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3.16 AVERAGE
3.16 AVERAGE
I tend to be a little skeptical about books written by women. I am not proud of this, just resigned to it. This book is a number one example of why. That any 20 year old woman could be as self-absorbed, cynical and depressed as the narrator makes one believe in Armageddon. The only character that the reader could care about in this book , a mixed race adopted child, is written out of the story about half way through so the narrator can indulge in pages of self-pitying description of leaves, and fields, and unlovable people. When her brother is killed, I almost cheered for his escape from the bleak existence of his sister and his family.
Yuck, Yuck. Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres- another book that makes me want to scream," Get a Life- Get Over It" was almost a comedy compared to this book.
Can you tell I didn't like this book? I finished it hoping for its redemption. Now I just resent wasting the time.
Yuck, Yuck. Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres- another book that makes me want to scream," Get a Life- Get Over It" was almost a comedy compared to this book.
Can you tell I didn't like this book? I finished it hoping for its redemption. Now I just resent wasting the time.
The less said about this novel the better. It only even gets two stars because I had such high expectations that I might be having some trouble separating my disappointment from my unbiased opinion. I'll say this, Lorrie Moore can certainly name lots and lots of flowers over and over again.
Sigh...I'm not getting the accolades. I am a huge Lorrie Moore fan, but this novel did not do it for me at all. It took many, many pages to emerge from a somewhat boring beginning and never quite seemed to find its purpose. Of course, because it's Lorrie Moore, there were sentences of quirky, startling insight, but not as many as I would have liked. However, if the praise for this novel leads to more rapid release of another, then that's fine by me.
I seem to recall liking Lorrie Moore's writing more than this....but then it's been long enough that I don't know if I've changed or if this one was just not up to snuff.
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Masterfully told bildungsroman of a smart young American woman coming in to her formative years in the late 90s/early aughts. The story meanders through a number of experiences, which makes the protagonist feel like a real person growing and living. I enjoyed this so thoroughly. If you want a tidy tale with a singular theme and a tight storyline, however, look elsewhere.
dark
funny
medium-paced
A gripping story, told from an interesting point of view, about adoption, race, and the death of the young.
I had a really tough time with this one. And I love Lorrie Moore. The voice of an unsure 20-year-old is so well captured. To the point that sometimes you yourself are uncertain. There was just SO much drama for one novel, but maybe in an absurd, uncertain post-9/11 world, it makes sense.
I loved Lorrie Moore's short stories and will probably continue to read everything she writes, but this was not one of her best. Short stories is the key phrase here, and I think that this would have worked better as a compilation of interconnected short stories a la Unaccustomed Earth by Lahiri. There is the story of the failed adoption, a story of the death of a child, a story of a first college romance, and the story of a farm boy killed in Afghanistan. Individually these stories work, but the connecting text seemed superfluous and, well, boring. I would have a hard time recommending this, though I know several people who did like this book.