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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
this novel is a wannabe rebuttal to the #metoo movement predicated on a deep malice inside the authors soul. the fundamental racism her worldview hinges on will manifest in ways that will appall but not shock you considering that she wants to write a manifesto about humanity while understanding humanity through the lenses of someone whose maximum engagement with the literary canon (pick up some mary gaitskill if you want to engage with white women and me too holy fuck) appears to be reading twitter qrts dunking college students targeted for engagement bait interviews by right wing youtubers. this book is about: white people problems. i cannot image the contempt in a professors soul, to look at her students and write a novel whose thesis is a deep abhorrence of the young and a misplaced understanding of propaganda/mass media disguised as a quasifeminist anti-ageism rant. congrats you’ve made up a world and trapped yourself in it and now you’re a professor, apparently. White Women Shit.
authorial racism in vladimir:a Black student is introduced apparently for the sole purpose of being congratulated by the protagonist for being “smarter/ more in touch with the truth about Teacher-student relationships” than her white peers, in that the Black student detests MC’s husband’s sexual abuse of students for the sole reason that it’s “white people shit,” problematic because she’s excluded from participation in this “consensual exchange.” (vladimir’s thesis is that professor-student relationships arent abusive because they validate the youth of instigating/participating students blah blah blah cancel culture.) i meaaaan, sexual abuse on college campuses so famously only includes consenting white adults yes? wow! brilliant! most transparent post-racial mouthpiecing i’ve seen through a character of color in a minute. just nauseating.
authorial racism in vladimir:
dark
funny
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Vladimir was a slow burner. Our protagonist who shall not be named is a college professor obsessed with her looks and first world, upper middle problems that begin to irritate within the first chapters. A comfortable life, a relatively successful career, a supportive family and yet she is insatiable in her desire for youthful looks, better selling books and a relationship more passionate. Ironically she's rather blasé about what ought to matter the most: her husband, also a professor at the college, has been suspended from his position due to accusations of inappropriate relationships with former students. The couple had been in an open relationship for years and she'd turned a blind eye to his dalliances, but amidst the #metoo movement, her only concern is to extricate herself from bad optics.
Meanwhile she's got her eyes on a much younger colleague Vladimir. While described from our protagonist's view as a beautiful man, Vladimir fails to ignite any interest having the charisma of a goldfish. All equally dislikeable characters, their entanglement slowly and clumsily hurtles towards an anticlimactic end which almost tragicomic.
Vladimir by Julia May Jonas details the story of a nameless narrator who works at a small college in upstate New York. Her husband, another professor, is being investigated for having sexual relationships with his students while our narrator fantasizes about a handsome new professor named Vladimir.
I gave this book a
I gave this book a
This is a real page Turner for me. The cabin section is crazy. I think we’re supposed to hate the protagonist, but I’d sympathize with her.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Rounding up from 2.75 ⭐ on story graph
I'm actually surprised that I didn't love this book. Don't get me wrong, the writing is so good. I love the authors writing style, but the story.... it's a little off. I feel like this was 3 different stories that the author decided to mash up and make a book out of it.
Our unnamed narrator is a white woman in her late fifties. Her and her husband had an agreement that he could sleep with other women, but it came back to bite both of them in the ass when past students stepped forward and claimed abuse of power.
Eventually Vlad comes into the picture and our author goes off the deep end a bit..can I just say that I wish she went super unhinged at the cabin anf went forward with the kidnapping theme? I think that would have made things wayyyy more interesting.
-⭐ for that random ending.
I'm actually surprised that I didn't love this book. Don't get me wrong, the writing is so good. I love the authors writing style, but the story.... it's a little off. I feel like this was 3 different stories that the author decided to mash up and make a book out of it.
Our unnamed narrator is a white woman in her late fifties. Her and her husband had an agreement that he could sleep with other women, but it came back to bite both of them in the ass when past students stepped forward and claimed abuse of power.
Eventually Vlad comes into the picture and our author goes off the deep end a bit..can I just say that I wish she went super unhinged at the cabin anf went forward with the kidnapping theme? I think that would have made things wayyyy more interesting.
-⭐ for that random ending.
I was enjoying this nuanced portrayal... right up until the ending.
Loved the premise and the Laura Kipnis-style critique of current discourse on sex and power.
And yet, Jonas really struggles to write a believable male character. Both the titular Vladimir and her husband, John, make strange choices and have corny dialog that did not feel relatable to any men I've known (in academia or otherwise).
As a story about obsession, this was a really fun ride. As a novel, the writing and character development left me a little disappointed.
And yet, Jonas really struggles to write a believable male character. Both the titular Vladimir and her husband, John, make strange choices and have corny dialog that did not feel relatable to any men I've known (in academia or otherwise).
As a story about obsession, this was a really fun ride. As a novel, the writing and character development left me a little disappointed.
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No