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freehandclara's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Above all, this book is the tragedy of a family, a case study of evil, hurt, and abuse in America that is set in a rural background of the mid 70s. Would recommend strongly to nearly anybody. Really great read.
kingabee's review against another edition
5.0
One thing for sure – Oates can write. Her Twitter antics might convince you she is not a serious writer, but she is.
We Were The Mulvaneys is a juicy novel with quite a selection of antiheroes that creep up on you slowly, and you’re not sure when exactly you started hating them.
The Mulvaneys are the golden family which gets undone by their own misogyny, bigotry and weakness of character. The biggest asshat, of course, is the father, who believes that the offense done to his daughter was done to him really by proxy. It was an attack on him, something was taken away from him. The community whose respect he tried to earn so hard committed the ultimate act betrayal and disrespect. Like so many backwards fathers, he thinks his daughter’s virginity belongs to him. So any crime committed against her is actually committed against him and his property. The father’s unhealthy obsession with female virginity can be noticed very early on, when he is courting his future wife.
The novel is so psychologically intricate – Oates documents all the little things, the minute failures in communication that build up until everything reaches the point of no return. I particularly enjoyed the description of how the family communicates through their pets in a way of avoiding having difficult conversations. The daughter’s only act of rebellion noted was this one time when she broke from this established form of communication and snapped at her mother. It was such a small thing, but it left ripples. As a person with an easy access to her store of anger and rage, I found the mother’s and daughter’s inability to get angry perplexing and frustrating, but possibly, understandable in its context.
It was also interesting how the whole family, the parents especially, believed their own hype of being this picture perfect unit, the embodiment of the American dream, whereas to this reader they didn’t seem that special to begin with, therefore their downfall wasn’t as surprising as it was to them. When the reality started contradicting their own image they built in their heads, well, that’s too bad for reality. We never actually see the family through any outsider’s eyes, so we have no idea if their opinion of themselves is shared by their neighbours or if it’s just some group delusion.
The book is written from the POV of Judd, the youngest child of the Mulvaneys. This narrator occasionally becomes omniscient, he remembers things he wasn’t around for. This structure might sound messy, but was in fact very intricate, ellipting the main event, which nonetheless overshadows the whole story to the end.
We Were The Mulvaneys is a juicy novel with quite a selection of antiheroes that creep up on you slowly, and you’re not sure when exactly you started hating them.
The Mulvaneys are the golden family which gets undone by their own misogyny, bigotry and weakness of character. The biggest asshat, of course, is the father, who believes that the offense done to his daughter was done to him really by proxy. It was an attack on him, something was taken away from him. The community whose respect he tried to earn so hard committed the ultimate act betrayal and disrespect. Like so many backwards fathers, he thinks his daughter’s virginity belongs to him. So any crime committed against her is actually committed against him and his property. The father’s unhealthy obsession with female virginity can be noticed very early on, when he is courting his future wife.
The novel is so psychologically intricate – Oates documents all the little things, the minute failures in communication that build up until everything reaches the point of no return. I particularly enjoyed the description of how the family communicates through their pets in a way of avoiding having difficult conversations. The daughter’s only act of rebellion noted was this one time when she broke from this established form of communication and snapped at her mother. It was such a small thing, but it left ripples. As a person with an easy access to her store of anger and rage, I found the mother’s and daughter’s inability to get angry perplexing and frustrating, but possibly, understandable in its context.
It was also interesting how the whole family, the parents especially, believed their own hype of being this picture perfect unit, the embodiment of the American dream, whereas to this reader they didn’t seem that special to begin with, therefore their downfall wasn’t as surprising as it was to them. When the reality started contradicting their own image they built in their heads, well, that’s too bad for reality. We never actually see the family through any outsider’s eyes, so we have no idea if their opinion of themselves is shared by their neighbours or if it’s just some group delusion.
The book is written from the POV of Judd, the youngest child of the Mulvaneys. This narrator occasionally becomes omniscient, he remembers things he wasn’t around for. This structure might sound messy, but was in fact very intricate, ellipting the main event, which nonetheless overshadows the whole story to the end.
buddy524's review against another edition
4.0
Oates is a wonderful writer and this book captures that. She tells the story of a family as they grapple with a tragedy, which affects and rocks them all. Oates' strength is creating characters, but not so much plot. At times, I felt as though I l knew these characters more than the knew themselves, which is true for many people. I was hoping to see more of their relationships with each other. That aspect was a bit underdeveloped. Overall, a well-written story that allows the reader to understand a family on a deep level.
noahaimelire's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
relaxing
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pixe1's review
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
thebookishhomesteader's review against another edition
2.0
I feel like my expectations of this book were too high going in (I let the praise I had seen get to me). The beginning just drags and could have ended much more quickly, but, alas, it does get better. I didn’t like the premise- that one man can so easily ruin a family but I appreciate the comeback of all the kids and mom in the end. Their stories of making it on their own in their “rag-quilt” lives were lovely.
rita_c's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
bradbury's review against another edition
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
….hmm. This was an interesting one. The core of the plot and the characters are there, but i can’t help but think there’s at least 75 pages of exposition that could have been edited out. i saw myself skipping so many unnecessary pages, especially at the end. the endless “facts” about how these siblings have grown up and away from each other are bothersome, and they don’t spell anything out to me. i don’t care about any of the significant others, including Marianne's, that are introduced at the tail end of this story. Marianne’s arc is incomplete and her voice is barely there in the last 50 pages. She “falls in love” or rather gives into it as much as she is able to through her trauma, but there’s no conclusion to how she is able to break her need to disappear, and she never reconciles with her family members who ignored her for decades. This is a story about a family that dismisses their wrongdoings to each other as necessary in order to keep the mulvaney name stagnant. It’s rather infuriating, and there is no satisfying conclusion for any main characters worth being interested in. Also, the 1st person to 3rd person perspective switches make no sense? Judd’s own narration doesn’t fit with what the reader learns through the narrative. Confusing and unedited, though I felt for Marianne and Patrick, and wished the storyline could have been more focused and condensed.