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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
The concept is good, time travel and love. But the truth is that the book has very little about Q and love. He has this tendency to over describe scenes, like the mini golf game. Why the f*** do I need all those pointless details?! He never explains the obsession to give his characters gastritis or the lime/lemon debate. I hate that at first the I-60 and I-50 appear with a bit of space in the middle and at the second half he jams lots of "I's" together. The books the character was writing also suck! This guy is not funny at all! Plain bad writing, took a good concept and crapped on it.
I hate the ending, sorry. It's nice but it falls short.
I hate the ending, sorry. It's nice but it falls short.
This was fantastic. I can't wait to read it again. It encouraged me to think about many different things, those being factual to emotional. I found it very similar to the way I perceive love's encounter. I don't know why others have reviewed it like they have. I guess we all just have different tastes.
I always find a book to be notable when it opens my mind to new ideas and spins old ones and new vocabulary. The tempo was pretty consistent to me too, although I can admit some of the time travel towards the end was a tad much. But the ending was unexpected, yet fulfilling at the same time.
I will read this again in the future.
I always find a book to be notable when it opens my mind to new ideas and spins old ones and new vocabulary. The tempo was pretty consistent to me too, although I can admit some of the time travel towards the end was a tad much. But the ending was unexpected, yet fulfilling at the same time.
I will read this again in the future.
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The premise had a lot of promise, but the execution didn't work for me. The pacing of the last half draaaaagged on and I found myself skipping pages to get to the main plot. There were a lot of tangents and side stories that did nothing but up the word count. This could've easily been half the length without affecting the plot.
"Nondenominational does not mean that god is not present; it means that all gods are present or, more accurately, the god of whoever is paying at the moment."
I'm not really sure what to say about this one right now. I think I'm going to give it 3.5 stars, but I need some time to process.
It was completely different from what I was expecting. It was definitely thought provoking, but I'm really not sure if I liked the writing style, and some of it was just. so. weird.
Maybe I'll put some coherent thoughts together at some point (probably not but oh well). Until then, I think it'd be really difficult for me to recommend this book to anyone. Even though there were parts I didn't love, I enjoyed it overall. It's just such a strange book with such strange writing that I don't think there will be that many people who will thoroughly enjoy it.
If you are planning on reading this, keep in mind that it won't be a light and fluffy romance. Also, don't give up on reading it if you're not in love. The first half is pretty slow, but I absolutely loved the last half of the book, and it picks up pace towards the end.
It was completely different from what I was expecting. It was definitely thought provoking, but I'm really not sure if I liked the writing style, and some of it was just. so. weird.
Maybe I'll put some coherent thoughts together at some point (probably not but oh well). Until then, I think it'd be really difficult for me to recommend this book to anyone. Even though there were parts I didn't love, I enjoyed it overall. It's just such a strange book with such strange writing that I don't think there will be that many people who will thoroughly enjoy it.
If you are planning on reading this, keep in mind that it won't be a light and fluffy romance. Also, don't give up on reading it if you're not in love. The first half is pretty slow, but I absolutely loved the last half of the book, and it picks up pace towards the end.
With the novel's opening chapter, I found two things: enchanting sweetness and overly quirky forays that ran a bit too long. I immediately loved Q as much as our unnamed narrator did; their very cute courtship charmed me. But just as I started to get seriously excited for the story, Mandery tempered my enthusiasm with four pages describing the stroke-for-stroke mini golf game the narrator and Q play on their second date. Amusingly, the course is owned by Neo-Marxists and so the obstacles are all Communist themed, but the literal recounting of the course bored me and was one of many passages where Mandery went on a bit too long about a pet idea he clearly loved.
That's how the rest of my reading of this novel went.
I'm really of two minds about this book. I enjoyed it enough but I often found myself skimming. Our narrator writes speculative fiction (what if Robespierre took up transcendental meditation, etc.) and this novel is just an extension of that what-if theme. I wanted this novel to be a serious look at the impact of leaving the love of one's life (and what future event would be so awful to make one travel back in time to prevent marriage) but that's not this book -- and ultimately, Mandery isn't responsible for my (erroneous) expectations.
I had mentally resigned myself to being underwhelmed -- then I got to the last chapter. It was a surprise, a moving, tender, sweet, and satisfying conclusion that almost saved the entire book. Suddenly, the long rambling asides didn't seem so exhausting in light of the payoff. I reread the last chapter twice, actually, to savor the language and sentiment, and bask a little longer.
New Yorkers will absolutely want to get this novel as the city is a literal backdrop (opening each chapter) and a background player to all the action. Fans of cerebral silliness will also get a kick out of the narrator's ruminations; lit fic lovers might also like the nerdy narrative and variation on romance.
That's how the rest of my reading of this novel went.
I'm really of two minds about this book. I enjoyed it enough but I often found myself skimming. Our narrator writes speculative fiction (what if Robespierre took up transcendental meditation, etc.) and this novel is just an extension of that what-if theme. I wanted this novel to be a serious look at the impact of leaving the love of one's life (and what future event would be so awful to make one travel back in time to prevent marriage) but that's not this book -- and ultimately, Mandery isn't responsible for my (erroneous) expectations.
I had mentally resigned myself to being underwhelmed -- then I got to the last chapter. It was a surprise, a moving, tender, sweet, and satisfying conclusion that almost saved the entire book. Suddenly, the long rambling asides didn't seem so exhausting in light of the payoff. I reread the last chapter twice, actually, to savor the language and sentiment, and bask a little longer.
New Yorkers will absolutely want to get this novel as the city is a literal backdrop (opening each chapter) and a background player to all the action. Fans of cerebral silliness will also get a kick out of the narrator's ruminations; lit fic lovers might also like the nerdy narrative and variation on romance.
I'm pretty into time travel. I think I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago that I have some mixed feelings about science fiction as a genre. I don't really have mixed feelings about time travel. There is a lot of time travel in Evan Mandery's novel Q. I was pretty into Q.
So what is it about (besides, of course, time travel)? Q is the girlfriend of our narrator, a counter-historical novelist and academic. The two have a quirky romance and are planning their wedding, when a future version of the narrator shows up and tells him that he "must not marry Q." Thus begins a chain of interruptions and events that our narrator rides like a wave, all the while wondering if he has irrevocably altered the course of his life for the worse by leaving his one true love.
Q is part love story. And the love story is dear. I even shed a tear or two by the end. However, Q is also the kind of playful, postmodern novel that I personally love to read. It doesn't take itself too seriously, toying with its own conventions, filled with clever detail. I didn't like the narrator, in particular, but I was still rooting for him. I even thought I might have read his not-terribly-good novel, exploring how history might have changed if Sigmund Freud had pursued his early explorations into eel anatomy and reproduction. The novel explores history in a number of different ways as the narrator theorizes and lives the consequences of re-writing ones' narrative. These explorations reminded me of one of my favorite novels, Graham Swift's Waterland, although Mandery's approach is much less heavy, more humorous. The comparison on the cover to Vonnegut seems apt, although I would say there are some Palahniukian (I may have made that up) moments as well.
While a lot of the novel is cerebral and hip (which happens to be my thing), Mandery also reveals himself to be a sensualist through his divine descriptions of food, which would make any foodies mouth water. Here's one:
"Here is a wild mushroom corn pudding with goat cheese and an herbed cream sauce," she says, pointing. "This is winter squash stuffed with curried pork. This is Vidalia onion casserole. Here is cranberry relish spiced with mincemeat and pecans. Here are fresh-baked sweet rolls. Here are plain sweet potatoes, just for you, just like your grandmother used to make...And finally, the piece de resistance." She walks to the oven, opens the door, and reveals the giant thirty-pound fowl. "The turkey is glazed with honey, stuffed with andouille sausage, bacon, croutons, apples, dried cranberries, and pears, and has been roasting slowly, upside down, for the past sixteen hours."
I flew through Q and enjoyed almost every moment. I was laughing out loud, and crying in the end. The clever linguistic play and the philosophical jaunts into the nature of time and quantum theory were fun, but weren't the whole of the book. Underneath there is a touching love story and an emotional exploration of how we make meaning in our lives and confront our aging selves. In the end, what really turned on the water works was the "Acknowledgements" page on which Mandery explores the relationships that mattered in his life. It isn't often that an "Acknowledgements" page makes me cry, so I was lucky that I stuck around and read this one, since I just wanted to keep reading this wonderful book. Highly recommended.
**I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
So what is it about (besides, of course, time travel)? Q is the girlfriend of our narrator, a counter-historical novelist and academic. The two have a quirky romance and are planning their wedding, when a future version of the narrator shows up and tells him that he "must not marry Q." Thus begins a chain of interruptions and events that our narrator rides like a wave, all the while wondering if he has irrevocably altered the course of his life for the worse by leaving his one true love.
Q is part love story. And the love story is dear. I even shed a tear or two by the end. However, Q is also the kind of playful, postmodern novel that I personally love to read. It doesn't take itself too seriously, toying with its own conventions, filled with clever detail. I didn't like the narrator, in particular, but I was still rooting for him. I even thought I might have read his not-terribly-good novel, exploring how history might have changed if Sigmund Freud had pursued his early explorations into eel anatomy and reproduction. The novel explores history in a number of different ways as the narrator theorizes and lives the consequences of re-writing ones' narrative. These explorations reminded me of one of my favorite novels, Graham Swift's Waterland, although Mandery's approach is much less heavy, more humorous. The comparison on the cover to Vonnegut seems apt, although I would say there are some Palahniukian (I may have made that up) moments as well.
While a lot of the novel is cerebral and hip (which happens to be my thing), Mandery also reveals himself to be a sensualist through his divine descriptions of food, which would make any foodies mouth water. Here's one:
"Here is a wild mushroom corn pudding with goat cheese and an herbed cream sauce," she says, pointing. "This is winter squash stuffed with curried pork. This is Vidalia onion casserole. Here is cranberry relish spiced with mincemeat and pecans. Here are fresh-baked sweet rolls. Here are plain sweet potatoes, just for you, just like your grandmother used to make...And finally, the piece de resistance." She walks to the oven, opens the door, and reveals the giant thirty-pound fowl. "The turkey is glazed with honey, stuffed with andouille sausage, bacon, croutons, apples, dried cranberries, and pears, and has been roasting slowly, upside down, for the past sixteen hours."
I flew through Q and enjoyed almost every moment. I was laughing out loud, and crying in the end. The clever linguistic play and the philosophical jaunts into the nature of time and quantum theory were fun, but weren't the whole of the book. Underneath there is a touching love story and an emotional exploration of how we make meaning in our lives and confront our aging selves. In the end, what really turned on the water works was the "Acknowledgements" page on which Mandery explores the relationships that mattered in his life. It isn't often that an "Acknowledgements" page makes me cry, so I was lucky that I stuck around and read this one, since I just wanted to keep reading this wonderful book. Highly recommended.
**I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
Absolutely loved this book. Funny, quirky, smart...highly recommend. What was exceptionally neat about the book were the random factual stories interlaced throughout.
So stupid. I have a strong feeling that I may have been intrigued primarily by its unoriginal concept’s similarity to an episode of the best show, Buffy (“Hell’s Bells”). Neurotic, annoying, and there are minor details left unexplained. I kept with it hoping the story would go somewhere, but it does not. Tangents annoy. The second half is ridiculous and does not hold up to the cool premise. The main character is boring and his novel/story ideas sound really dull to match him. Yes, the protagonist is a writer, so meta out the wazoo. But referencing your writing as bad and pointing out flaws that are not corrected does not make it any less bad. The prologue is the best part of the book, quickly painting a believable love story featuring characters that a reader would want to get to know better. It’s almost as if he wrote a short story then decided he would improve slash butcher it by turning it into a time travel novel. I usually read the first then last chapter of a book before deciding if I should read it. I do not know why I did not do this, but this book reaffirmed for me the wisdom of doing so as I would not have wasted time in such a way. However, he’s not altogether a bad writer. His other book First Contact shows definite potential; it mixes genres much more fluidly and has much more sympathetic characters. Both reference both Hitchhiker’s Guide and Woody Allen, and as I read the former I can see that the tangents used are supposed to be in the same vein but they just do not work. They are uninteresting and don’t move the plot or say much about the characters.