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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Updike is held in such high regard, I hoped "The Centaur" would be my first positive reading experience of his works
With a premise far more interesting than the contents (and a very intriguing blurb, on this edition at least!) there's some beautiful descriptive writing here. But for me, it's sandwiched within a rather simple story that just couldn't keep my attention. There's some relatability that helps to drive the narrative forward, but you'll struggle with that if you've never experienced your teenage years as an unconfident heterosexual male.
With a premise far more interesting than the contents (and a very intriguing blurb, on this edition at least!) there's some beautiful descriptive writing here. But for me, it's sandwiched within a rather simple story that just couldn't keep my attention. There's some relatability that helps to drive the narrative forward, but you'll struggle with that if you've never experienced your teenage years as an unconfident heterosexual male.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexism
Minor: Pedophilia
3.5 rounded up
Well written and interesting concept. Overwritten in the way you’d expect for something so literary. Extremely granular and sometimes overly flowery, close to purple. And, for that matter, misogynist in the way you’d expect for the time period, for that time matter. Grating as heck sometimes. But I do like stories with a capital p Point, and this is very much that, so I managed to focus on the qualities I found interesting and evocative.
Well written and interesting concept. Overwritten in the way you’d expect for something so literary. Extremely granular and sometimes overly flowery, close to purple. And, for that matter, misogynist in the way you’d expect for the time period, for that time matter. Grating as heck sometimes. But I do like stories with a capital p Point, and this is very much that, so I managed to focus on the qualities I found interesting and evocative.
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Five stars for the beautiful writing, but three for everything else. I think I’m good at ‘getting’ meaning and symbolism, but this one was tough. The mythology chapters were challenging, then they disappeared for most of the book. Overall I still liked it, the characters are memorable.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
John Updike is wordy and this book was difficult to get through, but it made for a really great discussion at book club. We discussed themes like tragic heroes, self-perception vs. outside perception, mythology, familial relationships. This was definitely a book that lent itself to discussion and I got a lot more out of it than I would have if I'd just read it on my own.
This book is sadly underrated among Updike's oeuvre. I think it's his best literary accomplishment. The Centaur is both a distorted, modernized retelling of the myth of Chiron and a moving story of a father and son. The prose is dense and rich, heavy with classical illusion; this isn't the easiest read, but it's worth the work. Updike's erudition and his gorgeous way with a sentence are on display here to a degree unmatched by any of his other work.
This book is a mixed bag. On the one hand it's all bizarre misogyny and the kind of pretentious, nostalgic musings white dudes think signal depth instead of arrested development. On the other hand, the writing can be absolutely gorgeous and those musings evoke a fascinating, almost hallucinatory tone. The thing that puts me most strongly in this book's corner is its setting. Updike is from Shillington, near Reading PA, the seat of Berks County. I'm from adjacent Montgomery County and I have strong but fraught familial ties to the area. Also, I'm pretty familiar with it. It's really fascinating to read Updike's detailed descriptions of the place when it had industry (as opposed to now when it's unilaterally depressing). Mentions of shoofly pie, Lebanon bologna, and just general Dutchiness (which in the language of the day and even to some extent to this day refers paradoxically to Germanness, specifically Pennsylvania Germanness) makes the book feel kind of soothing to me. I fear this feeling has doomed me to checking out the rest of this man's body of work.