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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
Yikes, just yikes. I think we need to stop letting mediocre, literary white boys write self-aggrandizing memoirs. I just have a hard time looking past someone threatening to call immigration on teenagers without any sense of remorse, or who, as an adult, romanticizes staring down the shirts of teenage girls, or who, entirely unprompted, calls the "existence of fat kids" "disgusting." The r word is used quite a lot, and there's a fixation on race that's extremely yikesworthy.
Maybe I could look past all that, say this was twenty years ago and the world didn't know better, maybe, but then the book itself is just bad. It's all so self indulgent, self reflective only when convenient, and yeah, I guess it's funny, but I need more than that. The constant ego mixed with Eggers' uselessness/mediocrity just made it unbearable.
But it was an easy read? And the writing was good, even if what he had to say was boring.
Maybe I could look past all that, say this was twenty years ago and the world didn't know better, maybe, but then the book itself is just bad. It's all so self indulgent, self reflective only when convenient, and yeah, I guess it's funny, but I need more than that. The constant ego mixed with Eggers' uselessness/mediocrity just made it unbearable.
But it was an easy read? And the writing was good, even if what he had to say was boring.
I really tried with this one but I could not deal with the stream of consciousness. I've read some books like it so I thought I could get past it but at this time I just couldn't get into it. I pushed through for a long time but finally did not finish.
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Eggers' parents both died of cancer, 32 days apart, when he was in his early 20s, and his brother was 7. He became his brother's legal guardian and the book is the memoir of his coping and parenting. This premise itself is heartbreaking and shocking, and while the work wasn't quite staggering, it was very readable, and, in some parts, even relatable. Due to its stream of consciousness style this was a much quicker and easier read than I expected - at some times I was reluctant to put it down, and I usually was quite eager to pick it up, whereas usually books don't grab my attention in that way.
I think Eggers' grief, denial, support system, and coping mechanisms were interesting. He hardly mentions therapy, and so I wonder if this played any role, or continues to.
I would have liked to read a version from Toph's and Beth's point of views.
Edit: I just went back and read some others' reviews to refresh my memory on this and get some different perspectives. It's true his overload of information and stories about his magazine was too much, and dull. And he is full of himself. But I'll leave it at 4 stars because it was still a pretty readable read. That sounds mediocre, but it kept my attention more than other books do. Maybe I kept hoping to get more from Toph, from Beth, but it was only his view, all the time. Still, I was pretty interested in the Dave-Toph relationship development (or lack thereof - but the substance and brotherly love).
I think Eggers' grief, denial, support system, and coping mechanisms were interesting. He hardly mentions therapy, and so I wonder if this played any role, or continues to.
I would have liked to read a version from Toph's and Beth's point of views.
Edit: I just went back and read some others' reviews to refresh my memory on this and get some different perspectives. It's true his overload of information and stories about his magazine was too much, and dull. And he is full of himself. But I'll leave it at 4 stars because it was still a pretty readable read. That sounds mediocre, but it kept my attention more than other books do. Maybe I kept hoping to get more from Toph, from Beth, but it was only his view, all the time. Still, I was pretty interested in the Dave-Toph relationship development (or lack thereof - but the substance and brotherly love).
Wow, this is the first book I'm giving 4 stars, despite my struggling at some point. Around page 180 I thought: "Why am I still reading this???". I felt frustrated and wanted to give up. I didn't see where the story was going. But I managed to keep on reading, then somehow really got into the story, started appreciating it and finished the book within a couple of days. A strange and unique experience.
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Self-indulgent and tedious. This is the kind of book that makes me shy away from the memoir genre.
I so enjoyed this book. The author put down the random thoughts that run through his head while life goes on. Not everyone I know will like this book. I enjoyed his book The Circle. This book is a memoir.
The best first chunk about a dying parent. The pace of the book is frenetic. It's all in the narrator's head and his pace is like being in a hamster wheel. There are long, long paragraphs of internal monologue and description and then lots of dialogue that's not tagged (some of it imagined) for other parts of the story. I liked the mix of long paragraphs and short, short dialogue and the pace. Occasionally I became bogged down in the long paragraphs and had to stop reading the book for a while, but it reaches out and grabs you and brings you back. Very glad to have read it; also very glad to be done with such a long, long book. It's also interesting b/c it's memoir, but so much of it is the narrator's internal thoughts/made up thoughts. It's line crossing.