found her character the best part of the novel。 I waited patiently for her talk on the Amazonian， ready to read what she had to say。 I don't suspect this read will immediately captures most people because it's so strange and unapologetic in it's mixture。 I found it a very heady cocktail。 The writing is a touch too much and it slides just slightly into the pretentious （or adolescent）。 There's an all too feeling earnest depressed quality， as the young or the artistic can be。 It's like summer camp for adult writers and there's stereotypes galore and there are absurd scenes that defy everydayness。 Literature is Literature with that capital "L"。 Plenty to amusedly sniff at and still， I liked it。 Perhaps， because I'm pretentious and at heart， rather dramatically adolescent。 。。。more

Hope Fincham ，

TW for this book r*pe

Torrin Nelson ，

Huh。

Julia Taylor ，

I’m not smart enough to understand this book。 Cool sea monster though

Ella Dixon ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 this book is for the girlies who love to read fucked up stories about writers who write。 it follows Mona， a young Peruvian writer nominated for a prestigious European literary award in Stockholm。 she， along with her twelve competitors， deliver speeches about writing and attempt to say something novel about their “monstrous” devotion to the written word。 mona experiences the Meeting， as it is called in the book， through confusing observations and hazy recollections of the events just before she l this book is for the girlies who love to read fucked up stories about writers who write。 it follows Mona， a young Peruvian writer nominated for a prestigious European literary award in Stockholm。 she， along with her twelve competitors， deliver speeches about writing and attempt to say something novel about their “monstrous” devotion to the written word。 mona experiences the Meeting， as it is called in the book， through confusing observations and hazy recollections of the events just before she left for Sweden。 i loved the refrain of “how long do bruises last” and it was clear something fucked up happened but it wasn’t revealed until like 20 pages before the end and it made me read the beginning in a different way。 it also made the beginning make less sense which was troublesome。 the thing i loved most about this novel is that it felt like the satirical twitter account i made with a writer friend of mine in high school。 we were poking fun at a poet darling that also attended the workshop where we met and also the mansplainers who told us what we were saying in our work。 marco， in particular， did this in Mona and i thought some of the funniest parts addressed the fucked-upedness of literary academia and what we praise as high art。 one character， in their keynote， said that art cannot exist without hate。 we discover true art only by scoffing at things we believe are beneath us。 also， in the first chapter， mona talks about how prestigious institutions of higher learning， in an attempt to counteract past racist behaviors， bestow a certain status on academics willing to exploit their own backgrounds as a distinguishing mark and omen for success。 mona’s relationship to sex and drugs felt very similar to that of an ottessa moshfegh character and the layout of the story felt similar as well。 i am excited to see what else pola writes and i hope all of it has a cover as delicious as this one。 。。。more

Rachel ，

Blue Velvet vibes especially at the end but maybe I am only saying that because I just watched the film last night。 Very unsettling。 another unreliable woman narrator my fave

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Mona: A Novel

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Mona: A Novel&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Mona: A Novel&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0