This isn’t super detailed or thought-provoking but I thought I’d share it anyway. This entire book feels like a slow descent into madness. The narrator’s ramblings, mental breakdowns, dissociation… it’s brutal. I’ve heard people call All Quiet brutal, but it was in no way as horrifying or disturbing as Not So Quiet is. It’s honestly been a bit triggering for me in terms of anxiety and dissociation, and as such it’s been hard to read. That’s what makes it good, though – the way the author captures Nellie’s chaotic, spiraling thoughts. I do have to wonder how accurate or inaccurate it is, however, considering the author is writing based on another person’s experience rather than hers.
2 thoughts on “something about Not So Quiet”
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I personally feel the same, but I also think the author is doing a pretty good job at capturing all of it and putting it out there for us to read. I do get what you’re saying though, the more I read the more I start to feel the same way.
I completely agree with your comment! I think it really captures the mental struggles women experienced during the war—the anxiety-driven train of thoughts that never stops, just keeps going. The narration actually reminds me of The Handmaid’s Tale: messy, unreliable, and full of fragmented glimpses into someone’s mind. I’m not sure the narration is meant to be entirely reliable, but it makes me wonder about the novel’s authenticity. Does it reflect the mental fogginess of war-impacted individuals, or can we even trust Smith at all?