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Lapvona

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Lapvona

By: Ottessa Moshfegh
Narrated by: Ottessa Moshfegh
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

In the land of Lapvona, the lord of the land Villiam is cheating the local villagers of their food, their water, their livelihoods. Grotesque and ridiculous, he marries the pregnant and tongueless ex-nun Agata, whom he believes will make him God, and his son will be the second Christ.

It's a land of murder, cannibalism, incest and rape. Despite all of the characters' individual inadequacies and madness, you find yourself completely engrossed in each character's fate, be it Marek, Jude, Agata, Villiam, Lispeth, Ina, Father Barnabas. It's an anti-fairytale within a fairytale—maybe this is what hell on earth looks like? Is it an indictment of humanity, of religion, of grotesque despots?

An original work of brilliance—singular, funny, horrifying and entertaining in equal measure.

©2022 Ottessa Moshfegh (P)2022 Penguin Audio Dark Fantasy Dark Humour Fantasy Fiction Literature & Fiction Magic Comedy
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This is a great story, drags you on this journey through the cruelty of our world and people. But even though there were many gross and violent scenes I found myself laughing out loud in so many of them. Maybe I’m twisted, maybe I just know that people really can be that messed up. Anyways I loved it. Amazing job at portraying the manipulative disabled main character.

Amazing, funny, disgustingly human.

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Thoroughly enjoyed this story - my little grotesque heart loved ever second. Definitely not for the faint hearted and incredibly well written.

Brilliant writing

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Loved the twists and plots in the fairy tale like theme , I couldn’t stop listening , performance was great

Bizarre , funny, twisted

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Not quite horror, not quite fairytale but an enthralling story about grotesque people linked by disturbing circumstances and horrorific actions in a wretched landscape

Grotesque and Absurd

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Well I can’t lie and say I didn’t enjoy this book, don’t be scared it’s a little shocking in the beginning but honestly nothing to sneer at if your used to any kind of horror, it’s well written and the surprising nature of book flows nicely. Ottessa narrates it beautifully and I’m glad I listened to it instead of reading it as I have had this in my Amazon basket for months, the characters were developed and the storyline was interesting but I found the ending dissatisfying. A lot of lead up to not a lot of conclusion, leaving the story to interpretation is not my thing. However if it’s yours definitely worth a read!

Interesting characters, well written, disappointing ending

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Original intriguing just loved this tale, the narrator who is also the author had the perfect voice to accompany her fine work

Wonderful

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I absolutely LOVED Moshfegh’s “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” so I was really keen to check out her new novel. Boy was I disappointed!

It’s well written yet the story is full of nauseating characters who do nothing of any particular interest. They indulge in grotesque things such as cannibalism, self-flagellation, disgusting jokes, humiliation and subjugation. Oh and did I mention violence? And it’s not even funny - I mean it really isn’t. It’s like something an immature teenage boy might like because of the shock value. An upcoming incel keen to show off his “look how obnoxious I can be” chops.

So what’s the point of this book? If you find out, please let me know.

Grotesque, ugly and nauseating

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