⭐️⭐️.75/5

I somehow both wish I DNF’d this am am very glad I finished it.  

So many mixed feelings on this one. It was not at all what I expected when I picked up the book which was something of a surreal-hallucinatory parody of history. It wasn’t that, it was more of a metaphorical retelling of history written as a convoluted poem translated into prose format…? Idk. I have never read anything like that before in structure or in theme. This is my first historical fiction book and I found the context a bit boring. What I did find interesting is how it was written which was not a traditional narrative in any sense. The book is written in what feels like an almost random order that bounces around different topics and themes and settings all around the 16th century. The main themes of the book is how art and power are idolized into religion and colonization. If that sentence didn’t make sense to you it’s probably because I just didn’t understand the book. I was scratching my head a lot. As a fiction reader I kind of hated it but as a poet reader and a writer I kind of liked it. 

If this story was written in any other way I probably would DNF early on. I never looked forward to reading this book in between breaks and I am really glad to finally be finished with it. However, during the process of reading I did enjoy it, I just never really thought about it in between sessions.  I think I enjoyed that you have to piece the narrative together yourself like it’s a puzzle. (it’s not always in chronological order, stories are not always relevant to each other, there is no clear “good guy” or “bad guy.” If you’re like me and don’t know a lot about history, it is difficult to distinguish fiction versus fact. Also, there’s no quotation marks or paragraph changes during dialogue so you have to figure out who is talking to you by yourself sometimes). It was really difficult to read for me, but I kind of liked than an author didn’t hold my hand and spoon feed me meanings for once. 

In conclusion, I wish I could read this style of book again…just about something much more interesting. Writing was good. Story was bad.

What I got from it was a lot of social commentary on sexism, idolizations, art, history, war, colonization, religion….all through the lens of….tennis?