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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
I think I read this at exactly the right point in my life to really love it. Kiki's experience of being an outsider in the world of academia really resonated, as did the themes on body image. I also loved Levi's character he was so sweet and I found his story really interesting. A book full of heart and warmth even if the characters are often flawed.
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not my type of book and some parts did make me uncomfortable (a personal issue probably) but it gave me so much. Opened my eyes to perspectives I hadn't thought of. All of the characters are so very human, so very different in the way they operate. And it's so well written... it also deals with difficult topics beautifully and with class. It managed to be funny as well at times.
Totally reccomend it.
Totally reccomend it.
I am changing my review.
I wanted to return to this novel because I remember loving it very much but for the life of me I could only remember a few scenes from the whole thing. Perhaps in 2016 there were things I didn’t like about this novel but now I can’t think of anything to dislike. I love and I hate them all (I don’t hate Kiki though, love her to pieces) and that’s what draws you in…
I can’t wait to return to this when I’m older. One more thing to look forward to.
"The greatest lie ever told about love is that it sets you free."
I have conflicting views about this book. It is a sophisticated novel in that these characters are very real and unreal at the same time. Although the novel is comprised more or less of ensemble characters, Howard is one of the best characters in the novel - he really does seem like someone you'd see anywhere in any random elite university struggling to come to terms with his family and "liberal" ideologies. All the other characters are good too, though.
The plot...there doesn't seem to be much of one. It's political in nature, in that a recurring theme is highlighting the nuances of Howard's liberal battles against his academic rival, a black conservative. Liberalism on its head, and more complicated because Howard is white. There are themes that on their face don't seem to have much to do with the characters' lives -white saviors, Uncle Tom's, Christian piety, the stifle of academia, university elitism, oppression of Haitians- but all and all, all of these things coalesce into one thing to make a very non-plot ya feel me? That's what I meant about it being sophisticated. The characters seem to be too real to have something happen to them; rather, it is they who happen to the story. Yet all these things ultimately impact the characters, though they won't really admit it. I guess On Beauty is what you would call a character driven novel.
While I mentioned that Howard was really a star (it's so hard to hate him or love him. you can't pick one; must pick both), the true star is Smith's writing. A novelist who could not write like Smith would have trouble keeping up with such expressive characters. Many authors seem to struggle with having great characters who truly run the show, failing to see them through their potential. Smith was in charge, as was evident throughout.
It's hard for me to have any formative thoughts about this novel, just because it would seem almost ironic because this book was so heavily ironic the whole time. That is, whenever I wanted to put some heavy meaning into something the characters did, it was like the novel expressed it for me before I could even think. And that might sound rudimentary, but all I'm saying is that On Beauty almost seemed to be aware of how seriously it could be taken and instead of allowing it to get sucked up as a completely serious novel it embarrassed its characters quite frequently.
The reason I only gave it four stars instead of five, is that it was a tad dull (at times). Not always. Again, this is one of the few novels I've read recently that seems to best embody the human spirit so it makes sense that some things are not resolved or that the novel flowed through normal, everyday human actions that aren't necessarily the most interesting. Also quiet as it's kept, I wanted more from Victoria and Jerome and what happened between them. While I liked Howard a whole lot, he took up a lot of the story sometimes. He was written well but his children and their affairs had interesting parts that I wish had been explored more.
I wanted to return to this novel because I remember loving it very much but for the life of me I could only remember a few scenes from the whole thing. Perhaps in 2016 there were things I didn’t like about this novel but now I can’t think of anything to dislike. I love and I hate them all (I don’t hate Kiki though, love her to pieces) and that’s what draws you in…
I can’t wait to return to this when I’m older. One more thing to look forward to.
"The greatest lie ever told about love is that it sets you free."
I have conflicting views about this book. It is a sophisticated novel in that these characters are very real and unreal at the same time. Although the novel is comprised more or less of ensemble characters, Howard is one of the best characters in the novel - he really does seem like someone you'd see anywhere in any random elite university struggling to come to terms with his family and "liberal" ideologies. All the other characters are good too, though.
The plot...there doesn't seem to be much of one. It's political in nature, in that a recurring theme is highlighting the nuances of Howard's liberal battles against his academic rival, a black conservative. Liberalism on its head, and more complicated because Howard is white. There are themes that on their face don't seem to have much to do with the characters' lives -white saviors, Uncle Tom's, Christian piety, the stifle of academia, university elitism, oppression of Haitians- but all and all, all of these things coalesce into one thing to make a very non-plot ya feel me? That's what I meant about it being sophisticated. The characters seem to be too real to have something happen to them; rather, it is they who happen to the story. Yet all these things ultimately impact the characters, though they won't really admit it. I guess On Beauty is what you would call a character driven novel.
While I mentioned that Howard was really a star (it's so hard to hate him or love him. you can't pick one; must pick both), the true star is Smith's writing. A novelist who could not write like Smith would have trouble keeping up with such expressive characters. Many authors seem to struggle with having great characters who truly run the show, failing to see them through their potential. Smith was in charge, as was evident throughout.
It's hard for me to have any formative thoughts about this novel, just because it would seem almost ironic because this book was so heavily ironic the whole time. That is, whenever I wanted to put some heavy meaning into something the characters did, it was like the novel expressed it for me before I could even think. And that might sound rudimentary, but all I'm saying is that On Beauty almost seemed to be aware of how seriously it could be taken and instead of allowing it to get sucked up as a completely serious novel it embarrassed its characters quite frequently.
The reason I only gave it four stars instead of five, is that it was a tad dull (at times). Not always. Again, this is one of the few novels I've read recently that seems to best embody the human spirit so it makes sense that some things are not resolved or that the novel flowed through normal, everyday human actions that aren't necessarily the most interesting. Also quiet as it's kept, I wanted more from Victoria and Jerome and what happened between them. While I liked Howard a whole lot, he took up a lot of the story sometimes. He was written well but his children and their affairs had interesting parts that I wish had been explored more.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I just couldn’t care about any of the characters. Also it seems to want to poke fun at pretentious academia while itself espousing pretension.