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asurges's review against another edition
4.0
Smart and clever, with lots to think about. I loved the first section--a young woman involved with a Roth-like author--but the second part lost me in its many musings about memory. It felt, as one friend said, like that first novel you lock in a drawer. However, I like Halliday's ideas about not knowing the line between fiction and where fiction writers find their inspirations (especially since she was involved with Roth), and there's lots of clues in all three sections.
k_wagner's review against another edition
3.0
This book got so much hype that it was almost inevitable that it would be a let down. After reading it, I listened to the author, Lisa Halliday, interviewed for the NYT "The Book Review" podcast. Retrospectively it helped to hear that the author intended the unique construction of the book - two short stories followed by an even shorter section comprised of a the dialogue of a brief interview of one of the main characters from the first story on a radio show - to have no apparent relation to each other. After the first half of the book, there is an abrupt switch to a completely different place and cast of characters. The only thing I could glean from the two halves of the book is that they both took place at a similar time - during the Iraq war.
After the first half, I was left frustrated and wanting to know more about Alice and Ezra's relationship; after the second half I was not really that interested in Amar. The final short "coda" is said to contain the clue as to how their stories fit together, but it was lost on me. I went back and re-read the final section with no additional insights. I guess I will have to read the whole book again if I really want to discover the "shocking" clue(s) . . .
After the first half, I was left frustrated and wanting to know more about Alice and Ezra's relationship; after the second half I was not really that interested in Amar. The final short "coda" is said to contain the clue as to how their stories fit together, but it was lost on me. I went back and re-read the final section with no additional insights. I guess I will have to read the whole book again if I really want to discover the "shocking" clue(s) . . .
chrisb0905's review against another edition
1.0
Huh? I like books that make me thing, but this one just asked for too much thinking!
sujuv's review against another edition
4.0
I LOVED this book. I'd give it 4 1/2 stars if I could. There are three sections in the book. For me, the first section was sublime. I was carried away by it. The two other parts were also excellent, but nothing matched up to the first section (in my opinion). It's a book with two seemingly - and basically - unrelated stories of two unrelated young people, both American but living in two very different realities. That, I'd say, is the "asymmetry" of the title. Don't read it hoping for a huge revelation as to how these stories are related because you're not going to get it. It's also in no way a simplistic compare and contrast. She just takes you places, introduces you to people, and suddenly you're there. It's a gift. I found it deeply satisfying and I look forward to whatever Halliday writes next.
mangoway's review against another edition
2.0
OK, I'll be honest. There was a deadline to when I had to finish this book so I skimmed the middle. But, from other the reviews I've read, my head scratching might have been the same if I'd read carefully through. Because halfway through the book, you're in a completely different world, with brand new characters and a story that feels like another novel fell into the middle of your novel.
So, this review will only be about the first and last sections. And it's kudos for skillful writing but...huh?
Very young, pretty copy editor gets seduced by very old, rich, famous author. He sets all the rules, she blithely adheres to them. One envies the summer in Montauk scenes and salivates over expensive dinners. But, the only moment of tension is when ickey old man health issues arise, and she bristles at being both mistress and nurse. Neither one has a redeeming or compelling 'sure-let-me-spend-300 pg-with-you' personality. I suspect that's why dropping brand new novella in the middle made sense to the author. Maybe she wasn't any more in love with her characters than I was.
Sigh. It felt like a good writer's talent wasted.
So, this review will only be about the first and last sections. And it's kudos for skillful writing but...huh?
Very young, pretty copy editor gets seduced by very old, rich, famous author. He sets all the rules, she blithely adheres to them. One envies the summer in Montauk scenes and salivates over expensive dinners. But, the only moment of tension is when ickey old man health issues arise, and she bristles at being both mistress and nurse. Neither one has a redeeming or compelling 'sure-let-me-spend-300 pg-with-you' personality. I suspect that's why dropping brand new novella in the middle made sense to the author. Maybe she wasn't any more in love with her characters than I was.
Sigh. It felt like a good writer's talent wasted.
johndiconsiglio's review against another edition
3.0
Not 1 but 2 novels. In Part 1 (“Folly”), a young NY book editor has an affair with a much older writer. (The author was Phillip Roth’s real-life lover, so there aren’t many lines to read between.) In Part 2 (“Madness”), an Iraqi-American man has a long detention at Heathrow on his way to Kurdistan. The stories appear unrelated. Even the styles are different. The (stronger) opener leaves much unsaid. The latter half is introspective to a fault. You gotta work to find the connections. (That Huck Finn passage? The hot dog man on Amsterdam?) Maybe there are none. Maybe that’s the point.
afoof's review against another edition
2.0
Warning: I am loathe to be negative but this book was not for me. Read on at your own risk.
I was so excited about this book. It came highly recommended by my fav podcast, Slate's Double X Gabfest, and I usually love whatever they suggest. But, I quite ill-advisedly read only the first page or two and then brought this on an 12 hour flight as my only reading material. Needless to say I spent a good deal of the flight zoning out rather then read (or try to navigate the geriatric entertainment system on Alitalia, good gracious!).
The first novella, Folly, seemed promising. But a somewhat pastiche/cliche fever dream of all young writers/readers making their way in NYC publishing world; compelling enough for I can relate to this fantasy. In the second novella, Madness, Jaafari is an interesting character. I like the back story of his childhood in Brooklyn and his Iraqi family and time in Iraq. I particularly enjoyed the pages in the airport detention. His observations, his grace and the unfairness of it all was compelling.
As for the third bit, I really couldn't get through it. I love the Desert Island Discs program and so was excited to see the section's title. I enjoyed the drollness of the interviewer and Ezra's answers seemed plausible for a famous author of a certain generation but I can't say I enjoyed reading it.
I was so excited about this book. It came highly recommended by my fav podcast, Slate's Double X Gabfest, and I usually love whatever they suggest. But, I quite ill-advisedly read only the first page or two and then brought this on an 12 hour flight as my only reading material. Needless to say I spent a good deal of the flight zoning out rather then read (or try to navigate the geriatric entertainment system on Alitalia, good gracious!).
The first novella, Folly, seemed promising. But a somewhat pastiche/cliche fever dream of all young writers/readers making their way in NYC publishing world; compelling enough for I can relate to this fantasy. In the second novella, Madness, Jaafari is an interesting character. I like the back story of his childhood in Brooklyn and his Iraqi family and time in Iraq. I particularly enjoyed the pages in the airport detention. His observations, his grace and the unfairness of it all was compelling.
As for the third bit, I really couldn't get through it. I love the Desert Island Discs program and so was excited to see the section's title. I enjoyed the drollness of the interviewer and Ezra's answers seemed plausible for a famous author of a certain generation but I can't say I enjoyed reading it.
sarahreffstrup's review against another edition
4.0
Denne bog var delt i 3 dele. Den første del handler om en ældre forfatter og hans forhold til en ung kvinde. Del 2 handlede om en amerikansk/irakisk statsborger som sidder fanget i en lufthavn, mens han tænker på sin familie. Og del 3 var et radiointerview med forfatteren fra del 1.
Jeg havde meget blandede følelser om del 1 og del 3 men jeg var fuldkommen vild med del 2. Den ramte mig hårdt
Jeg havde meget blandede følelser om del 1 og del 3 men jeg var fuldkommen vild med del 2. Den ramte mig hårdt