Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Já faz muito tempo que eu fiz a leitura de 'O Coração é o Último a Morrer' e em breve terei que fazer a releitura, mas foi mais uma das grandes obras de Atwood. Não me atingiu da mesma maneira que 'O conto da Aia' e, principalmente, 'Os Testamentos', mas ainda assim é um distopia extremamente importante de ser lida.
The Heart Goes Last was a gripping book but I can't say that I enjoyed reading it. A financial crisis across the northeast US inspires a businessman with the best of intentions to develop a "prison" system in which its denizens alternate months as citizens of a Pleasantville-esque town and as cogs in the prison-industrial-complex supplying the town. A married couple, tired of living in their car and riding the fine line of destitution and seeing no other options, buy in to this scheme. Charmaine, who seems to have turned herself into a Stepford wife through her attempts at forced positivity to escape her abusive childhood memories, and Stan, who has little going for him except that his existence provides some level of stability and security, proceed to become happy members of Positron. Things devolve quickly.
I generally enjoy dystopian novels, but The Heart Goes Last was particularly depressing. For me, the story boils down to: capitalism is bad, most humans are psycopaths and everyone else can kinda see their point, the end. There was no aspect of it that did not strip me of my faith in humanity. Margaret Atwood is a good writer, and I appreciate her insights into humanity/society/etc, but this story fell flat as a vehicle for those aspects of the book I did like.
I generally enjoy dystopian novels, but The Heart Goes Last was particularly depressing. For me, the story boils down to: capitalism is bad, most humans are psycopaths and everyone else can kinda see their point, the end. There was no aspect of it that did not strip me of my faith in humanity. Margaret Atwood is a good writer, and I appreciate her insights into humanity/society/etc, but this story fell flat as a vehicle for those aspects of the book I did like.
I really enjoy reading Margaret Atwood's dystopian stories...but not this one. I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters. Looking forward to the next one!
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Literally had 110 pages left and had to DNF it because i couldn't bare it anymore. Truly awful, boring and anticlimactic.
It was... okay? The first part of the book had me waiting on when something interesting was going to happen in complete foil to the white picket image of Consilience. When it arrived, and thank goodness it did, because I wasn't sure if this was just going to be a bad soft porn novel with the ultimate message that nothing comes free and everyone will always find a reason to be dissatisfied ... it kind of fizzled for me. There was enough for me to keep going, but nothing that had me genuinely curious about what was going to happen next. Ultimately not a terrible read; just one I wouldn't recommend to friends.
Atwood became an author I wanted to read so much more of last year after I finished the awesome Handmaiden's Tale. I loved her dystopian slant on the modern world that seems at one possible and surreal. However, like Morrison's God Help The Child, this book just did not do it for me in the right ways.
I will qualify that last statement by saying this book wasn't nearly as atrocious as God Help The Child, but definitely didn't have the stellar quality I was expecting. The most glaring comparison of the two is that they both had very much an unfinished quality to them, as though we should expect revisions in the later editions. Sometimes the writing felt like I was reading a draft of an Atwood novel as opposed to the finished work. This was most often in the dialogue (or rather lack thereof) which felt rushed and forced most of the time. Also there were times when characters were referred to by the wrong names while they were incognito which just does not make sense. Overall it feels like it just could have done with some re-drafting in the middle chapters and probably the end.
The storyline is incredibly far-fetched, even for a dystopian future novel. Things were far too easy for the protagonists Stan and Charmaine, from joining Positron/Consilence to later escapades they have inside the facility. Yes, I know it's fiction and if it were about someone having just day-to-day life it would be hopelessly dull, but the novel requires the reader to suspend disbelief just a little too far. Aside from this leap of the imagination, the story is interesting and I would go so far as to say thought-provoking at points but again needed polishing.
However, the humorous tone of the novel which is kind of a wink and a smile to the reader kind of bridges the gap left by the holes in the plot. I like to think Atwood knew this wasn't her best execution of a story and so made it light and pulpy. That is in fact the reason I wanted to read it was how pulpy the storyline seemed from the interviews I've heard with her. I just wasn't aware of how pulpy it might be. So if you're looking to read something utterly untaxing, funny, and slightly charming, I would recommend The Heart Goes Last. If not, then pick up something else.
I will qualify that last statement by saying this book wasn't nearly as atrocious as God Help The Child, but definitely didn't have the stellar quality I was expecting. The most glaring comparison of the two is that they both had very much an unfinished quality to them, as though we should expect revisions in the later editions. Sometimes the writing felt like I was reading a draft of an Atwood novel as opposed to the finished work. This was most often in the dialogue (or rather lack thereof) which felt rushed and forced most of the time. Also there were times when characters were referred to by the wrong names while they were incognito which just does not make sense. Overall it feels like it just could have done with some re-drafting in the middle chapters and probably the end.
The storyline is incredibly far-fetched, even for a dystopian future novel. Things were far too easy for the protagonists Stan and Charmaine, from joining Positron/Consilence to later escapades they have inside the facility. Yes, I know it's fiction and if it were about someone having just day-to-day life it would be hopelessly dull, but the novel requires the reader to suspend disbelief just a little too far. Aside from this leap of the imagination, the story is interesting and I would go so far as to say thought-provoking at points but again needed polishing.
However, the humorous tone of the novel which is kind of a wink and a smile to the reader kind of bridges the gap left by the holes in the plot. I like to think Atwood knew this wasn't her best execution of a story and so made it light and pulpy. That is in fact the reason I wanted to read it was how pulpy the storyline seemed from the interviews I've heard with her. I just wasn't aware of how pulpy it might be. So if you're looking to read something utterly untaxing, funny, and slightly charming, I would recommend The Heart Goes Last. If not, then pick up something else.
