Max Porter’s book, “Grief is the Thing with Feathers,” follows a man who is a scholar, romantic and father of two young boys, simply known as Dad, as he tries to navigate the world following his wife’s sudden, accidental death.
Shortly following the death in the family, an enigmatic figure only referred to as Crow barges his way into the lives of the main characters. Crow is portrayed to be a literal and metaphorical embodiment of grief. As the family struggles to cope with the passing of their wife and mother, Crow forces himself into their lives, becoming an antagonist, trickster, protector, therapist and babysitter to the family.
I personally liked this book. I think it works well as a polyphonic fable and an essay on grief, all while disguising itself as a gothic novel about a tortured author and his family. However, there are a few parts in this book that were difficult to get through, with the most noticeable being Crow’s monologues. Most of the time whenever Crow begins speaking it feels as though he is just spitting out word salad, and you’d be better off just skipping to the end of the monologue and carrying on with the book.
Overall, I did like this book, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in weird, fantasy literature.
Rating: 7/10
