Ottessa Moshfegh | Power, Cruelty, and Savage Faith | Edinburgh International Book Festival

[@razr4730]

Ottessa Moshfegh inspires teenagers with angst and guilt around the world! thank you so much!

[@bobbykeniston7240]

What a wonderful discussion! "Lapvona'" one of my favorite reads from last year, and, being my first experience with Ottessa Moshfegh, inspired me to go back and read more of her work. I am also hoping to read Heather Parry's "Orpheus Builds a Girl" sometime soon, as I have heard great things!

[@officialnicholas1]

This fit is fire and the interviewer did a great job having this convo.

[@riyasharma8767]

loved this!

[@in6087]

I thought Lapvona was a great book. I loved the way we got into the heads and into the thinking of these chronologically and geographically distant (from me) characters. I thought all their reasoning felt well-grounded and rooted in their own beliefs and experiences. They felt distinct and real. I think I’m gonna re-read it (he said, for the interest of no one).

[@girlmeetstheunseen]

Thanks for the video ! Nevertheless it's a pity we didn't get an interview containing spoilers, it would have taken the conversation way further...

[@ML-yw4hv]

❤❤❤

[@bennyd6636]

Behind all the gore, brutality and bleakness- the novel ends with ONE message which is simply ‘open your heart and let God in’.

[@sophiamock5774]

I cant tell if she’s trying not to give too much away and allow us to analyse the book on our own of if she genuinely has no idea what she’s talking about because her ideas are so jumbled, she seems to have had no intentions whatsoever when writing the book she just wrote a thing and is now coming up with the reasoning after the fact

[@ThePortjumper]

I think she's the type of writer where she listens to her creative intuition a lot. You know, just because something isn't initially and intentionally put into a novel by a writer doesn't mean it's nonsensical drivel. Usually, a lot of the complexities in a book can arise unintentionally from exploring vague concepts and/or thematic questions without having too clear of an outline or direction, and honestly letting your unconscious percolate in early drafts. I'm sure a lot of that was hashed out in her roughest drafts and built upon in her edits. She's obviously someone very in-tune with figuratively 'charged' concepts, where the figurative organically forms in her writing -much like Heather pointed out. Examples are like the father replacing his son with his sons murderer - that type of stuff has a lot of figurative potential. So, I'm sure she knows what she's writing about in relation to herself and the vision she has for the book. Also, she's probably just not great at public speaking. She seems like a very introspective, introverted person, and those types tend to struggle in verbalizing sometimes.

[@celam1244]

I've seen her speak vaguely before and it seems to me she doesn't like to disagree with popular narratives, but isn't operating within them, and therefore kind of gives up on trying to explain her unique position.

[@munch314]

Not very eloquent.

[@stephenp1461]

u so judgemental lol

[@adamrara]

is that important?

[@munch314]

@@adamrara yes

[@adamrara]

@@munch314 why

[@griff404]

maybe she finds it easier to express herself through her writing. how many books have you written. jealous bish