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stensjoberg's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
patjam's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
aerdna's review
3.0
This is junk lit for people who fancy themselves thinkers. I was totally into it at first, but I’m not sure I was up for four back to back novellas inside Patrick’s endlessly, helplessly spinning gears. In the first few there was a certain frantic quality to Patrick’s spin towards the bottom, a centrifugal force that was impossible to look away from. His 48 hour drug binge through Manhattan, his tales of social life with the titled- that was the show I came to see. St. Aubyn can writewritewrite, although he has a tendency towards solipsism in his authorial voice that I’m guessing is what limits him to what seems to be the semi-autobiographical.
The story arc moves from destructive tornado to a quiet folding in on oneself in what seems like a blink, though, and my interest started to flag. In Mother’s Milk, in particular, I couldn’t help thinking that Patrick had become that cardinal sin of his social milieu- rather a tiresome bore, to use his vernacular. Your affair is boring, Patrick. Your alcoholism is boring (although I suppose all addictions become boring by definition, in the end). Your perpetual inability to let go of your resentment of your parents is boring. Not that many of us manage to do that, but maybe that’s what makes it boring. Odd, since this was the one that was longlisted for the Booker, and I usually enjoy their selections. Perhaps they were just too many ennui inducing books in a row. I would have rated them differently if I had read them separately.
Patrick does have a memorable voice and I couldn’t help amusing myself by imagining his reaction to say, Eat, Pray, Love, or an overenthusiastic seatmate on the plane, etc, etc. I think there’s another one, and I may track it down eventually.
The story arc moves from destructive tornado to a quiet folding in on oneself in what seems like a blink, though, and my interest started to flag. In Mother’s Milk, in particular, I couldn’t help thinking that Patrick had become that cardinal sin of his social milieu- rather a tiresome bore, to use his vernacular. Your affair is boring, Patrick. Your alcoholism is boring (although I suppose all addictions become boring by definition, in the end). Your perpetual inability to let go of your resentment of your parents is boring. Not that many of us manage to do that, but maybe that’s what makes it boring. Odd, since this was the one that was longlisted for the Booker, and I usually enjoy their selections. Perhaps they were just too many ennui inducing books in a row. I would have rated them differently if I had read them separately.
Patrick does have a memorable voice and I couldn’t help amusing myself by imagining his reaction to say, Eat, Pray, Love, or an overenthusiastic seatmate on the plane, etc, etc. I think there’s another one, and I may track it down eventually.
oldpondnewfrog's review
3.0
It's cynical literary fiction about wealthy British people in the last half of the 20th century—which I wouldn't normally enjoy, and in fact I didn't enjoy the first two books, but kept reading on the recommendation of a friend. And the third and fourth books were redemptive, perhaps partly because of the unrelenting unhappiness of the first two. Catharsis: When Patrick finally admits his child abuse, exhausted by hatred. When at the end of the third book he leaves the party and walks in his dress shoes over the snow toward a lake and sees swans launch, circle, and land again.
In the first book Patrick is five, second book he's twenty, third book he's about thirty, fourth book he's maybe forty. Kind of like Richard Linklater movies.
Very good prose style, maybe a little too finely crafted sometimes:
"What could he do but accept the disturbing extent to which memory was fictional and hope that the fiction lay at the service of a truth less richly represented by the original facts?"
That's well written, but a little too formal. I think I would like that sentence more in Jane Austen than in a modern writer. But I had a lot of page corners turned down anyway, and at other times the writing is nice and simple and effective:
"They walked back and forth, pouring sea water into the sand until Thomas fell asleep in his mother's arms."
In the first book Patrick is five, second book he's twenty, third book he's about thirty, fourth book he's maybe forty. Kind of like Richard Linklater movies.
Very good prose style, maybe a little too finely crafted sometimes:
"What could he do but accept the disturbing extent to which memory was fictional and hope that the fiction lay at the service of a truth less richly represented by the original facts?"
That's well written, but a little too formal. I think I would like that sentence more in Jane Austen than in a modern writer. But I had a lot of page corners turned down anyway, and at other times the writing is nice and simple and effective:
"They walked back and forth, pouring sea water into the sand until Thomas fell asleep in his mother's arms."
tacomaven's review
2.0
I had high hopes for this one after reading reviews and mentions of St. Aubyn, but I didn't enjoy this at all. The first novel was sad and frustrating, but I didn't really care for the characters and I never ended up caring for them. Too many characters mentioned who were superficial and uninteresting. If it's satire, I didn't get it. I made it over 500 pages before I decided to stop torturing myself and gave up.
moosegurl's review
4.0
"A submission, even an absurd one, was a real temptation to Eleanor. She would be sacrificing things she did not want to believe in -- table manners, dignity, pride -- for something she did want to believe in: the spirit of sacrifice. The emptiness of the gesture, the fact that it did not help anybody, made it seem more pure at the time." [NEVER MIND]
" 'Only in the English language,' said Victor, 'can one be "a bore", like being a lawyer or a pastry cook, making boredom into a profession -- in other languages a person is simply boring, a temporary state of affairs. The question is, I suppose, whether this points to a greater intolerance towards boring people, or an especially intense quality of boredom among the English.' " [NEVER MIND]
"Of course it was wrong to want to change people, but what else could you possibly want to do with them?" [BAD NEWS]
" 'I want to die, I want to die, I want to die,' he found himself muttering in the middle of the most ordinary task, swept away by a landslide of regret as the kettle boiled or the toast popped up." [SOME HOPE]
"He had seen his mother carrying Thomas to the edge of the pool and pointing to the fish, saying, 'Fish.' It was no use trying that sort of thing with Robert. What he couldn't help wondering was how his brother was supposed to know wether she meant the pond, the water, the weeds, the clouds reflected on the water, or the fish, if he could see them. How did he even know that 'Fish' was a thing rather than a colour or something that you do? Sometimes, come to think of it, it was something to do." [MOTHER'S MILK]
"Eleanor regretted what she had just said, but also felt a twinge of adolescent pride at giving precedence to honesty over tact." [MOTHER'S MILK]
" 'Only in the English language,' said Victor, 'can one be "a bore", like being a lawyer or a pastry cook, making boredom into a profession -- in other languages a person is simply boring, a temporary state of affairs. The question is, I suppose, whether this points to a greater intolerance towards boring people, or an especially intense quality of boredom among the English.' " [NEVER MIND]
"Of course it was wrong to want to change people, but what else could you possibly want to do with them?" [BAD NEWS]
" 'I want to die, I want to die, I want to die,' he found himself muttering in the middle of the most ordinary task, swept away by a landslide of regret as the kettle boiled or the toast popped up." [SOME HOPE]
"He had seen his mother carrying Thomas to the edge of the pool and pointing to the fish, saying, 'Fish.' It was no use trying that sort of thing with Robert. What he couldn't help wondering was how his brother was supposed to know wether she meant the pond, the water, the weeds, the clouds reflected on the water, or the fish, if he could see them. How did he even know that 'Fish' was a thing rather than a colour or something that you do? Sometimes, come to think of it, it was something to do." [MOTHER'S MILK]
"Eleanor regretted what she had just said, but also felt a twinge of adolescent pride at giving precedence to honesty over tact." [MOTHER'S MILK]
chaydgc's review
5.0
Were I still a professor, I'd be teaching in context of Lacan, Althusser, and Kristeva. Doubtless already subject of many dissertations. I am so glad I am not a professor. This glistens and shudders, lightness and refraction, deliberate abjection and involuntary transcendence.
Above all: it's a hell of a good read.
There's an added bonus at the very end of the 4th book, for those who have been following the rainbow.
Above all: it's a hell of a good read.
There's an added bonus at the very end of the 4th book, for those who have been following the rainbow.
joannawnyc's review
5.0
So good. The prose is elegant and amazing. Autobiographical, truthful and emotional without being the least bit corny or disingenuous. Much less depressing then you would think. Wickedly funny and brutally sad.
The second volume (Bad News) is what Bright Lights Big City might have been if it weren't all about how cool it was.
Looking forward to reading the last one (At Last) and trying some of St Aubyn's more experimental fiction.
The second volume (Bad News) is what Bright Lights Big City might have been if it weren't all about how cool it was.
Looking forward to reading the last one (At Last) and trying some of St Aubyn's more experimental fiction.
jgn's review
4.0
It's true. The writing is great. If you've been wanting something undeniably English this is it.
Having said that, this is the most misanthropic reading I've done in a long time.
The first novel, Never Mind: I had to read some pages twice because the bile was so nasty I couldn't believe what I was reading. And it was what I thought it was. An incredible work, but . . . "depressing" doesn't do it justice.
The second novel, Bad News, was a pretty typical drug and debauchery novel, but done with panache.
The real masterpiece here is the third one, Some Hope, which is essentially St. Aubyn's take on the "country house novel" where many characters are assembled at a party in the country, and events ensue. It was brilliant, and satisfied the promise of the first two novels.
The 4th novel, Mother's Milk, was rather "meh" for me, but i am guess it sets up the 5th and final novel, which I have yet to read.
In sum: You have to have some appreciation for the general theme of the English upper crust in serious decline. If that interests you, then this is a must read. It's also a must for anyone who wants to see the psychology of a seriously abused person grow up and become an adult.
Having said that, this is the most misanthropic reading I've done in a long time.
The first novel, Never Mind: I had to read some pages twice because the bile was so nasty I couldn't believe what I was reading. And it was what I thought it was. An incredible work, but . . . "depressing" doesn't do it justice.
The second novel, Bad News, was a pretty typical drug and debauchery novel, but done with panache.
The real masterpiece here is the third one, Some Hope, which is essentially St. Aubyn's take on the "country house novel" where many characters are assembled at a party in the country, and events ensue. It was brilliant, and satisfied the promise of the first two novels.
The 4th novel, Mother's Milk, was rather "meh" for me, but i am guess it sets up the 5th and final novel, which I have yet to read.
In sum: You have to have some appreciation for the general theme of the English upper crust in serious decline. If that interests you, then this is a must read. It's also a must for anyone who wants to see the psychology of a seriously abused person grow up and become an adult.