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kpdoessomereading's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Beautiful reflection of coming of age and longing.
kjboldon's review against another edition
3.0
This reads like memoir, not fiction. A writer's book more than a reader's, it's beautifully written, fascinatingly structured but too vague and deep dark to work for me as a whole.
103zk's review against another edition
3.0
i love that this book posits florida as a faraway paradise (and somehow, convinces me)
sophiei's review against another edition
3.0
brimming with potential. some points of highly electric prose, but then it dulled in long streaks.
je11rd3's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very quick read, but enjoyable nonetheless. I thought that Schutt's writing style was extremely unique, and this novel was a breath of fresh air for me.
dilan11's review against another edition
4.0
Considering the high praise from such luminaries as John Ashbery, Lydia Davis, George Saunders, I am surprised that this novel, a novella really, didn't get more attention.
It is told from the child's pov with a child's inability to understand, to interpret so the reader feels lost too. It is told in vignettes, little scenes that are not in sequential order, again so the reader feels like it is disjointed memories spliced together.
Each detail is precise and beautifully written but very spare. It is minimalist to the extreme.
But certainly worth reading. It is very touching in the end. Loss again and again.
It is told from the child's pov with a child's inability to understand, to interpret so the reader feels lost too. It is told in vignettes, little scenes that are not in sequential order, again so the reader feels like it is disjointed memories spliced together.
Each detail is precise and beautifully written but very spare. It is minimalist to the extreme.
But certainly worth reading. It is very touching in the end. Loss again and again.
bowierowie's review
5.0
"Our bedroom was sealed, drawn against the flickering sea. Cold floor and filmy curtains, stony bed – I couldn’t fall asleep here and smoked my way to somewhere else.
All the time the terrible Walter was counting his money. He was figuring the tips.
He was sipping whiskey in the sealed room after dinner, near the window, in the dark; and because the room was very cold, I left him alone and opened the bathroom windows to let in the warm, wet air. I took a hot shower, which calmed me – but not for long. The sealed room where we slept was very cold and dark, and Walter was in the corner, without his shorts on, drinking, and his body, I saw, was wildly hairy. He saw me looking at him, and he said, 'I hate you, too.'"
An ode to broken families, childish insouciance & deep longing, the consolation of literature, the wantonness of memory – a bright, quick dream; read it now, now, now.
All the time the terrible Walter was counting his money. He was figuring the tips.
He was sipping whiskey in the sealed room after dinner, near the window, in the dark; and because the room was very cold, I left him alone and opened the bathroom windows to let in the warm, wet air. I took a hot shower, which calmed me – but not for long. The sealed room where we slept was very cold and dark, and Walter was in the corner, without his shorts on, drinking, and his body, I saw, was wildly hairy. He saw me looking at him, and he said, 'I hate you, too.'"
An ode to broken families, childish insouciance & deep longing, the consolation of literature, the wantonness of memory – a bright, quick dream; read it now, now, now.
earnestlilt's review
5.0
More and more often I've been reading great avant-garde fiction by great contemporary authors. More and more often women, too. All of these words are related to Schutt and to this thin book. If you often restrain yourself, you'll understand.
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