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purplepierogi's review
2.0
frustratingly predictable, old men editorializing on he-said-she-said sexual assault with absolutely nothing significant to add to the conversation. it’s a novella w a pretty cover, but not worth your time.
cami19's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
k_wagner's review against another edition
4.0
Reminiscent of Ian McEwan's writing. Description of a "me-too" moment that unfolds in the waning months of 2016, when we are still positive of Donald Trump's status of a clownish reality TV star, never a president.
jwilly19's review
4.0
This is a slight work, but a pretty amazing achievement. Lasdun is able to write about one of our topics of the moment, the #MeToo movement, while also creating completely believable and complex characters. I think the first person narration is especially successful. At times funny, at times tragic, always insightful. He's a great writer.
batwoman411's review
5.0
Five stars for the nuanced handling of the phenomenon that has baffled me as much as it has invigorated me: the #MeToo movement. The perceptual gulf is, perhaps, insurmountable between the offender, who was just doing what men did in those days, and the victim, who buries this violation inside her for years.
Is a moment of bad sexual decision making worth bringing up 20 years later? My Gen X comrades might say, “Let a sleeping dog lie.” But generations since see no expiration date for the crime, even if it means the ruin of someone who has since grown up.
I appreciate the complexity and lack of a pat answer to the dilemma, which Lasdun handles adeptly in Afternoon of a Faun.
Is a moment of bad sexual decision making worth bringing up 20 years later? My Gen X comrades might say, “Let a sleeping dog lie.” But generations since see no expiration date for the crime, even if it means the ruin of someone who has since grown up.
I appreciate the complexity and lack of a pat answer to the dilemma, which Lasdun handles adeptly in Afternoon of a Faun.
booklvrkat's review
3.0
*audio
Very current. An easy listen. Make up your own mind, don't let others make yours.
Very current. An easy listen. Make up your own mind, don't let others make yours.
bluenicorn's review
4.0
I literally said "Oh, wow" after I finished the last page of this book. The ending alone is a really accurate time capsule for 2016- the (over)confidence felt by so many- in the American election, and also in the surety of comeuppance for those who deserved it. And reading that, knowing what fate awaits everyone... wow. Well-done.
The rest of the book itself was quite interesting to me. I really disliked the narrator and Marco, precisely because I feel like I have met them, that I know them. They are the ones who take up the whole sidewalk, making others move out of their way without a second thought; the ones who feel that the attractiveness of women "is somehow specifically directed" at them (p58); the ones who believe that reluctant sex is not something to feel responsible or shame about. "Kindness was for people who couldn't get laid, in my book." p 77 Gross. But a very interesting glimpse into that mind.
This is one of those books that is short but has a ton to discuss- highly recommend for a book club. I so wish I could use this one with my book group, but it is impossible to discuss it without talking about sex, consent, and politics, and that's just not my group.
The rest of the book itself was quite interesting to me. I really disliked the narrator and Marco, precisely because I feel like I have met them, that I know them. They are the ones who take up the whole sidewalk, making others move out of their way without a second thought; the ones who feel that the attractiveness of women "is somehow specifically directed" at them (p58); the ones who believe that reluctant sex is not something to feel responsible or shame about. "Kindness was for people who couldn't get laid, in my book." p 77 Gross. But a very interesting glimpse into that mind.
This is one of those books that is short but has a ton to discuss- highly recommend for a book club. I so wish I could use this one with my book group, but it is impossible to discuss it without talking about sex, consent, and politics, and that's just not my group.
jasonfurman's review
4.0
I read this novella in two sittings (one would have been even better). It is a psychologically astute exploration of the multiple perspectives on an alleged #metoo moment in the 1970s that resurfaces in 2016. A disinterested narrator is independently friends with both sides of the story and hears both of their perspectives, generally swayed by whoever he talked to most recently--or by his wife's perspective when he relays the story to her. The reader finds himself (at least in my case) shifting sympathies and belief back and forth between the different characters as well. All of it unfolds in a suspenseful and at the end there is a revelation of sorts, but it still does not settle the issues--at least not for me. The telling against the backdrop of the 2016 election and the sexual assault debates it brought up sort of worked for me but I worry that element will not age as well, even though the novel itself has a timeless quality to it.
htrew15's review
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0