Kudos By Rachel Cusk

 

Kudos

By Rachel Cusk

Kudos is the final book in the Outline trilogy.

Faye is out to promote her book in Europe. Like the other books in the trilogy, Faye is told various personal stories by several people she meets: a man on the plane, interviewers, fellow writers, and her son. Through these stories deep human questions are explored about love, family, justice, art, politics, and sorrow.

The difference in Kudos is that Faye has more of a voice of her own. She expresses more opinions vocally than in the other two novels. It seems like the people she has met are far more interested in talking about themselves than in getting to know her, which is interesting given the "plot" of the book. Rather than talking about her work, the interviewers tell her stories and talk about themselves.

Some time has past for Faye, who has remarried, though we aren't told anything about how that came to pass. Her children seem to be with their father a lot, and he seems to neglect to be with them even then. This book is ultimately about who fails and who succeeds and why. The stories seem to revolve around this major theme.

I don't pretend to fully comprehend the message of the story. The ending was unexpected and I'm sure it has a deep meaning I didn't grasp. Almost as if Faye is in a pissing match with the man on the beach. Or men in general. Or the dirty, naked truth of humanity. In any case, I really enjoy Cusk's prose and her open exploration of the hurtful, sad, and traumatic thing we call life. I'm interested to read more by her.

I'm giving Kudos 4 stars.