Matrix

A Novel

No cover

Lauren Groff: Matrix (Paperback, 2022, Riverhead Books)

Paperback, 272 pages

Published Sept. 6, 2022 by Riverhead Books.

ISBN:
978-1-59463-450-5
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4 stars (28 reviews)

10 editions

Matrix, by Lauren Groff

2 stars

Fellow readers, I have to admit that I am baffled by this book. I don’t understand why Matrix, by Lauren Groff, was such a hit with readers and critics. Most of the critics included in the Book Marks round-up I linked to in the previous sentence rave about Groff’s use of language and its feminist take on life at a medieval convent but, for me, this book runs afoul of Kurt Vonnegut’s first rule of writing: “Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.” I was so baffled by two decisions Groff made in this book that I feel, in the end, my time has been wasted...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.

reviewed Matrix by Lauren Groff

La vie imaginée de Marie de France

No rating

On ne sait quasiment rien de la vie de Marie de France, première poétesse de langue francaise à la fin du 12e siècle. Aussi Lauren Groff lui a inventé une biographie. Mise de force dans une abbaye anglaise miséreuse par Alienor d'aquitaine, Marie va vite prendre en main le développement du lieu, le sortir de la pauvreté et en faire un refuge pour les femmes, bloquant tout accès à l'abbaye pour les hommes, jusqu'à devenir une menace pour l'ordre en pratiquant des tâches normalement interdites aux hommes.

Derrière ce récit d'une vie illuminée (Marie se sert de visions divines dont on ne sait si elle y croit pour imposer le développement de l'abbaye) l'autrice invente une communauté de femmes utilisant la religion pour se protéger et développer une véritable sororité entre elles, abrités derrière une sorte de Brienne de Torth ayant rejoint les ordres. Sous sa nature forte et inflexible, …

holy wowww

5 stars

I am bad at titling my reviews but “holy wowwww” seems to cover it. I loved this. The story of Marie, her efforts to turn the dismal abbey into a fortress, the struggle to defy patriarchy, the love for her sisters that turns into holy love, the carnal and secular love for her various lovers that also becomes holy, just the whole thing. Part way through I came across a review that was so dismissive and childish that it raised all my hackles and the ways in which that review has been bothering me helps me understand why I loved this book so much. If you can’t handle nuance, if you’re not open to the long history of women struggling against what they’re told to believe, then this book is definitely not for you. But it’s full of rage and anger and beauty and love.

holy wowwwww

5 stars

I am bad at titling my reviews but “holy wowwww” seems to cover it. I loved this. The story of Marie, her efforts to turn the dismal abbey into a fortress, the struggle to defy patriarchy, the love for her sisters that turns into holy love, the carnal and secular love for her various lovers that also becomes holy, just the whole thing. Part way through I came across a review that was so dismissive and childish that it raised all my hackles and the ways in which that review has been bothering me helps me understand why I loved this book so much. If you can’t handle nuance, if you’re not open to the long history of women struggling against what they’re told to believe, then this book is definitely not for you. But it’s full of rage and anger and beauty and love.

Sadly usual anachronical vision of the middle-ages

2 stars

Very well written with a vocabulary that does make you feel you're somewhere around 1160. But the premises of the novel are not very believable. For instance the hero, a 16 years old teenager doesn't believe in God. Don't forget that not only was the church back then very powerful and very present in everyday life (mass every day, many saints birth and death days were celebrated every week) but also science was obviously still in infancy which means that people back then didn't have obvious explanations for many aspects of life such as illnesses and natural events such as floods, forest fires, etc. Believing in God then was easy and not believing was not very likely. Add to that the fact the this young lady transforms an abbey from starting to super rich with nuns fighting and winning against villagers and you realize that this doesn't make for a …

Review of 'Matrix' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

 The blurbs on book jackets aren't usually interesting or trustworthy, but the ones on the hardback edition of [a:Lauren Groff|690619|Lauren Groff|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1330389831p2/690619.jpg]'s [b:Matrix|57185348|Matrix|Lauren Groff|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1617287438l/57185348.SY75.jpg|87447766], which refer to earlier works, defined the writing in this book for me:

"Groff is an original writer, whose books are daringly nonconformist....The prose is not only beautiful and vigorously alert; it insists on its own heroic registration." —The New Yorker
"Groff's command of allusions, imagery, and the puzzle pieces of her characters and plot thrill."
—The Boston Globe

(If I used a phrase like "vigorously alert" everyone would call me a pretentious jerk and they'd be right to do so.)
It would help in reading this is you had some knowledge of church words used in 1200 A.D. and what was going on between England and France at that time, but there're no holes you can't fill with a few online searches and even …

Review of 'Matrix' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

Little interior and even less respite, trading empathy for majesty. Didn't so much propel but thunder, the surf fierce against black cliffs wet with wind and rain before the dark. 

Review of 'Matrix' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

I had no expectations when I started reading this book and knew nothing about it beyond it being historical fiction by Lauren Groff. 
And it proved to be an utter joy to read the story of Marie and her life at the abbey. The lyricism of Lauren Groff’s writing is undeniable and sweeps you along as she tells this stunning tale of a young woman cast out from the royal court. 
The cast of nuns she shares the abbey with are a joy and you cannot help but be caught up in their lives. 

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