Book review: ‘Outline’ by Rachel Cusk

A pleasantly unconventional read

Outline, Rachel Cusk

Have you ever experienced calmness when reading a book? Like sitting next to a waterfall, after a great yoga session in mild weather! It might seem too romanticized, but it was my experience while reading Outline. Although it is a small read, it's not a book to read in one sitting. To enjoy it, you have to give it time.

Rachel Cusk’s Outline, the first in her acclaimed trilogy, is a bold experiment in narrative form and perspective. The other ones are Transit and Kudos. A different style of narrative through a series of conversations and encounters experienced by Faye, a writer teaching a creative writing course in Athens. The book is less about Faye herself, she remains a largely opaque figure, and more about the people she meets and the stories they tell her. Her style is understated but piercing, allowing the voices of her characters to come alive with startling clarity. The conversations Faye engages in touch on themes of identity, relationships, ambition, and the fractures of modern life. As I read their conversations, it felt like I was Faye, present at the moment, enjoying my conversation, learning new insights!

Each story works as a kind of reflective surface, revealing as much about the speaker as it does about Faye, even though her interiority remains elusive. The novel feels both intimate and distant, creating a meditative space for readers to ponder their own perceptions of life and art.

If someone had told me about it before, I might have felt that it’s a boring one, and reading it and not being bored was surprisingly pleasant! I enjoyed her unconventional approach to storytelling, challenging the public assumption about it and the fact that it gives us the opportunity to enjoy a new perspective.

I always dreamed of writing a book and always thought of something similar, but never experienced anything like that. I started to like the book from the beginning after reading this part, as I’m experiencing it already:

As it happened I was no longer interested in literature as a form of snobbery or even of self-definition - I had no desire to prove that one book was better than another: in fact, if I read something I admired I found myself increasingly disinclined to mention it at all. What I knew personally to be true had come to seem unrelated to the process of persuading others. I did not, any longer, want to persuade anyone of anything.

Through the book, I felt more and more close to Faye. Maybe because she was my forever dream of myself in my 50s, a writer, teaching creative writing!

I haven’t started the second book yet. I need some time to get back to it, to fully enjoy it. Though, if you’re looking for a new reading experience, Outline could be a great choice for you!☺️

Have you read any of her books?

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