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3.21 AVERAGE
3.21 AVERAGE
It appears that brown lost her mind the second after finishing ruby fruit jungle.
"My lesbianism is an act of Christian charity. All those women out there praying for a man, and I'm giving them my share."
It’s amazing how much has changed, and how much has not, since this was originally published. Well worth the time to revisit.
I “finished” in that I am not planning on reading more.
This book, quite honestly, is fucking ridiculous. The premise was intriguing-- very much so-- but the writing is incredibly weak in places to the point where I am strongly reminded of a rusted-out tin roof as I read. The author uses colloquial phrases I hope she got from someone else, because if she's a native Virginian then she manages to sound like a hokey imitation of a Southerner being portrayed by someone who has never been near the South.
She goes off on absolutely ridiculous rambling tangents as though the characters in the book forget their place in the plot during a good smoking session or being deep in their cups and nearly derail the point of the story (what the hell is supposed to be the point of the story? I THINK it's supposed to be some kind of reflection on being true to oneself no matter what, and forgiving others their ignorance, blah blah blah but who the hell can tell?) constantly.
Worst of all (and I really hate this in a book), Brown doesn't even seem to know what genre she's writing. She starts out writing a relatively realistic fictional novel...and quite suddenly, some chapters in, the main character begins seemingly hallucinating due to a painting of Olympian gods-- or so we think, until her assistant Mandy begins smelling and hearing the same things. Is this going to turn out to have a logical explanation? Perhaps Frazier's gallery is being attacked by homophobic townspeople using gas in the vents?
No! Of course not! Instead, there is zero explanation for these hallucinations-- and even better, Frazier falls off a ladder, at which point with absolutely no explanation (again) she is somehow on Mount Olympus.
Mere dreaming, the reader thinks, brought on by being temporarily unconscious, right? It should end in a couple pages. But no! Instead, this dream, fantasy, hallucination, whatever the hell it's supposed to be, goes on for multiple chapters and features horribly written sex scenes between Frazier and Venus, Frazier and Mercury, and a threesome between Frazier, Mercury and Venus. Because who doesn't love completely ridiculous and extraneous mortal-immortal sex that has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot, interspersed with random pseudo-philosophical rambling about humanity, gender and sexual orientation?
Me, that's who.
Especially when it ends with Jupiter "expanding himself" so that he fills the sky, jerks off and sprays his semen across the sky in-- get this-- RAINBOWS, which brings the wrath of Juno down on Frazier and Jupiter because apparently anytime she sees a rainbow she knows Jupiter just had an orgasm.
At what point will this novel actually veer onto a proper course and become a real book? I couldn't tell you. I have about 14 pages to go, and it has yet to achieve that noble purpose. I do not hold out much hope, and I thank all the gods of literature and hand-me-downs that I found this book among my ex-partner's ex-girlfriend's left-behinds and didn't waste money on this book myself.
She goes off on absolutely ridiculous rambling tangents as though the characters in the book forget their place in the plot during a good smoking session or being deep in their cups and nearly derail the point of the story (what the hell is supposed to be the point of the story? I THINK it's supposed to be some kind of reflection on being true to oneself no matter what, and forgiving others their ignorance, blah blah blah but who the hell can tell?) constantly.
Worst of all (and I really hate this in a book), Brown doesn't even seem to know what genre she's writing. She starts out writing a relatively realistic fictional novel...and quite suddenly, some chapters in, the main character begins seemingly hallucinating due to a painting of Olympian gods-- or so we think, until her assistant Mandy begins smelling and hearing the same things. Is this going to turn out to have a logical explanation? Perhaps Frazier's gallery is being attacked by homophobic townspeople using gas in the vents?
No! Of course not! Instead, there is zero explanation for these hallucinations-- and even better, Frazier falls off a ladder, at which point with absolutely no explanation (again) she is somehow on Mount Olympus.
Mere dreaming, the reader thinks, brought on by being temporarily unconscious, right? It should end in a couple pages. But no! Instead, this dream, fantasy, hallucination, whatever the hell it's supposed to be, goes on for multiple chapters and features horribly written sex scenes between Frazier and Venus, Frazier and Mercury, and a threesome between Frazier, Mercury and Venus. Because who doesn't love completely ridiculous and extraneous mortal-immortal sex that has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot, interspersed with random pseudo-philosophical rambling about humanity, gender and sexual orientation?
Me, that's who.
Especially when it ends with Jupiter "expanding himself" so that he fills the sky, jerks off and sprays his semen across the sky in-- get this-- RAINBOWS, which brings the wrath of Juno down on Frazier and Jupiter because apparently anytime she sees a rainbow she knows Jupiter just had an orgasm.
At what point will this novel actually veer onto a proper course and become a real book? I couldn't tell you. I have about 14 pages to go, and it has yet to achieve that noble purpose. I do not hold out much hope, and I thank all the gods of literature and hand-me-downs that I found this book among my ex-partner's ex-girlfriend's left-behinds and didn't waste money on this book myself.
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
it was a decently entertaining beach read up until the end. then I got bored and just wanted to be done with it.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
certainly extremely dated and not without its flaws, but i still loved it. picked this up with some reservations after some of the more bizarre parts in rubyfruit, but this far exceeded expectations. yes the olympus side plot was so out of left field but that’s rita mae brown for you. brown’s snappy wit paired with tender introspection about love and life, mixed together with unapologetic lesbianism (or bisexuality? it remains unclear) and a threesome with venus and mercury, what’s not to like?
This book had its moments of good story telling, separated by periods of straight sex.
my standards were so low after reading rubyfruit jungle that this seemed suspiciously good - still just three stars though
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes