Blonde begins with a hallucinatory prologue during which Loss of life takes the type of a bicycle messenger threading his method via visitors to an handle the place the occupant is recorded as “MM”. Joyce Carol Oates’s “radically distilled” tackle Marilyn Monroe’s life – a movie of which involves Netflix this month – delves deep into the actor’s early years when she was nonetheless referred to as Norma Jeane, depicting a wretched childhood marked by a narcissistic, alcoholic mom; spells in an orphanage and a foster residence; and marriage at 16. From there we comply with her rise to fame, her largely sad relationships and her marriages to “the Ex-Athlete” (Joe DiMaggio) and “the Playwright” (Arthur Miller).
The narration is by Jayne Atkinson, who resists the urge to ham up Monroe’s famously breathy voice, and who conveys the actor’sMonroe’s ambition, vulnerability and anxious relationship along with her public persona. Oates’s novel was criticised when it was revealed in 2000 for its blurring of truth and fiction. At present, although, it feels remarkably forward of its time in its depictions of institutional misogyny, outrageous abuses of energy, and a younger girl struggling to remain afloat in an trade that cares little for her psychological wellbeing.
The audiobook additionally incorporates a postscript during which Oates is interviewed by the literary critic Michael Silverblatt. Oates displays on Monroe’s elementary understanding of her personal exploitation and “her deep and profound masochism, as if she’s saying: ‘I gained’t intervene with the world’s victimisation of me. I’ll see how far it’s going to take me.’”
Additional listening
Godmersham Park
Gill Hornby, Penguin Audio, 10hr 58 min
Bessie Carter narrates this story a couple of Nineteenth-century governess who takes a job within the grand nation residence of Jane Austen’s elder brother Edward.
The Salt Path
Raynor Winn, Penguin Audio, 9hr 1 min
This shifting memoir a couple of couple who lose their residence and discover refuge in nature is learn by the writer.
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