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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
"You know how there will be a report on TV of some woman who kills herself and her kids, and everyone acts like that's so shocking? ... What's shocking, is that it doesn't happen more often. What's shocking is that everyone says they fell in love with their child the minute it was born, what's shocking is that no one is honest about how hard it all is. ... What shocks me is how alone we all are."
A book as hefty as the life it aspires to be. It is a mixed bag of surprising ideas and serendipitous encounters that become much more or which vanish off the page or opens the mind like a crack of light: the cultural identities of Jewish-Americans, the potentiality of different people to be alike or vice versa, the fear of being alone, of having children, of finding oneself in places and identities one might never dreamed of doing or being, sex in other people's houses and department store changing rooms, humour and drama in attempted foster-parenting, in mental meltdowns, in wild eccentricities, in being insulted and loved with and without sensible reason. The human mystery that is Richard Nixon. The bumbling, hapless protagonist who tries to do his best and hopes it will work out, like us. Although arguably there is one beginning and ending to the novel, other small endings and beginnings are scattered throughout the book, and they suggest that there is no real time or moment at which things should really happen in our world, on which the tide begins to take an ostensible turn; rather it is the steady accumulation of discretely unrelated events that form the current of life. It is wild, real yet surreal/fictitious in parts and wholly moving, and very much like life in its oddities and retrospective conclusive-ness. Its trajectory is circumlocutory but ultimately upward, ending on a note of successful transformation mediated by the stepping stones of tiny victories, wretched failures, and baffling situations; it is a symbolic passage of growth and renewal that in its intermittent flights and falls criticises the ease of reducing it to just a narrative of progression. May We Be Forgiven does what novels termed 'contemporary' should do: confronting the matters, truths and social-mental trials of modern life such that these recognisable times are again fresh, readable and illuminating.
A book as hefty as the life it aspires to be. It is a mixed bag of surprising ideas and serendipitous encounters that become much more or which vanish off the page or opens the mind like a crack of light: the cultural identities of Jewish-Americans, the potentiality of different people to be alike or vice versa, the fear of being alone, of having children, of finding oneself in places and identities one might never dreamed of doing or being, sex in other people's houses and department store changing rooms, humour and drama in attempted foster-parenting, in mental meltdowns, in wild eccentricities, in being insulted and loved with and without sensible reason. The human mystery that is Richard Nixon. The bumbling, hapless protagonist who tries to do his best and hopes it will work out, like us. Although arguably there is one beginning and ending to the novel, other small endings and beginnings are scattered throughout the book, and they suggest that there is no real time or moment at which things should really happen in our world, on which the tide begins to take an ostensible turn; rather it is the steady accumulation of discretely unrelated events that form the current of life. It is wild, real yet surreal/fictitious in parts and wholly moving, and very much like life in its oddities and retrospective conclusive-ness. Its trajectory is circumlocutory but ultimately upward, ending on a note of successful transformation mediated by the stepping stones of tiny victories, wretched failures, and baffling situations; it is a symbolic passage of growth and renewal that in its intermittent flights and falls criticises the ease of reducing it to just a narrative of progression. May We Be Forgiven does what novels termed 'contemporary' should do: confronting the matters, truths and social-mental trials of modern life such that these recognisable times are again fresh, readable and illuminating.
Disclaimer: I won a free ARC copy of this book through a GoodReads First Reads giveaway in order to give an honest review.
First things first, I think this book need a Trigger Warning due to a rape scene, and sexual abuse. It's not gone into too much detail or done graphically, but it's there and it's out of the blue.
I've never read any of the author's other books. I thought it would be right up my alley. It's not. It's not even close. There's always that one person who doesn’t "get it" and doesn't like it. I'm that person this time around.
Well, okay then. Clearly, I'm the odd one out when it comes to this book. Three words to sum it up: I don't get it. It's not a bad book or story, and I can see how others enjoyed it so much but honestly, I don't. There are brilliant moments and some elements that I like. The author is indeed talented. There are things that I'm glad are brought up and shown. There are excellent little tid bits and turns of phrases, descriptions and moments. It's just that ultimately, none of those things matter. I can't even go back and find the moments or phrases I liked or thought was okay. The rest of the book, the story, the characters, are the important part and the part I didn't like. I can give props to the author but I can't lie or hide my review. I feel obligated to give an honest star rating and a review telling why I didn't like it, since I did get an advanced copy. I can't recommend this book, unless you are already a fan of A.M. Homes. Though I have no idea how inline this is with her other work.
First delving into the book, I was surprised and intrigued. I can't say that I liked it but I didn't not like it. The story, at first, reminded me a bit of Wally Lamb's I know This Much Is True. It felt very surreal. I was wondering if Harry himself was crazy and if this was going to turn like a Poe story. Then it just kept adding more odd characters and the plot became more bizarre. It felt like I fell down the rabbit hole. I just couldn't buy into it. I couldn't connect with any characters, except Amy. I think the best parts are with Amy, In the case of Harry, I couldn't feel his pain or understand his plight. It was a disembodied feeling traveling along with Harry. I mean through out all the struggles and life changes, I felt nothing for Harry. Nothing. I was being told and dragged along for the ride of his life for a year like a ghost, hanging over his shoulder not understanding and unable to feel anything. It just got worse and worse, with parts that I hated and couldn't stand Harry any longer.
With the cast acting like something out of a Saturday Night Live skit and a story line that gets harder and harder to believe, no matter how much I want to like it I just can't. It was a okay read until around page 350 then I just didn't want to go back into it. I was sick and tired of the whole show. As heart warming the ending is supposed to be, I couldn't be moved. I felt like I was being told too often and telling me to be moved isn't going to work. I must say with the history lesson from Harry, the Nixon expert was well done throughout, and this is coming from someone that hadn't been born when Nixon was up and around. I didn't find it humorous (I laughed once through the whole book, no smirking or smiling at all on my part), or inspirational, or moving, or meaningful, or emotionally impacting. Just "meh" and "Wha....?"
I dislike Harry. His POV is done beau fully done though, I must admit. His self centeredness comes off perfectly. He's still a jerk even after his revelations and change. On page 468, Harry says,. Literally, referring to people as objects. Then before that there's the incident of rape and Harry's response to it, on page 344 I was quite creeped out and quite honestly didn't want to go further.
The whole incident with Nate having to tell the Sakhile how to spend the money raised for the village, not on a big screen TV, but on a well for town, just seemed stupid. It's like the blame is put upon American materialism for corrupting the poor Africans who don't know any better and only want shiny things and need the white man to tell them to be responsible. It was unsettling. I mean the whole book is about Harry being the rich white man to save the day for Cy, Madeline, and Ricardo, then it happened with Nate and Nateville. I mean really Harry has the money from George and time due to George and being fired, so he takes in Cy, Madeline, and Ricardo and magically it's all better. Before, Ricardo was a fat poor Hispanic pumped full of drugs, then bam! problem resolved with Harry as father. Cy and Madeline were a struggle and burden for their daughter Amanda to care for, but Harry alone can manage it no problem, and if he can't, he'll pay someone else to do it.
And what is with everyone but Harry being willing and okay with abandoning their family members? I don't know, the whole book just read as "the put upon rich, white, straight, cis man struggles to find his place in modern America as depicted by Fox news. It's a tipsy-turvy year when he finally grows up, needing only for his brother George to step out of the way to make Harry's dreams come true and start feeling emotions again. Harry grumps about modern society, our materialism, our connectedness to online electronics and how the damn kids today don't care about history and keep trampling on his lawn. He becomes Rich Daddy to several poor, unfortunate souls and is able to save the day by virtue of having money and time. Everyone is terrible and does terrible things, let us pray to nonexistent gods to clear away sins we don't have and help us forgive ourselves for being human. Woe is us. The End." And no, I didn't find the ending to be moving or inspirational or sweet. Harry starts feeling emotions again, whoopee. I just dislike him so much, and can't connect with him at all, this big moving revelation is just “meh, about time” for me.
*sigh* I don't know. I've never lived in the suburbs. I've never dealt with being able to throw money at problems and take everyone on a trip to "make us a family". It's like National Lampoon with how outrageous it gets, without the laughs. (Though I find National Lampoon more believable than this book) I understand that I'm not getting it and quite frankly, I'm not sure I want to get it.
First things first, I think this book need a Trigger Warning due to a rape scene, and sexual abuse. It's not gone into too much detail or done graphically, but it's there and it's out of the blue.
I've never read any of the author's other books. I thought it would be right up my alley. It's not. It's not even close. There's always that one person who doesn’t "get it" and doesn't like it. I'm that person this time around.
Well, okay then. Clearly, I'm the odd one out when it comes to this book. Three words to sum it up: I don't get it. It's not a bad book or story, and I can see how others enjoyed it so much but honestly, I don't. There are brilliant moments and some elements that I like. The author is indeed talented. There are things that I'm glad are brought up and shown. There are excellent little tid bits and turns of phrases, descriptions and moments. It's just that ultimately, none of those things matter. I can't even go back and find the moments or phrases I liked or thought was okay. The rest of the book, the story, the characters, are the important part and the part I didn't like. I can give props to the author but I can't lie or hide my review. I feel obligated to give an honest star rating and a review telling why I didn't like it, since I did get an advanced copy. I can't recommend this book, unless you are already a fan of A.M. Homes. Though I have no idea how inline this is with her other work.
First delving into the book, I was surprised and intrigued. I can't say that I liked it but I didn't not like it. The story, at first, reminded me a bit of Wally Lamb's I know This Much Is True. It felt very surreal. I was wondering if Harry himself was crazy and if this was going to turn like a Poe story. Then it just kept adding more odd characters and the plot became more bizarre. It felt like I fell down the rabbit hole. I just couldn't buy into it. I couldn't connect with any characters, except Amy. I think the best parts are with Amy,
Spoiler
with her take on soap operas and the incident in AfricaWith the cast acting like something out of a Saturday Night Live skit and a story line that gets harder and harder to believe, no matter how much I want to like it I just can't. It was a okay read until around page 350 then I just didn't want to go back into it. I was sick and tired of the whole show. As heart warming the ending is supposed to be, I couldn't be moved. I felt like I was being told too often and telling me to be moved isn't going to work. I must say with the history lesson from Harry, the Nixon expert was well done throughout, and this is coming from someone that hadn't been born when Nixon was up and around. I didn't find it humorous (I laughed once through the whole book, no smirking or smiling at all on my part), or inspirational, or moving, or meaningful, or emotionally impacting. Just "meh" and "Wha....?"
Spoiler
I dislike Harry. His POV is done beau fully done though, I must admit. His self centeredness comes off perfectly. He's still a jerk even after his revelations and change. On page 468, Harry says,
Spoiler
"Cy and Madeline are mine now. I'm using them - the children are using them. I can't afford to lose them.", talking about the elderly dementia couple he's taken in.Spoiler
, the scene is described as her fighting back in her sleep and him forcing himself upon her. Harry response is "you're the one spying on them. They may be senior citizens but they have rights, and at least one of them still has feelings of a sort." WTF? If only them wants to have sex and the other one clearly doesn't want it, it's fucking rape. Yes, senior citizens have rights and privacy, but doesn't mean they get to rape their wives or that you have to turn your back on it. So fucking messed up and then he doesn't get why Amanda is mad at him for saying that? Hell yes, go in there and interrupt a rape, you assholes.The whole incident with Nate having to tell the Sakhile how to spend the money raised for the village, not on a big screen TV, but on a well for town, just seemed stupid. It's like the blame is put upon American materialism for corrupting the poor Africans who don't know any better and only want shiny things and need the white man to tell them to be responsible. It was unsettling. I mean the whole book is about Harry being the rich white man to save the day for Cy, Madeline, and Ricardo, then it happened with Nate and Nateville. I mean really Harry has the money from George and time due to George and being fired, so he takes in Cy, Madeline, and Ricardo and magically it's all better. Before, Ricardo was a fat poor Hispanic pumped full of drugs, then bam! problem resolved with Harry as father. Cy and Madeline were a struggle and burden for their daughter Amanda to care for, but Harry alone can manage it no problem, and if he can't, he'll pay someone else to do it.
And what is with everyone but Harry being willing and okay with abandoning their family members? I don't know, the whole book just read as "the put upon rich, white, straight, cis man struggles to find his place in modern America as depicted by Fox news. It's a tipsy-turvy year when he finally grows up, needing only for his brother George to step out of the way to make Harry's dreams come true and start feeling emotions again. Harry grumps about modern society, our materialism, our connectedness to online electronics and how the damn kids today don't care about history and keep trampling on his lawn. He becomes Rich Daddy to several poor, unfortunate souls and is able to save the day by virtue of having money and time. Everyone is terrible and does terrible things, let us pray to nonexistent gods to clear away sins we don't have and help us forgive ourselves for being human. Woe is us. The End." And no, I didn't find the ending to be moving or inspirational or sweet. Harry starts feeling emotions again, whoopee. I just dislike him so much, and can't connect with him at all, this big moving revelation is just “meh, about time” for me.
*sigh* I don't know. I've never lived in the suburbs. I've never dealt with being able to throw money at problems and take everyone on a trip to "make us a family". It's like National Lampoon with how outrageous it gets, without the laughs. (Though I find National Lampoon more believable than this book) I understand that I'm not getting it and quite frankly, I'm not sure I want to get it.
I read "this book may save your life" last year and so was really looking forward to this. However, for me, it's nowhere near as good a read. There are loose ends never explained and I didn't really sympathise with many of the characters. My rating is a little harsh, but in comparison to other books I've given 3's this can't be a three.
Loved it. Second favorite book of the year. So much tragedy but so much more.
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Amazing book; funny and sexy at times, followed by twisted surprises and periods following seemingly mundane life until the next page brings a thrilling shock. Enjoyed every page and feel sad having finished and not being able to see the future of these characters.
A. M. Homes is one of my favorite authors and this book is one of her best. I stayed up all night reading it the day I started it, but finished it today, after a few naps and a night of good sleep. Her prose is minimalist, eloquent. The plot of the book is, at times, shocking and certainly unusual, but through the narrator - who wakes up emotionally throughout - it is never unbelievable.
Another enjoyable book by AM Homes although perhaps the frequent citations of the works and musings of Nixon were a little bit for even a History graduate like me, to tolerate in a novel.
Wasn't able to finish this one. Darkly comic satire on contemporary America, I think it's supposed to be. My least favorite genre. Salman Rushdie loves it, the blurb says. Well, there you go.
More of a 4.5, and definitely not for everyone. A wild ride that never stops. This book goes everywhere, murder, casual sex, boarding school, foster care and Richard Nixon. A little unbelievable at times, but you're rooting for everything to work out. I was quite surprised at how much I liked this one.
This was a strange book. The black humor took me by surprise, and at first it was good, I couldn't put the book down. But after 300 pages the absurdity just got to be too much, too ridiculous, and I was rolling my eyes. So: Decent book, absurdly funny, then it jumps the shark.