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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book studied jazz at Berkeley but now it's moved east and plays clarinet in a turtleneck and a dark jacket. I didn't realise Crabtree was hot until Robert Downey Jr played him in the 2000 movie.
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm spoiled. I saw the movie first and it's one of my favorites and I think better, more streamlined. Cutting the endless (omg, it was eternal) Passover scene was a fantastic choice. The pacing was a slog throughout. Grady is a super unsympathetic character. As one of the characters says in a derogatory way "It's very male" in that lopsided way where a super unpleasant, unattractive man somehow gets lots of sex with lots of hot but one dimensional women who are all smart on paper but none of them can help themselves somehow? Gross.
Really every character is less sympathetic in the book, just unpleasant people making ugly decisions without enough to counterweight their crappy parts. The movie improved upon this by miles.
For a book about writing it does a lot of telling not showing also, which is a pet peeve of mine as a fellow writer. It doesn't seem to strike true about creative writing/English lit college students on almost any level. Hannah and James can't really be the only talented writers in an exclusive writing class (and yet we get to hear so much about James Leer and his writing but all we hear about Hannah is the back and forth on whether or not Grady will bang her.) Queer characters are also written really poorly, like someone made a roulette of gay tropes and slapped them onto characters.
The movie is much better. The book is... I mean, blueprint for the version I love? Glad it's over.
Really every character is less sympathetic in the book, just unpleasant people making ugly decisions without enough to counterweight their crappy parts. The movie improved upon this by miles.
For a book about writing it does a lot of telling not showing also, which is a pet peeve of mine as a fellow writer. It doesn't seem to strike true about creative writing/English lit college students on almost any level. Hannah and James can't really be the only talented writers in an exclusive writing class (and yet we get to hear so much about James Leer and his writing but all we hear about Hannah is the back and forth on whether or not Grady will bang her.) Queer characters are also written really poorly, like someone made a roulette of gay tropes and slapped them onto characters.
The movie is much better. The book is... I mean, blueprint for the version I love? Glad it's over.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Transphobia
so lame and boring. couldn't finish.... turns out not everything from that trash bag was worth it
This has been one of our favorite movies for awhile and now I've finally found myself a copy of the book. I loved it. The detailed description of the streets of Pittsburgh makes me homesick for that city. Ah, the comedy and tragedy that is James Leer...gotta love him.
Well written but, like the novel within the novel, much too 'masculine' for me. Even the queer and feminine voices don't sound genuine. Also really boring on the Passover parts
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Chabon is an amazing writer. Only he could make you sympathize with an arrogant, adulterous, dog-killing writer/professor.
For me Wonder Boys is Michael Chabon's greatest book, and it sits near the top of the list of my all time favourite books. This book feels much more authentic than his Pulitzer prize winning Kavalier and Clay (K&C). Where K&C feels unreal, set in the Golden Age of Comics with extraordinary characters and an overly melodramatic plot, Wonder Boys feels firmly rooted in the real world. Although the absurd events described occur over one weekend during a liberal arts college town's book festival, the narrow focus and believable characterisations actually make it a far more entertaining ride than the much praised K&C.
Many of the episodes and much of the plot in Wonder Boys feels like it has come from Chabon's own experiences and observations of life around him in a setting he knows well. The protagonist, Trip Grady, is a believable flawed character who gains sympathy despite his mixture of arrogance and self loathing. His journey over that weekend as he grapples with the fall out of his own infidelity, his failures as a husband, teacher, writer and partner, and his failing health is actually entertaining and uplifting. This is a funny and a times absurd story, but at it's heart it's about a middle aged child finally growing up.
Where Kavalier and Clay feels like it was written as an attempt at a grandiose "Great American novel" (and has won the plaudits from the literary world for trying so hard to grasp that epithet that seems so oddly prized by American writers), Wonder Boys is a far more successful book focusing on humour and people in a part of America that feels like it might actually exist. I love this book - beautifully written, sharply observed and most of all an uplifting read; Wonder Boys really is a great book.
Many of the episodes and much of the plot in Wonder Boys feels like it has come from Chabon's own experiences and observations of life around him in a setting he knows well. The protagonist, Trip Grady, is a believable flawed character who gains sympathy despite his mixture of arrogance and self loathing. His journey over that weekend as he grapples with the fall out of his own infidelity, his failures as a husband, teacher, writer and partner, and his failing health is actually entertaining and uplifting. This is a funny and a times absurd story, but at it's heart it's about a middle aged child finally growing up.
Where Kavalier and Clay feels like it was written as an attempt at a grandiose "Great American novel" (and has won the plaudits from the literary world for trying so hard to grasp that epithet that seems so oddly prized by American writers), Wonder Boys is a far more successful book focusing on humour and people in a part of America that feels like it might actually exist. I love this book - beautifully written, sharply observed and most of all an uplifting read; Wonder Boys really is a great book.
funny
medium-paced