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3.31 AVERAGE
3.31 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I tried to enjoy this book of which I’d heard such good things. Written by an Obama staffer, and ostensibly about Obama in everything except name, it was just too vague and trying to do too much to hold my attention. Maybe someday I’ll read it, but not today
I am a sucker for first person narratives. I get caught up in their voice. Plus, I love a book about the pivotal experience in a person’s life, that moment in time when the world upends their youthful ideals and forces them to compromise or readjust or hold on to their values.
Great Expectations takes us into the life of a young black man who finds himself unexpectedly propelled into the exotic world of politics and money. David left college after his ex-girlfriend had his baby. He had lucked into a tutoring job before his student’s mother promoted his being hired to work for the presidential campaign of a senator who is loosely based on Barack Obama.
Over the next year and a half, David arranges fund raising for the senator’s presidential campaign, traveling from primary state to primary state. He makes friends with the other campaign workers, has romantic encounters, observes the senator’s wealthy backers.
This was politics to me now: not the speech but its harvest, not the spectacle of mass democracy on television but the mess behind the stage.
from Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningham
As David tells his story, he makes frequent diversions to his past, including his evangelical church background and struggles with faith. He thinks about many subjects–music, art, books, faith, fatherhood, being black.
David is a passive character, drifting through life. He loved music but didn’t have the courage to pursue it. He is drawn to the church’s idealism and ceremony but is without a certain faith. He quotes writers and hopes to be one but isn’t writing yet.
But he is observant and thoughtful. He realizes his ignorance as he learns about human nature and the gritty reality of politics. At a club he sees a man’s death and how people gave it little consideration. He sees how wealth and power is misused. He considers the kind of man and father he wants to be, uncertain yet how to get there.
Cunningham is a former campaign and White House staffer during the Obama presidency. His portrait of the Senator in the book is vivid and memorable, although we only see him in brief scenes. The candidate becomes tired and weary, pulling himself together to present his well-polished personae while campaigning.
The novel is subtle, introverted, and internalized. It takes us into the soul of a young man as he encounters the tawdry realities of the world that upend his youthful idealism.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book
Great Expectations takes us into the life of a young black man who finds himself unexpectedly propelled into the exotic world of politics and money. David left college after his ex-girlfriend had his baby. He had lucked into a tutoring job before his student’s mother promoted his being hired to work for the presidential campaign of a senator who is loosely based on Barack Obama.
Over the next year and a half, David arranges fund raising for the senator’s presidential campaign, traveling from primary state to primary state. He makes friends with the other campaign workers, has romantic encounters, observes the senator’s wealthy backers.
This was politics to me now: not the speech but its harvest, not the spectacle of mass democracy on television but the mess behind the stage.
from Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningham
As David tells his story, he makes frequent diversions to his past, including his evangelical church background and struggles with faith. He thinks about many subjects–music, art, books, faith, fatherhood, being black.
David is a passive character, drifting through life. He loved music but didn’t have the courage to pursue it. He is drawn to the church’s idealism and ceremony but is without a certain faith. He quotes writers and hopes to be one but isn’t writing yet.
But he is observant and thoughtful. He realizes his ignorance as he learns about human nature and the gritty reality of politics. At a club he sees a man’s death and how people gave it little consideration. He sees how wealth and power is misused. He considers the kind of man and father he wants to be, uncertain yet how to get there.
Cunningham is a former campaign and White House staffer during the Obama presidency. His portrait of the Senator in the book is vivid and memorable, although we only see him in brief scenes. The candidate becomes tired and weary, pulling himself together to present his well-polished personae while campaigning.
The novel is subtle, introverted, and internalized. It takes us into the soul of a young man as he encounters the tawdry realities of the world that upend his youthful idealism.
Thanks to the publisher for a free book
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No