Test Run Librarian

Book Review: The Tattooed Girl by J.C. Oates. Interesting read, and I appreciate Oates' awkward attempts at portraying the dark side of human nature. However, I am not sure if she fully understands it. The character of Alma, who is anti-Semitic, ignorant 'white trash' from rural Pennsylvania -- has these disfiguring tattoos on her face and body, and their origin is never fully explained. This strikes me as laziness on the part of the writer. While I can understand that a person such as Alma (whom I don't really know because her character is flat, one-sided, and undeveloped) would not remember where she got these tattoos -- this is the stuff of real life, not fiction. A writer doesn't enter an idea into the realm of fiction without having a point. The tattoos should be explained in full, or Alma should have some startling revelation about them that supports the themes of the novel, but she never does.

Like other Oates' novels, this one engaged me at the beginning. Oates is a great writer, despite her overuse of adjectives and lack of commas (where were the copy editors? does she have so much celebrity that her STETS are heeded at the wrong times?). But the novel just falls apart towards the end, and I just don't care what happens to the characters. I am not moved, but I should be. I also wonder if Oates' use of the Holocaust in the novel is offensive to Jewish people, as she never fully develops that theme either?

posted by Amanda @ Sunday, May 30, 2004