This post is on the review of Outline by Rachel Cusk
The beginning of the novel
After separation, Faye goes into her world and disappears from her outside life. It’s not as painful that being in the present. Faye’s story begins to unfold as she embarks on a trip to Greece in order to give a writing class. On the way, she meets many other people with tales to tell – stories that are very similar to her own. Through their words, the outline of Faye’s self is more clear while she eludes away from the story.
Outline (2014) is an extraordinary fictional work that Rachel Cusk creates a narrative in which both she and her narrator seem to be in a state of utter absence while simultaneously present. Cusk has been through the rigors of writing a straight honest autobiography without flinching in the past Autofiction is like a smart choice and a chance to challenge and deflect all at once.
The slackness of Faye could be an expression of society’s wish that women live their lives in a quiet manner. However, neither Faye nor Cusk have taken an offense here.
The most frequently referred to conversation partner of Faye is a male friend she meets on her way to Athens. She refers him to throughout as “my neighbor,” referring to their seats on the plane ride. The reaction of Faye after the divorce was to withdraw from the hope of life:
His belief that love, whether rediscovered or new, will bring him happiness is Gatsby-like in its persistence. However, it is evident that he hasn’t learned from his mistakes in the past and is therefore doomed to repeat the mistakes.
In Athens, her neighbor took Faye to his yacht a couple of times. One of these times, Faye sees a young family that is on a boat close by:
“When I looked over the family members on the vessel, I was able to see the vision I had lost. I saw something, which is to say, something that was not there. They were in the moment even though I was able to observe it, and I couldn’t longer return to that moment as I could walk across the river which separated us. .’
For Faye, her family – and all they symbolize is not part of her experience. They are not part of her life, and she is unable to return to the state they were in of total blindness to live. Instead, she’s a spectator as an observer.
If Faye refuses to accept his grumblingly ham-fisted advances in the final chapter of the story, she argues that she’s different from her: she won’t continue to be trapped in a cycle of repeating.
Faye
is in a place in her life where she’s breaking away from her past and is deciding that she has to live in her own way, no matter what that may mean. But, at the same, she defies the concept of identity and reveals that she is not a believer in the notion of an authentic self.
“I was thinking that the whole idea of a ‘real’ self could be false. You might believe that there was an independent, self-contained entity within you. However, this self was not real’.
In the same way, Faye, in a way, ironically due to the way in which the story she tells. She indicates that identity is not created by looking through the eyes of others. And that the various crutches she used in the past don’t appear to be viable.
Faye feels exposed as an older woman who is unable to rely on the role of husband and wife as most of her peers do. Like one character near the conclusion out of outline emphasizes the divorced woman’s exposure to the scrutiny of many people who are suddenly able to see her in a new light.
Outline’s themes
The themes are not just evident in the characters that are featured in the book as well as the locations. The fact that Faye’s journey is to Greece is important. Greece is a great country with a rich history but is currently “on its knees and dying a slow and agonizing death.
Greece isn’t just important to its position in the present. However, it is also significant for its rich culture and history. Similar to Homer’s ‘ Odyssey, Faye’s journey makes the notion of returning home a central theme; however, in Outline, There isn’t any chance of a return for Faye. This is why the outline is a sharp cut from the literary genre.
It’s not just the classical literary traditions the genre that outline distinguishes itself from, but rather the concept of the novel, a more recent invention. There is no narrative within the outline, there is no story arc, and there is no conflict between characters. It is simple to label Outline as a piece of negation; however, I prefer to refer to it as an experience piece.
In general, Cusk’s style is slick, and her prose is slick. Sometimes, however, she will slip in an omission that could be unnecessary but will hit the mark. After being requested to write a short tale with an animal in it, one of the classes Faye instructs.
Conclusion
This is sure to please those who have been studying Creative Writing. This is something that can be said about the outline more broadly. At the end of the novel, Faye is still an “outline, with all the detail filled in around it while the shape itself remained blank.” For those who don’t want to fill it in, I recommend that they should give outline the benefit of the doubt to everyone else; this book is worth examining.
