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jisimpson's review against another edition
4.0
An obsessive book about the phantasmagoria of personality that over and over asks the question: Can a person completely escape their own history -- especially a bloody and violent one -- and make himself over? Do the events in youth follow us forever?
Wonderland spans the Great Depression, Korean and Vietnam Wars. A great American novel full of the usual Oates obsessions.
Wonderland spans the Great Depression, Korean and Vietnam Wars. A great American novel full of the usual Oates obsessions.
philipe's review against another edition
5.0
The Wonderland series was phenomenal. Not books that can be read through at a glance but so intense. I would recommend to anyone and everyone!
lindseysparks's review against another edition
2.0
I really liked this up until we meet Reva and then at that point the story ceases to make any sense. Jesse loses his mind for absolutely no reason and then it jumps to his pathetic daughter and then it just ends.
aliciaczellmer's review against another edition
3.0
I feel quite conflicted about this book. I didn’t particularly like it.. but as a medical doctor (and currently a resident), I did find myself identifying with some of the pain and struggles he experienced during his years in medical school and residency. I think these would be good excerpts for medical trainees to read and reflect on. But everything in the book seems to be taken to an extreme degree, almost creating a piece of fiction that would be better categorized as magical realism. None of the characters seem truly “real.” I read this because I was inspired by JCO’s masterclass, and she said she had Alice in Wonderland, which she read many times as a child, in mind when she wrote it, and you can certainly tell. She precedes the book with a disclaimer: “for all of us who pursue the phantasmagoria of personality.” That certainly stands true in this bizarre novel.
What I didn’t particularly like about this book was there was no character redemption. Every single person in the book is, chooses to be, or becomes irredeemable. It’s utterly depressing. I’m not saying every book has to be a happy book, but be warned this has no slivers of joy interwoven.
Bottom line: I think this book would be valuable for medical professionals to read, to expand upon themselves within the medical humanities, but I question it’s value beyond that. I would only re-read it for that reason. That being said, if you do read it, I recommend reading the alternate ending of whatever version you pick up afterwards. (She wrote two endings, which are really quite different from one another. Higdon wrote an interesting article about this with excerpts from both versions.)
What I didn’t particularly like about this book was there was no character redemption. Every single person in the book is, chooses to be, or becomes irredeemable. It’s utterly depressing. I’m not saying every book has to be a happy book, but be warned this has no slivers of joy interwoven.
Bottom line: I think this book would be valuable for medical professionals to read, to expand upon themselves within the medical humanities, but I question it’s value beyond that. I would only re-read it for that reason. That being said, if you do read it, I recommend reading the alternate ending of whatever version you pick up afterwards. (She wrote two endings, which are really quite different from one another. Higdon wrote an interesting article about this with excerpts from both versions.)
wildetartt's review against another edition
5.0
i love & hate this book so much
jesse is super unlikeable and frustrating as a protagonist and his life really just is misery after misery and even more misery.
book 2 with the pederson family and their unhealthy relationship to food and studying made me deeply uncomfortably and i HATED it but somehow was still attached to every written word with complete concentration.
the best part of the book are the female characters. helene >> and her passage abt how womanhood feels for her changed my life istg
jesse is super unlikeable and frustrating as a protagonist and his life really just is misery after misery and even more misery.
book 2 with the pederson family and their unhealthy relationship to food and studying made me deeply uncomfortably and i HATED it but somehow was still attached to every written word with complete concentration.
the best part of the book are the female characters. helene >> and her passage abt how womanhood feels for her changed my life istg
andrueb's review against another edition
4.0
I had been meaning to read a Joyce Carol Oates novel for years and recently found this in a free book box. I enjoyed the book more than I didn't. Oates has this highly narrative stream of consciousness approach to prose and character studies that's an effortless read for me. Her attention to every granular detail of personality. There were a couple of sections that crossed over into the cartoonishly macabre (some of the Trick stuff), but for the most part the action was as psychologically horrifying as I'm sure Oates intended. She really knows how to suck the air out of a room, leaving the reader feeling acute tension and confusion. So if that's your thing...
I loved the Pedersen family. I could have read 500 pages of just that. Dr. Pedersen was so vivid, so distinct among all the characters I've ever read, so troubling. It's impossible to distinguish the boundaries between his intelligence, ambition, and cruelty. It would be easy for the reader to conclude "Oh, he's evil. That's it.", but I think Oates wants us to observe the nuances of a much more complex character, who hijacks and absorbs people and buildings and an entire city, really. In any case, the personality destruction he wreaks upon his wife and children (intentionally? accidentally?) in his constant demand for perfection is horrifying and lifelike. Hilda's chapter is devastating.
I enjoyed Grandpa Shirer and most other aspects of the first book. The third book I could have done without. It's anemic compared to the first two and seems tacked on for some sort of last minute thematic completion that doesn't seem justified by what came before. I wish Jesse himself was more dynamic. I get that he's traumatized and withdrawn, but with so many colorful and interesting things happening all around him, he feels more like a passenger than a protagonist and I got bored whenever questions of his desires and personal fulfillment were on the table.
Still, I liked it, and because the internet tells me that there are several dozen more well-regarded JCO books than this one, I'm looking forward to something even better.
I loved the Pedersen family. I could have read 500 pages of just that. Dr. Pedersen was so vivid, so distinct among all the characters I've ever read, so troubling. It's impossible to distinguish the boundaries between his intelligence, ambition, and cruelty. It would be easy for the reader to conclude "Oh, he's evil. That's it.", but I think Oates wants us to observe the nuances of a much more complex character, who hijacks and absorbs people and buildings and an entire city, really. In any case, the personality destruction he wreaks upon his wife and children (intentionally? accidentally?) in his constant demand for perfection is horrifying and lifelike. Hilda's chapter is devastating.
I enjoyed Grandpa Shirer and most other aspects of the first book. The third book I could have done without. It's anemic compared to the first two and seems tacked on for some sort of last minute thematic completion that doesn't seem justified by what came before. I wish Jesse himself was more dynamic. I get that he's traumatized and withdrawn, but with so many colorful and interesting things happening all around him, he feels more like a passenger than a protagonist and I got bored whenever questions of his desires and personal fulfillment were on the table.
Still, I liked it, and because the internet tells me that there are several dozen more well-regarded JCO books than this one, I'm looking forward to something even better.
duckoffimreading's review against another edition
3.0
Depressing depressing book
This took me forever to read. I like bizarre story lines, but this one didn’t seem to make any progress. Just the retelling of tragic family stories one after another. No breaking of the vicious cycle. Lots of detail - too much detail, to the point of tediousness in reading. I got to the end and had a WTF moment. I am giving it 3 stars for the parts that had my attention...
This took me forever to read. I like bizarre story lines, but this one didn’t seem to make any progress. Just the retelling of tragic family stories one after another. No breaking of the vicious cycle. Lots of detail - too much detail, to the point of tediousness in reading. I got to the end and had a WTF moment. I am giving it 3 stars for the parts that had my attention...
myspiace's review against another edition
5.0
Un libro potente, e anche imponente, eppure brevissimo rispetto al mio desiderio di saperne ancora e ancora di più sul destino di alcuni personaggi pericolosamente magnetici.
sui_marie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
sanfordc11's review against another edition
4.0
I read this because it was on Didion's to twenty books list, and it did not disappoint. A difficult read, it took me almost two months of picking it up sporadically to actually finish. At times, I felt like the characters had less personality than the suffocating tone of the narrator. Upon re-reading the inscription, "This book is for all of us who pursue the phantasmagoria of personality...", I was struck by the intention and craft of the book, something that redeems it's difficulty (a well-crafted book is worth the slog, right?).