Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/734031
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 OCTOBER 2016 48 WHEN I was younger I used to enjoy reading what I used to call 'cultish novels'. For me, these books were rather sinister in tone, contained controversial material and yet were written well and loved by people who managed to seek them out. Iain Banks's The Wasp Factory is one example; John Burnside's The Dumb House is another. Then there's Ian McEwan's The Ce- ment Garden, Patrick Suskind's Perfume. The Collector by John Fowles, Bret Easton Ellis' contro- versial American Psycho, and the award-winning Vernon God Lit- tle by DBC Pierre. Now, Ottessa Moshfegh's Eileen can also enjoy its spot in this little niche. Not only did I enjoy reading Eileen – it is very likely to become one of those books I will constantly rec- ommend. The title character works is stuck in life. She is bored of do- ing secretarial work in a prison for male juvenile delinquents and is disliked by her colleagues. She lives with her alcoholic father who doubles up as a bully, and is in poverty. She resides in a town full of no hopers and has an ob- sessive crush on one of the secu- rity guards, who hardly pays her any notice. At first Eileen (our protago- nist) comes across as pathetic. She doesn't have any ambitions and self-esteem that is so low that she doesn't even bother to wash – body odor plays a big part in the first segment of the novel – or take care of herself because she believes that she isn't worth it. Nothing interests her either. She doesn't like fiction, cinema is fake and food is just something to help her live and most of the time she consumes doughnuts (that is, when she feels hungry). Eileen's life revolves around three things: work, taking care of her father and driving round the town stalk- ing the prison guard or going to the cinema when the guard is not up to anything she finds excit- ing. Granted, she does dream and hope that she will find a better life, but when she slips into her off-beat fantasies and dreams she quickly rejects them and accepts her present situation. However, this is just what's on her surface. Eileen has a scheming side too… one that only emerges later on in the novel. Then, two things change Ei- leen's life. One is a boy who is charged with killing his father and the other is a new counsellor, Rebecca. Soon the boy, Rebecca and Eileen's destinies cross, each building up to a climax you'd only find in Roald Dahl's short stories. Without giving anything away the final event changes Eileen and makes her gain confidence, leave her town and approach men. Eileen (the novel) is dark and has a creepy vibe running through it, not unlike the classic novels by the godmother of the American Gothic, Shirley Jackson, while al- so boasting a degree of suspense that wouldn't be out of place in Alfred Hitchcock movies such as Rope or Rear Window. The fact that the whole book is unsettling from the start makes the novel the proverbial page turner. The reader knows that something terrible is going to happen and when the pay-off comes, it is satisfying. It's also a clever novel as the book takes the form of an elaborate flash- back, where Eileen (the charac- ter) manages to merge both her past, which are the events in the novel, and her present state as an 80-year-old. So basically, you have two stories being told si- multaneously, which is all tied up with the final event. Eileen may not be the most perfect thriller ever written, and some scenes run on for a tad too long. But it does have an unusual structure, a distinctive anti-hero, takes place during Christmas- time and has a clever ending. So it's definitely worth reading, es- pecially during the cold winter season where the dark foreboding suits the atmosphere. 60% of land used overseas by the EU is in the Global South, where landowners and traders can exploit less stringent labour and environmental protections. We are increasingly seeing the impacts of unfair land distribution, with more and more land disputes, community displacements and the dispossessing of small-scale and subsistence farmers, with land becoming concentrated in the hands of fewer, larger landowners. Worryingly, the EU plays a major part in this trend, as it was estimated to account for 40% of all land acquisitions in Sub- Saharan Africa in 2011. This Week As summer loses its arid grip on the land and rains woo the dormant seeds to action, the lure of the outdoor becomes more attractive as the ground gradually turns green. Among the flowers you are likey to meet on an autumn walk is the delicate autumn buttercup. It's not the kind of plant that will dominate the rocky garrigue where it grows, because it is a short, ground-hugging species. But the bright yellow flowers, all standing erect – if only a few centimetres tall – more than compensate for the modest stature of the plant. We have several species of buttercup growing wild in the Maltese countryside, but the autumn buttercup (M: ċfolloq), as its name clearly states, is the one you are likely to see in flower at this time of year. Squat down for a closer look at the flowers of this beauty, and you will notice the petals are glossy, a characteristic that is unusual. And rather endearing, I think GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 429: BRUSH WITHOUT RUNNING: You've heard this one before, but maybe you still do it. You'll conserve up to five gallons per day if you stop. Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us. You can also support us by sending us a donation - www.foemalta.org/donate Text: Victor Falzon Photo: Desirée Falzon 526. AUTUMN BUTTERCUP EU's Land Footprint – Social impacts Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh leaves ROBERT PISANI both creeped out and delighted Some reading for the ominous months ahead