Lapvona

By: Ottessa Moshfegh

Narrated by: Ottessa Moshfegh

Brought to you by Penguin.

In the land of Lapvona, the lord of the land Villiam is cheating the local villagers of their food, their water, their livelihoods. Grotesque and ridiculous, he marries the pregnant and tongueless ex-nun Agata, whom he believes will make him God, and his son will be the second Christ.

It's a land of murder, cannibalism, incest and rape. Despite all of the characters' individual inadequacies and madness, you find yourself completely engrossed in each character's fate, be it Marek, Jude, Agata, Villiam, Lispeth, Ina, Father Barnabas. It's an anti-fairytale within a fairytale—maybe this is what hell on earth looks like? Is it an indictment of humanity, of religion, of grotesque despots?

An original work of brilliance—singular, funny, horrifying and entertaining in equal measure.

©2022 Ottessa Moshfegh (P)2022 Penguin Audio

I liked it

The reviews over at Goodreads tell you that this book is disgusting and horrifying, even gag inducing. I don't know what these people have been reading because that isn't my impression. It certainly isn't PG by any means, but I didn't feel horrified or even close to vomiting. It has a "Game of Thrones" feel to it. Which I quite enjoyed. It also is not for someone that holds their faith in a god dear, because this book lays open the hypocrisy of religious leaders. The prose is lyrical, the narrator does a fine job. The "grape scene" is revolting but shows the disparity of power and how people accept their "station in life". I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to most of my friends.

Savage allegory

Very interesting read to think about late capitalism and what it does to humans. Almost everyone in Lapvona is both a perpetrator and a victim of horrible crimes, but they are unable to change the way the system works.