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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
I would actually probably give this book 3.5 stars. I really loved Julavits's sense of humor and honesty, and I loved the sometimes seemingly nonlinear turns her journal entries would take before circling back and bringing her tangents all back to one main point. she wrote in a way that I often find myself thinking....one thing reminds me of another, which makes me think about that thing, and then maybe even another thing before remembering the first thing that I was focused on.
I also appreciated the way she was so honest about her own thoughts and life, even the thoughts that most of us would be ashamed or embarrassed to admit to another person. I liked that she didn't try to hide those things.
one thing that I did find myself getting slightly irritated by was her references to famous artists/writers/poets/actors, etc without saying WHO they were, even in cases where it honestly couldn't have mattered. one example of this is when she read a biography of a particular famous person right after reading a memoir of the same person. these are both clearly published books...why couldn't we know who she was speaking of? that was a minor irritation, though.
Overall, I enjoyed Julavits's unique and yet relatable daily journals. I also liked how she didn't leave the diary entries in chronological order. the jumping around kept things interesting, and if was nice to find yourself circling back to something mentioned in a previous entry.
I also appreciated the way she was so honest about her own thoughts and life, even the thoughts that most of us would be ashamed or embarrassed to admit to another person. I liked that she didn't try to hide those things.
one thing that I did find myself getting slightly irritated by was her references to famous artists/writers/poets/actors, etc without saying WHO they were, even in cases where it honestly couldn't have mattered. one example of this is when she read a biography of a particular famous person right after reading a memoir of the same person. these are both clearly published books...why couldn't we know who she was speaking of? that was a minor irritation, though.
Overall, I enjoyed Julavits's unique and yet relatable daily journals. I also liked how she didn't leave the diary entries in chronological order. the jumping around kept things interesting, and if was nice to find yourself circling back to something mentioned in a previous entry.
Overall this was a very enjoyable read, although I'm pretty sure my reaction to different parts depended a lot on the mood I was in at the time. I was surprised that some of my favorite parts were when she was in Germany - particularly the anthropomorphized lawn machines. It was mostly fun to acquire different threads of her life gradually so that by the end, they were familiar.
Some very beautiful passages. Interesting approach to not organize chronologically - made every entry stand on its own.
Julavits is a gifted wordsmith, but this reminded me of so many other semi-autobiographical books I've read in which a writer lives in New York and thinks deep thoughts.
I listened to the audiobook and it was the first and only time I’ve returned a book on audible. I hated this book, but About 50% of the problem was the narrator. So it’s not entirely the fault of the author, but if had been reading it in book form, I probably would not have bothered to finish it. The other 50% of the issue was that, for a diary, it was too....polished. Like each entry starts out as a diary entry and meanders into a short story thing that is nothing like a diary. So eh, I wasn’t a fan.
Couldn't finish.
I couldn't tell the difference between the past and the present or when the author was a good writer(in her words) or a bad one...
I couldn't tell the difference between the past and the present or when the author was a good writer(in her words) or a bad one...
Yet another book I would have never thought to pick up if it wasn't for my book club. This was author Heidi Julavits' attempt at writing a diary as an adult, after being disappointed with her findings from when she was young and kept a diary the first time. The result is a conglomeration of reflections of a day and then basically everything from her life that that day reminded her of.
Julavits is witty and amusing with good reflective thoughts. There were some things about her personality that drove me insane; ie. her insistence on relating to herself through men, her inability to be single, her insistence on being perpetually coy. But there was plenty to admire and quite a bit that I related to. Overall, I quite enjoyed this book and am glad that I had to chance to read it, since it's unlikely that I would have found it on my own.
Julavits is witty and amusing with good reflective thoughts. There were some things about her personality that drove me insane; ie. her insistence on relating to herself through men, her inability to be single, her insistence on being perpetually coy. But there was plenty to admire and quite a bit that I related to. Overall, I quite enjoyed this book and am glad that I had to chance to read it, since it's unlikely that I would have found it on my own.
i loved every observation, story, word. i sometimes felt she was writing from my own heart. i have nothing but wonderful things to say, yet i can't say them...because what i say cannot sum up how much i loved this book.