You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.45 AVERAGE
4.45 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-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
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
This book was so incredibly good and it absolutely destroyed me. I am broken.
Dit is oprecht een van de beste boeken die ik de afgelopen jaren las. Het is matuur, realistisch, genuanceerd en allesbehalve gericht op sensatie. Het verhaal wordt echt verteld zoals het was.
In het begin vond ik de verhaallijn over het museum misschien wat te overheersend, en ik begrijp wel dat lezers hierdoor zouden afhaken, maar anderzijds hoort het er ook bij. Het ‘gewone’ werkleven. Het bouwt ook mooi op, dat vind ik een van de sterkste punten van het boek. Het hele proces van de epidemie sluipt geleidelijk aan Yale’s leven binnen, de impact wordt steeds groter.
De invloed en de visie van de crisis wordt heel realistisch weergegeven: de invloed op dichte relaties die kapot gaan, het zelfbeeld van homoseksuele mannen, vooroordelen van de samenleving en stigmatisering op legaal niveau (bv. Geen recht op ziekteverzekering). Het is zo genuanceerd en realistisch! Echt een hele grote sterkte van het boek.
De verhaallijn van Fiona bleef me lange tijd wat vaag en vond ik niet meteen een meerwaarde, maar op het einde vielen alle puzzelstukjes wel mooi samen. Het einde vond ik echt een prachtige versmelting en een mooie manier om het boek af te sluiten.
Ondanks bepaalde puntjes van kritiek ben toch hele grote fan en geef ik het boek 5 sterren!
In het begin vond ik de verhaallijn over het museum misschien wat te overheersend, en ik begrijp wel dat lezers hierdoor zouden afhaken, maar anderzijds hoort het er ook bij. Het ‘gewone’ werkleven. Het bouwt ook mooi op, dat vind ik een van de sterkste punten van het boek. Het hele proces van de epidemie sluipt geleidelijk aan Yale’s leven binnen, de impact wordt steeds groter.
De invloed en de visie van de crisis wordt heel realistisch weergegeven: de invloed op dichte relaties die kapot gaan, het zelfbeeld van homoseksuele mannen, vooroordelen van de samenleving en stigmatisering op legaal niveau (bv. Geen recht op ziekteverzekering). Het is zo genuanceerd en realistisch! Echt een hele grote sterkte van het boek.
De verhaallijn van Fiona bleef me lange tijd wat vaag en vond ik niet meteen een meerwaarde, maar op het einde vielen alle puzzelstukjes wel mooi samen. Het einde vond ik echt een prachtige versmelting en een mooie manier om het boek af te sluiten.
Ondanks bepaalde puntjes van kritiek ben toch hele grote fan en geef ik het boek 5 sterren!
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
The dean of my college, Clark Stanford, once said, "The concept of PRIDE grew out of the AIDS epidemic where a community came together to care for each other when no one else would. A time of respect for those living, those who have passed and those in the struggle. PRIDE is more than a parade, a ribbon or rainbow-colored mug (although, these are nice). PRIDE is a statement a community can have a range of diverse voices but when a member is in trouble, we take care of each other!"
Makkai's The Great Believers as a novel represents this beautiful yet terrifying dynamic. It gives flesh to the concrete and traumatic realities of what it means to care for others during the midst of the AIDS pandemic in 1985-6 Chicago. It shows the lasting trauma from that experience that still remained in 2015 for survivors.
It was emotionally powerful, and gave me a new appreciation for the AIDS pandemic. It also reframed some of the late 1980s and early 1990s school presentations I heard about AIDS back in Texas.
Makkai's The Great Believers as a novel represents this beautiful yet terrifying dynamic. It gives flesh to the concrete and traumatic realities of what it means to care for others during the midst of the AIDS pandemic in 1985-6 Chicago. It shows the lasting trauma from that experience that still remained in 2015 for survivors.
It was emotionally powerful, and gave me a new appreciation for the AIDS pandemic. It also reframed some of the late 1980s and early 1990s school presentations I heard about AIDS back in Texas.
This book gives you a very necessary insight on the AIDS epidemic. The social, public health and economic dimensions of it but above all, the emotional scarring it left on posterior generations. The PTSD that accompanied Fiona throughout the rest of her life and how it affected Claire is painful to read. I wish I could have had a more clearer insight on Fiona’s and Nico’s relationship but it was moving seeing how she always kept him in her heart. Very powerful reading.
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This might be the saddest book I’ve ever read? I really appreciated the 2015 plot because it helped to break up the pure hopelessness I would feel reading the portions in the 80s. Even though you know what is expected to comes, it’s a gut punch every time, and the parallel sequence of his diagnosis with everything he is thinking at the same time is gut wrenching.
I admittedly struggled to keep track of all of the characters (which I felt bad about) and will immediately forget everyone’s names other than Charlie, Julian, and Yale, but nonetheless the relationships she depicts are incredibly layered and complex.
This is also the first book I’ve read with a Book Club and it made for an excellent conversation. We talked about our parents and their experience growing up during this epidemic, the Covid pandemic, who should tell these stories, and it was just really interesting to hear everyone’s thoughts.
I admittedly struggled to keep track of all of the characters (which I felt bad about) and will immediately forget everyone’s names other than Charlie, Julian, and Yale, but nonetheless the relationships she depicts are incredibly layered and complex.
This is also the first book I’ve read with a Book Club and it made for an excellent conversation. We talked about our parents and their experience growing up during this epidemic, the Covid pandemic, who should tell these stories, and it was just really interesting to hear everyone’s thoughts.
I read this book on recommendation from Tess. It is the story of two friends, Yale and Fiona, spread out with two timelines- one in the late 1980s in Chicago with the AIDS crisis raging, and the other in Paris in 2015, with Fiona reflecting on how the past still haunts her as she attempts to reconnect with her adult daughter Claire, and get to know her granddaughter Nicolette.
The novel started slow for me, but I appreciate how Makkai writes about mundane daily life things, with the injection of poignancy just spread out enough that it surprises you. Honestly, there are not enough novels about the impacts of the AIDS crisis, and Makkai clearly did her research to portray it ethically and get readers to understand and connect in a new way.
I really think the writing was beautiful, even though it was straightforward for the majority of it. I was devastated by many things in the 1980s timeline, but also as a woman found myself particularly connected to Fiona and the struggles she has with Claire.
Cried twice, and found it an important and well-written book. I look forward to reading more from Rebecca Makkai.
The novel started slow for me, but I appreciate how Makkai writes about mundane daily life things, with the injection of poignancy just spread out enough that it surprises you. Honestly, there are not enough novels about the impacts of the AIDS crisis, and Makkai clearly did her research to portray it ethically and get readers to understand and connect in a new way.
I really think the writing was beautiful, even though it was straightforward for the majority of it. I was devastated by many things in the 1980s timeline, but also as a woman found myself particularly connected to Fiona and the struggles she has with Claire.
Cried twice, and found it an important and well-written book. I look forward to reading more from Rebecca Makkai.
emotional
reflective
sad
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:
Complicated