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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
It wasn't a bar bet, exactly, but one night not long ago I made a few sweeping (and whiskey-fueled) statements about the irrelevance and sexism of mid-century white dude novelists like Roth, Cheever, and Updike that quite unexpectedly garnered such a thoughtful, knowledgable defense of Updike from my friend Dave that the only possible way I saw to save face was to immediately promise to read the Updike novel of his choosing. (Jodi was there, she saw it go down.) Which is how I came to The Centaur.
I didn't love it. I didn't even much like it, even as I admire the craft with which it was made. In the end, my main takeaway was a kind of grudging respect for just how clearly this book does not give one single fuck about me. If Updike wrote for anyone, I can only imagine that it was a reader just like him - a white, highly educated, wealthy, East Coast heterosexual man who loves boobs, and latin, who didn't know how to connect with his father, and who believes the body a shoddily-made prison for a soul as refined as his.
More than a few images from this novel will stick with me, but I am still glad Updike and his kind no longer rule the literary world.
I didn't love it. I didn't even much like it, even as I admire the craft with which it was made. In the end, my main takeaway was a kind of grudging respect for just how clearly this book does not give one single fuck about me. If Updike wrote for anyone, I can only imagine that it was a reader just like him - a white, highly educated, wealthy, East Coast heterosexual man who loves boobs, and latin, who didn't know how to connect with his father, and who believes the body a shoddily-made prison for a soul as refined as his.
More than a few images from this novel will stick with me, but I am still glad Updike and his kind no longer rule the literary world.
i hated this. maybe it's brilliant-i'm not saying it isn't. it's just not for me. anyone who loves the catcher in the rye will probably enjoy this book a lot more than i did as the dominant voice running through the narrative is similar to holden's.
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a DNF for me this time - I did really try. I think I need to perhaps revisit.
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is beautifully written. It also has some (amusingly? offensively?) off racial stuff in it, sometimes right alongside and weirdly intertwined with the beautiful, apposite phrases. Such were the times, I suppose, and it was John Updike. But I think it holds up much better than I would have expected.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes