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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
Here's my faint praise: it certainly is...propulsive. I mean, I read the entire book, the plot rocketing on and on like a...rocket (?), even though I didn't care about what happened. And I was...entertained, by the writing. But I won't say it's good, I didn't like it, and I wouldn't recommend it.
It's this odd mix, the main Don DeLillo-esque character of a failed Nixon scholar who unexpectedly gains custody of his brother's preternaturally wise-talking children, after an unfortunate accident. It escalates and escalates, culminating in a magical trip to South Africa, but there aren't any stakes and it doesn't feel real. It surprised me how much I wanted the happy ending, but it reads like a writing exercise by a very talented writer.
It's this odd mix, the main Don DeLillo-esque character of a failed Nixon scholar who unexpectedly gains custody of his brother's preternaturally wise-talking children, after an unfortunate accident. It escalates and escalates, culminating in a magical trip to South Africa, but there aren't any stakes and it doesn't feel real. It surprised me how much I wanted the happy ending, but it reads like a writing exercise by a very talented writer.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very entertaining, fast-moving book. Published in 2012, the book included some premonitions about a tweeting president!!
Oh, I so badly wanted to like this book. I love her other work. But this one just sprawled out of control, and for every passage that made me laugh, there were several that had me rolling my eyes and cringing, especially some of the racial stereotypes.
An immensely readable page-turner, but most of the time it fell on the wrong side of kooky.
UPDATE (10/2014): In retrospect, I really didn't like this book.
UPDATE (10/2014): In retrospect, I really didn't like this book.
I feel like this is unlike any other book in ages. The humor, the tragedy, the emotionally distant narrator, the examination of family, the exploration of what it is to be human, the wild twists and turns…I loved it. It sat on my “to read” shelf for probably nearly a decade. I hate that I waited so long to read it and am so happy that I read it at a time when it could really hit me.
im not sure why i liked this book. but i did. lot of ups and downs, lot of points. and sometimes no point at all. beautiful and confusing. glad i read it.
I found this a random rollercoaster of a book covering more themes and scenarios than one would think possible for a character to face but surprisingly it worked! I was glad I stuck with it
This book was stupid. Like stoooopid. There was not clear story arc, just a bunch of REALLY random tangents. The jacket sounded so interesting and like the events at the start of the novel were going to be this powerful catalyst for deeper understanding. But instead what came was a sloppy narrative with a bunch of loosely connected stories.
This guy was obsessed with Nixon. Why? No idea. How did it help the story? It didn't.
He took his nephew on his bar mitzvah in South Africa - referred to it as BM (great), had a celebration in a village that was named after his pre-teen, complete with soccer jerseys and ice cream. Okay...
It seemed like every woman he encountered was sexually attracted to him and literally could not keep their hands off of him. Maybe this was some sort of deep fantasy of the authors?
The thing that continued to irritate me about this text was the lack of character depth or development. Nothing seemed to phase these hollow people. Maybe it was commentary on who we are, but it wasn't really intellectual or well done enough to make any sort of lasting impression.
Boo.
This guy was obsessed with Nixon. Why? No idea. How did it help the story? It didn't.
He took his nephew on his bar mitzvah in South Africa - referred to it as BM (great), had a celebration in a village that was named after his pre-teen, complete with soccer jerseys and ice cream. Okay...
It seemed like every woman he encountered was sexually attracted to him and literally could not keep their hands off of him. Maybe this was some sort of deep fantasy of the authors?
The thing that continued to irritate me about this text was the lack of character depth or development. Nothing seemed to phase these hollow people. Maybe it was commentary on who we are, but it wasn't really intellectual or well done enough to make any sort of lasting impression.
Boo.