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3.22 AVERAGE
3.22 AVERAGE
A well-written book but I couldn't stand any of the characters.
While this book describes well the intricacies of class differences and the long-lasting effects it has one's outlook in the world, I had a hard time rooting for either of the protagonists. Perhaps that is the point?
Regardless, I am still thinking about the superintendent who wears shoe covers and the marble disposable art. There were striking images throughout, and the writing developed its own diorama of sorts.
Regardless, I am still thinking about the superintendent who wears shoe covers and the marble disposable art. There were striking images throughout, and the writing developed its own diorama of sorts.
If you love literary fiction with lots of inner monologue and little plot, this will be a great book for you. Not really enough action and a little too much navel-gazing for me.
3.5
I thought I was going to love this. It was...okay. Maybe I need to sit on it longer though.
I thought I was going to love this. It was...okay. Maybe I need to sit on it longer though.
how badly I wish Ruby or Martin would’ve just COMPLETELY snapped on one of the privileged tenants (intentional meditation farting gave me some satisfied chuckles)
This was not what I was expecting. It's about a building super and his family, mostly his adult daughter, and their separate struggles to find their place as working class people in a building full of rich tenants. Being a super seems like it would be a real drag - I can see where Martin would get worn down by always having to be on. I'm not exactly sure I found the daughter entirely believable but I did like the book all the same.
slow-paced
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
2.5 stars? I liked it fine; it was a little better than OK. It reminded me of a lot of books about "artists" in New York, and the complicated relationships they have with friends and family. The best parts were about the dad, and how you can let your small life feel so big, but if you let it go things can be better.
This well-written and highly engaging novel uses the chasms between a building's superintendent's basement apartment and the two-story penthouse unit as a metaphor for American society's income disparities. Conell's writing, scene-setting, and pacing are masterful. The problem with the metaphor, of course, is that Martin and Ruby, the basement dwellers, are depicted as two individuals on the edge, both economically and, consequently, psychologically. But, perhaps, that is exactly the point.