Big Swiss (2023) -Jen Beagin
This book is messy and the characters are unlikable but I was entertained
Content Warnings: suicidal thoughts, violence, stalking, drug abuse, infidelity
Representation: wlw
Favorite Quote: “She and Big Swiss were just passing the time, apparently, taking turns looking at each other on their way to somewhere else.”
Reading Big Swiss feels like eavesdropping on someone who they themselves are eavesdropping on others. This is all to say, Big Swiss is an extremely messy book with characters self-described as “morally bankrupt.” The narrative is still, however, relatively straightforward. From the start of me reading this book, I knew this was an “audiobook kind of book” because I could tell I wouldn’t be highlighting passages or scrawling in the margins.
Among this books morally bankrupt characters is the protagonist Greta, who works as a transcriber for a local sex therapist. Through this job Greta hears the dark confessions of dozens of clients whom she begins to identify around town. One client in particular stands out to Greta for her bluntness and aversion to self-pity. Greta dubs this not-yet-named client “Big Swiss” and is quick to recognize her sharp Swiss accent when it appears at the dog park. Greta proceeds to disregard the ethics of developing a relationship with a client whose therapy sessions she listens in on and forms a friendship with Big Swiss under many false pretenses.
The unfolding of this book’s story was pretty predictable and while there is a certain shock value to the lengths this character will go to follow her obsession and an intrigue into the directionless life of this woman, nothing in the book hits readers particularly strongly. Much of the book feels (deliberately?) numb, just as the main character often feels. This is clearly illustrated in the book’s sex scenes that are extremely matter-of-fact and clinical. This isn’t necessarily an indication of poor writing, but it doesn’t make for a very impactful book.
This book was worth the read purely out of its ability to satisfy a reader’s urge to be nosy. By following a character whose own curiosity dictates her actions, readers are in a way enabled and implicated in this fictional transgression. So if you’re here for the messiness, then this book is for you, but if you aren’t sold by the premise then you may not be won over by the writing.