Reviews - Potresno delo zapanjujuće genijalnosti

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Potresno delo zapanjujuće genijalnosti

I have heard people claim Eggers is the 21st Century James Joyce ... hmm. Did people of his era consider him to be an egotistical, whinging, smart-arse? If so then perhaps they are right.

I started off really liking the story and the style, even was thinking there was a Lost Boys quality to the situation of Big/Little Brother going it alone together and the affection they had for each other came across beautifully in his writing. But ... the arsy attitude grew and became tedious by the time he was interviewed for the TV reality series. I started to skim and began to find fewer and fewer places to land and read. He lost my sympathies (as I'm sure he must have in real life too if this is at all true) as the plot thinned and the author's exhibitionism took off.

Too bad really ...

fairchildone's review against another edition

3.0

This could be a 4 except for the whole middle section that slowed the book down to a crawl. This was one of the funniest books I've read. It was also one of the most egocentric while trying to put itself off as selfless while trying to do some meta combination of both. I don't want this guy's life, in any respect. ANY respect. He's an entertaining and solid writer, though.

sofiamarii's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny slow-paced

babsaway14's review against another edition

2.0

I'm glad I read another Eggars other book (Zeitoun) prior to reading this one, as I truly enjoyed it. I found him to be a compelling nonfiction writer, as he did not get in the way of the story. Unfortunately with this book, he was the story and I was less than interested. I found myself scanning page after page, flitting over endless, vacuous paragraphs. A Pulitzer Prize nomination for three chapters devoted to a Real World cast member interview? It felt dated. It felt like hanging out in a coffee shop in Portland and having my time disturbed by the self-absorbed twentysomethings that fill up the corners. I guess he captured the mindset of a miniscule number of people - the wealthy very young. That mindset just didn't have a lot to offer me.

efm511's review against another edition

2.0

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: I actually liked the writing and story. However the narrator drove my anxiety up constantly.

ksdonnellon's review against another edition

4.0

I put this book down for 2 years before finishing it. There are parts that are frustrating, and I know it's a very decisive book, but I've had some really wonderful, and revealing, discussions with friends and loved ones arise from discussing this book.

mapdock's review against another edition

4.0

Heartbreaking is right, but the genius is very tongue in cheek, as becomes clear. The basic story is one you've heard before: Child suffers loss, recovers and adjusts to normal life as an adult. Eggers diverges from the normal approach by not trying (explicitly) to teach any life lessons, not using the disorder of his recovery as comic fodder. Yes the book is funny, sometimes hilarious, especially as it becomes clear where Eggers is breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to readers with perspective gained long after events transpired. He's also really transparent about fictionalizing events to suit a particular metaphor he's trying to develop. If these devices annoy you, you'll hate this book. I saw them as ways of bringing out the mixed emotions of trying to navigate one's normally confusing 20s, with the added burden of loss and parental responsibility.