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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
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
I am writing a review for Simon and Schuster. Vladimir is the debut novel of Julia May Jonas. The narrator, of the book and her husband John, are both popular English professors, at a small liberal arts college. Oddly enough we are never told the name of the narrator. I am thinking perhaps because we are not aware of what she may be capable of planning. John has been accused of having relationships in the past with many students, seven have come forward. His wife who has had relationships, in the past, but not with students, is now obsessed with Vladimir, a younger than her, new professor at the college. For me the first two thirds of the book is really going no where with no plot. There is a lot of fantasizing by the narrator. But then there is a bit more action with a development in the narrator’s personality. I personally did not care for the book. I am sure some people will enjoy it. Is this a book that book clubs will enjoy? I do not think there would be a lot to discuss.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
just finished reading Vladimir by Julia May Jonas. The concept of this book is very out there! A provocative one at that if you ask me!
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It’s written from a first person point of view of an English literature professor of an upstate New York college. She was going through a rather difficult time as her husband was accused of sexual misconduct by former students when she first met Vladimir, an adjunct English professor who just joined the faculty. She was fifty eight years old while Vladimir was forty! This novel illustrates her lustrous thoughts while obsessing over the young Vladimir, her somewhat controversial notion about the young women who accused her husband of sexual abuse, and her own personal feeling of apprehension about her body. While she was insecure in her own body, she dissects people’s characters really well. It almost gave me goosebumps the way she was narrating them!
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A very interesting read indeed although the ending could have been better! One of the big takeaways from this book for me is the way she analysed other characters, she considered the time when they grew up and the prevailing narratives of that time! Our childhood ideology actually in a way shapes the way we think even if we believe that we’ve outgrown those narratives!
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It’s written from a first person point of view of an English literature professor of an upstate New York college. She was going through a rather difficult time as her husband was accused of sexual misconduct by former students when she first met Vladimir, an adjunct English professor who just joined the faculty. She was fifty eight years old while Vladimir was forty! This novel illustrates her lustrous thoughts while obsessing over the young Vladimir, her somewhat controversial notion about the young women who accused her husband of sexual abuse, and her own personal feeling of apprehension about her body. While she was insecure in her own body, she dissects people’s characters really well. It almost gave me goosebumps the way she was narrating them!
.
A very interesting read indeed although the ending could have been better! One of the big takeaways from this book for me is the way she analysed other characters, she considered the time when they grew up and the prevailing narratives of that time! Our childhood ideology actually in a way shapes the way we think even if we believe that we’ve outgrown those narratives!
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I was deeply dissatisfied with this book. I had so many friends LOVE this book. I thought it would be a great light read. It is a light read for sure, it’s just, boring? We follow an older woman grappling with her husband’s transgressions in the era of #metoo. Her Gen Z students and daughter demand more of her, and a handsome new professor shows up with a distraction.
I love a woman taking charge and owning her independence and freedom, and I’m not sure that’s what this was. I felt like the author was spinning a wheel of “what should I add now?” Another review I read said “it felt like the last ten pages was the author saying just give me ten more minutes.” It was a hot mess of being pulled in 8 different directions, with no resolve other than there were no more pages.
I love a woman taking charge and owning her independence and freedom, and I’m not sure that’s what this was. I felt like the author was spinning a wheel of “what should I add now?” Another review I read said “it felt like the last ten pages was the author saying just give me ten more minutes.” It was a hot mess of being pulled in 8 different directions, with no resolve other than there were no more pages.
challenging
dark
tense
medium-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
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What an awful main character. A proper trainwreck.
Engaging and often disturbing read. Interesting debates of feminism, relationships, affairs, obsession…