Mixed20 Something ReadsWhat drew me to Karen Auvinen’s Rough Beauty was not interest in a change of pace from my usual reading fare. You see, Auvinen is a writer, like me. And so I selfishly figured that in reading her memoir ... The title is, without an iota of a doubt, the perfect way to describe her writing: gorgeously and carefully rendered, yet brimming with a sort of wildness that can’t be entirely tamed. This two-sidedness pervades everything in Auvinen’s life: her father, at once charming and volatile; the Colorado mountain setting, as awe-inspiring as it is perilous; her connections with others, often tense but always essential ... however some sections dragged on a little too long for my taste; whether or not that has to do with me not being accustomed to memoirs, I cannot say. For the most part, the way she splits things up keeps the book from becoming monotonous, but I can’t help but feel that Auvinen never escapes a certain repetitiveness...but her words are laced with wisdom - not the preachy kind, thankfully, but the hard-won kind that prompts you to reconsider your own surroundings as Auvinen considers hers ...
