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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
Sigh.
I think someone commented on the title, “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” and commented that it wasn’t.
I must agree. This was a waste of good paper.
I think someone commented on the title, “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” and commented that it wasn’t.
I must agree. This was a waste of good paper.
This read was more interesting than i thought it would be. Different writing style than i have seen and i actually didn't know this was a memoir when i bought it. it was depressing, real, exciting, funny, and...heartbreaking. Comedy and Tragedy combined.
slow-paced
Ugh. I don't know. I just couldn't get through it. Far too many feelings being explored in far too much depth.
I love Dave Eggers and therefore really wanted to love this book. And while I can't say I loved it, it did open my eyes to Dave Eggers the person rather than Dave Eggers The Author, My Idol Who I Had Built Up In My Mind. This book was messy and all over the place, kind of like life. It made me want to call my mother and anxious and sad.
But it was also super long and boring in places and I would just be getting into a part and then midway through his story he'd start telling another one or start talking to himself through the other characters and sometimes it was a little much.
I still want to read all of his books though because I find him a fascinating writer and now, person. Also, Toph grew up hot.
But it was also super long and boring in places and I would just be getting into a part and then midway through his story he'd start telling another one or start talking to himself through the other characters and sometimes it was a little much.
I still want to read all of his books though because I find him a fascinating writer and now, person. Also, Toph grew up hot.
Dave Eggers is a genius, and he just continues to prove it with every book that he releases.
Reread in 2021. Downgrading from five to 3.5 stars.
Reread in 2021. Downgrading from five to 3.5 stars.
Difficult, Uncomfortable, Funny, Inspirational, Selfish, Thought-provoking. I think this book can only be described in such opposite extremes and you have to be in the mood for it. I really did enjoy this "heartbreaking" work-it was nothing like I expected it to be.
This book is not conventional. This book is not meant to be a traditional memoir, inflated as it is with rambling prose and unconcerned as it is with the interest of the reader. A lot of people seem to criticise Eggers' work here as masturbatory and self-serving, when isn't that what a memoir inherently is?
This is the story of a man whose parents die within a month of one another when he's in his early twenties. This man (Eggers) ends up taking charge of his pre-teen brother, Toph, and moving to San Fransisco, where the bulk of the story is set. The relationship between the two is the core of the work, and it is where the book truly shines.
But there is more to it. This is a book that speaks to the heart of Generation X, (and perhaps, to us damn millennials after) to the belief that we are meant for more, the belief that there is something inside us that needs to be said. It deals with Eggers reconciling that with the sheer brutality and absurdity and brevity of life in face of that destiny (with the emphasis on the DES, like Vader). It's a book about purpose. Eggers' purpose could be Toph, it could be his magazine, it could just be to find himself and what he wants. It deals with purpose being put on hold, cut short. I found it intensely relatable despite the fact that our two lives could not be more different from one another.
Some are irritated by Eggers' prose. I think it's brilliant. Prose should fit the author. Not everyone is McCarthy or Austen or James. The rambling, hyperactive prose is Eggers himself, laid out on the page, naked like a flapping penis in Might magazine.
It's honest, powerful, and has something to say. That's more than I get from most memoirs.
This is the story of a man whose parents die within a month of one another when he's in his early twenties. This man (Eggers) ends up taking charge of his pre-teen brother, Toph, and moving to San Fransisco, where the bulk of the story is set. The relationship between the two is the core of the work, and it is where the book truly shines.
But there is more to it. This is a book that speaks to the heart of Generation X, (and perhaps, to us damn millennials after) to the belief that we are meant for more, the belief that there is something inside us that needs to be said. It deals with Eggers reconciling that with the sheer brutality and absurdity and brevity of life in face of that destiny (with the emphasis on the DES, like Vader). It's a book about purpose. Eggers' purpose could be Toph, it could be his magazine, it could just be to find himself and what he wants. It deals with purpose being put on hold, cut short. I found it intensely relatable despite the fact that our two lives could not be more different from one another.
Some are irritated by Eggers' prose. I think it's brilliant. Prose should fit the author. Not everyone is McCarthy or Austen or James. The rambling, hyperactive prose is Eggers himself, laid out on the page, naked like a flapping penis in Might magazine.
It's honest, powerful, and has something to say. That's more than I get from most memoirs.
Oh David Eggers... how I loathe you. I mean, not really. I got through a pretty fair percentage of this book... but it felt like every 4 pages I was screaming "just shut up and get ON with it!" It's a good thing that I don't read in public.
I never did finish. Maybe another time, Mr. Eggers.
I never did finish. Maybe another time, Mr. Eggers.