You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
2.97 AVERAGE
2.97 AVERAGE
Mannered ~ Literary ~ Satirical
tl:dr: Marriage can be a laugh, if you look at this a certain way.
Daniel Handler, Lemony Snicket to some of you, is a strong writer. His literary gifts cannot mask the banality of the story. This book strove for a satirical, yet compelling, look at marriage and interrelationship between groups of friends. It starts with a wedding, there is a cheating vicar, and plenty of crankiness. Oddly, while the story takes place in San Francisco, the tone of the writing has a vaguely British air, like an expat's tale of the Silicon Valley.
In the end, the quality of the writing, not the chararcters or the plot, propelled me to finish the book. (The short length probably contributed to my completion). I was truly disappointed. I wanted more. I was willing to wait for more. But, instead, this was more like a writing exercise with a few amusing reflections thrown in.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
tl:dr: Marriage can be a laugh, if you look at this a certain way.
Daniel Handler, Lemony Snicket to some of you, is a strong writer. His literary gifts cannot mask the banality of the story. This book strove for a satirical, yet compelling, look at marriage and interrelationship between groups of friends. It starts with a wedding, there is a cheating vicar, and plenty of crankiness. Oddly, while the story takes place in San Francisco, the tone of the writing has a vaguely British air, like an expat's tale of the Silicon Valley.
In the end, the quality of the writing, not the chararcters or the plot, propelled me to finish the book. (The short length probably contributed to my completion). I was truly disappointed. I wanted more. I was willing to wait for more. But, instead, this was more like a writing exercise with a few amusing reflections thrown in.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a good book to read during quarantine.
It encapsulates the feeling of lives led by capricious unwieldy desires in a lovely meandering way.
I think it's gratifying to read about people who trap themselves in ordinary lives all the time, because you know, that's normal.
It encapsulates the feeling of lives led by capricious unwieldy desires in a lovely meandering way.
I think it's gratifying to read about people who trap themselves in ordinary lives all the time, because you know, that's normal.
This is the story of two marriages. It's also the story of a spirit, and a wood, and money, and technology, and desperation, and choices, and San Francisco.
The book is well-written. It pulled me along and I couldn't stop reading. I'm at an exact right time and place - I'm closer to my ten-year anniversary than to my wedding, and we have a three-year-old. Personally I had a harder time emphasizing with the hard-drinking lifestyle at the beginning but it was very realistic to the uncertain and unmoored 20s many people I know traveled through.
This book has some level of ambiguity to it. It was nice to read a book that didn't hold my hand and say, here, this is who is right, this is who is wrong, this is how to feel. But unlike so many stories that pretend to ambiguity, the end is not lost in such a fog of ephemerality as to be nonexistent. There is meat on the bones of this story. I recommend it.
The book is well-written. It pulled me along and I couldn't stop reading. I'm at an exact right time and place - I'm closer to my ten-year anniversary than to my wedding, and we have a three-year-old. Personally I had a harder time emphasizing with the hard-drinking lifestyle at the beginning but it was very realistic to the uncertain and unmoored 20s many people I know traveled through.
This book has some level of ambiguity to it. It was nice to read a book that didn't hold my hand and say, here, this is who is right, this is who is wrong, this is how to feel. But unlike so many stories that pretend to ambiguity, the end is not lost in such a fog of ephemerality as to be nonexistent. There is meat on the bones of this story. I recommend it.
mysterious
slow-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
Daniel Handler is one of my favorite authors and this is my least favorite of his.
Ugh, this book is so masterful! Handler succeeds in a mixture that seems almost impossible: he writes in a language that is artful and clever, his plot is full of coincidence and bizarre events, and yet the book he creates just rings with absolute authenticity. I love-love-loved! Bottle Grove.
I’m so...confused how the same writer to have written [[[the best children’s books of all time]]] somehow lacks the imagination and clever use of language in this work
So I couldn't finish this one. The writing is a little weird for me (as in the the syntax), and I just couldn't get into the story. Maybe I'll try again at some point, but I have a big stack of library books to get through
Holy cow. I love Daniel Handler's writing, but this one was so not for me. This honestly felt like a rough draft. It felt so incredibly scattered and I just didn't have the patience to deal with it. I had to bail very early on.
While the plot and writing felt a bit disjointed at certain points, I don’t think you cannot enjoy Daniel Handler’s quirky, fun, fast writing style. I just adore him.