Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
Such an intriguing premise - a man with 4 wives and 23 children considers adultery. He recognizes that he is not the strong patriarch of his family and instead starts to lose control of his finances, his relationships and his involvement as a leader in the Mormon Church. Alternate points of view are offered by Rusty, one of his children and Trisha, wife #4.
I liked the story but didn't love it. I appreciated the complexity of each character wanting to be noticed, known and loved. I did find it a little long give the sense of desperation each person conveyed. Still, a unique voice and story worth considering.
I liked the story but didn't love it. I appreciated the complexity of each character wanting to be noticed, known and loved. I did find it a little long give the sense of desperation each person conveyed. Still, a unique voice and story worth considering.
Too.Damn.Long.
Read this for book club. I'll be really mad if I was the only one who suffered through all 602 pages.
Read this for book club. I'll be really mad if I was the only one who suffered through all 602 pages.
OOOOH excited about this one. It's a book club book that I suggested bc of Entertainment Weekly's glowing reviews.
Interesting insiders' view of a polygamist family, though this issue is background. Mainly it's a story about a man and the love dilemna he finds himself in. One son and a wife are also main characters.
Great on audio, and just a nice balance of funny/sad & very enjoyable throughout (even through some of the squirmingly awkward descriptions!)
I might have liked The Lonely Polygamist more of I could have mustered one shred of sympathy for the titular polygamist. Golden is a middle aged sad-sack, a crappy husband to four wives, a distant father to 28 children and I give no fucks about him and his pathetic mid life crisis. The middle-brow novel is blighted by these pathetic, passive men whose life passes them by while they watch helpless on the side lines. I'm sure that speaks to some readers, but it only blows raspberries at me.
I couldn't even really bring myself to get properly angry with Golden, if I had I might have hollered at him to man up and support his family, or run away with someone else if he couldn't manage that. But honestly, he was so bland I mostly just started skimming his pov chapters.
The novel is redeemed somewhat by its other two major characters, Golden's youngest with Trish, and his wayward son Rusty. They were great to read about, unfortunately neither of them gets the ending they deserve.
I couldn't even really bring myself to get properly angry with Golden, if I had I might have hollered at him to man up and support his family, or run away with someone else if he couldn't manage that. But honestly, he was so bland I mostly just started skimming his pov chapters.
The novel is redeemed somewhat by its other two major characters, Golden's youngest with Trish, and his wayward son Rusty. They were great to read about, unfortunately neither of them gets the ending they deserve.
I really wanted to like this book. I have always had a strange interest in polygamy and how a life with so many people can function smoothly. So, I thought this book would be a great read.
I'm not sure if I wasn't in the right mindset, or if the fast paced books I had read before this one set me up for failure, but whatever it was I just didn't connect to the book. I guess it could be the large amount of characters; I found myself forgetting who somebody was and not having the want to go back through the chapters to figure out their role.
The last 100 or so pages were definitely easier for me to read. I think it was because finally after 500 laborious pages of back story all the conflicts came to a climax and the resolution quickly moves the book to the ending.
I also found the way Udall switched from narrator to narrator a bit confusing at times. In some chapters I wasn't aware of whose voice it was written in; the only time the narrator question was answered quickly and definitively was when the italic font showed that the narrator was one of the houses. I actually found the house chapters easier to comprehend - probably because the houses were the only omnipotent and non-biased characters.
All in all I guess this book was all right. The ending redeemed it a bit in my eyes, but I don't think I will be revisiting The Lonely Polygamist.
I'm not sure if I wasn't in the right mindset, or if the fast paced books I had read before this one set me up for failure, but whatever it was I just didn't connect to the book. I guess it could be the large amount of characters; I found myself forgetting who somebody was and not having the want to go back through the chapters to figure out their role.
The last 100 or so pages were definitely easier for me to read. I think it was because finally after 500 laborious pages of back story all the conflicts came to a climax and the resolution quickly moves the book to the ending.
I also found the way Udall switched from narrator to narrator a bit confusing at times. In some chapters I wasn't aware of whose voice it was written in; the only time the narrator question was answered quickly and definitively was when the italic font showed that the narrator was one of the houses. I actually found the house chapters easier to comprehend - probably because the houses were the only omnipotent and non-biased characters.
All in all I guess this book was all right. The ending redeemed it a bit in my eyes, but I don't think I will be revisiting The Lonely Polygamist.
I mostly really liked this. Rusty was fantastic, and was the only character who made me laugh out loud. Golden had what I have come to think of the Hemingway Girl Problem: he was a little bit of a blank slate. I am willing to concede that this was, in fact, the point, but it sure made it difficult to like him or care what happened to him. I really wanted Trish and June to work out, although once again, I'm willing to admit that that was also a big point. Some of the stuff that was meant to be funny/farcical fell flat for me--the gum in the pubic hair, especially. The side characters, especially Nelson, were great.
If I could give it 3.5 stars, I would.
If I could give it 3.5 stars, I would.
This will be a small note about a very good book. This book is full of characters that made me feel. For someone that reads as much as I do, I often forget characters before the book is even over. That will not happen here. Golden is a man that to my symbolizes what we all feel day in and day out. Even with 32 people in his family he had a sense of loneliness that I felt in my soul. Each wife represented a portion of all of us - some feeling like power was the only way to love, one using laughter to overcome self image issues, one just overwhelmed by the world, and another that feels unappreciated by her world.
But I want to talk most about Rusty. Those of you that know me, know that I hate this name. But I saw so much of myself in this boy that I rushed to his sections. He made choices that I did not make in my life, but ones that were not out of the question. How do you stand out in a large family? How do you make others feel that your unique qualities are special and not weird? Udall did an amazing job with all his characters - but with Rusty he touched my past.
This book is not perfect - I was very angry with the ending. I did not understand how Golden would make that choice, and it made me like him a little less for it. And Beverly, wife #1, and her future kind of came out of nowhere. Her change in character did not 100% make sense to me.
But I would recomend this book to many. I loved how this book made me feel and think. If you want a book that will stick with you, then pick this up.
But I want to talk most about Rusty. Those of you that know me, know that I hate this name. But I saw so much of myself in this boy that I rushed to his sections. He made choices that I did not make in my life, but ones that were not out of the question. How do you stand out in a large family? How do you make others feel that your unique qualities are special and not weird? Udall did an amazing job with all his characters - but with Rusty he touched my past.
This book is not perfect - I was very angry with the ending. I did not understand how Golden would make that choice, and it made me like him a little less for it. And Beverly, wife #1, and her future kind of came out of nowhere. Her change in character did not 100% make sense to me.
But I would recomend this book to many. I loved how this book made me feel and think. If you want a book that will stick with you, then pick this up.