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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed the writing and story. I enjoyed how I could understand how Theo was feeling. I also enjoyed how deep the characters were.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Im not sure how I feel about this book. 700 plus pages and what I can say is Donna Tartt is skilled at writing and 3/4 of the book kept me interested but some of the characters were completely bizarre, and the ending…idk if it was worth the time it took to read it. A strange story you feel compelled to finish but also….what just happened.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
This book begins interestingly enough but then degenerates as far as I am concerned. Why she won the Pulitzer is not for me to know! It is long over-written and under edited. How anyone can think that the maze of this persons' life deserves attention or has intensity . . ? maybe you have to live on the EastCoast and think these things are important! Read the first chapter the last section of the book and that is all the time you need to spend on it. And only read more if you find the boy's life compelling.
I read far more than I needed to but I believed it read a little like the plot from the movie "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" in the beginning that was the feel to me. A kid dealing with tremendous loss but once we get to Las Vegas everything goes out the window.
The end of the book has the audacity to suggest that this was a diary?! Really well there was no indication of this before the writer's statement. Yes it is about a life but that is not a diary. Plus the philosophy at the end either needs to be rewritten or come out of character's voice rather than this sudden shift to 1st person.
I read far more than I needed to but I believed it read a little like the plot from the movie "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" in the beginning that was the feel to me. A kid dealing with tremendous loss but once we get to Las Vegas everything goes out the window.
The end of the book has the audacity to suggest that this was a diary?! Really well there was no indication of this before the writer's statement. Yes it is about a life but that is not a diary. Plus the philosophy at the end either needs to be rewritten or come out of character's voice rather than this sudden shift to 1st person.
for the prose, but it didn't draw me in immediately, i didnt attach to the characters until a good chunk in, the plot did hook me eventually. very flat poc characters is my biggest critique. sometimes i felt the mc was too passive for me to root for him but he is a repressed homosexual gay boy so
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow, this book. No other book has made me examine and ruminate so much on the themes of parenthood, family and friendship. It seems surreal to say that only fiction can do this. Donna Tartt’s depth of character development and relationship development in her books is unparalleled. I was so fond of Theo and Hobie like they were real. I didn’t want to turn the last page. And so many other relationship dynamics (major and minor) were engrossingly immersive. Chapter 9 is a masterpiece; the way the prose glides through three separate themes of the antiques trade, unrequited love and opioid addiction; was some of the best writing I’ve ever had the pleasure of indulging in. I will be thinking about this book long after I put it back on my shelf.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-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
yeah…
Still my favourite book—so textually rich, and even though it’s incredibly long it lingers on very little. I could think about it forever, digging my greedy little claws into all of its cracks. Especially that final section, makes me cry every time (John Singer Sargent mention as well! How delightful!)
Unlike a lot of people, I actually like the book more after Vegas. There’s something intoxicating about Theo’s adulthood, all his secrets and layered problems, his odd relationships, his sickening, suffocating depression, the skilful time-skips. The quickening clip-clop rhythm of his life.
But yeah—lodged in my soul forever. Made for me.
Still my favourite book—so textually rich, and even though it’s incredibly long it lingers on very little. I could think about it forever, digging my greedy little claws into all of its cracks. Especially that final section, makes me cry every time (John Singer Sargent mention as well! How delightful!)
Unlike a lot of people, I actually like the book more after Vegas. There’s something intoxicating about Theo’s adulthood, all his secrets and layered problems, his odd relationships, his sickening, suffocating depression, the skilful time-skips. The quickening clip-clop rhythm of his life.
But yeah—lodged in my soul forever. Made for me.