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nurseyrhymes's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
mellabella's review against another edition
3.0
I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley.
Isadora Wing, the 1970's, NYC... What could be better?
Except it could definitely be better
I read FoF years ago (and I recommend reading it before reading this. I recommend reading FoF even if you don't read this.). Isadora Wing is back and not better than ever. There might be elements of the book that resonate. I myself can't relate to a rich woman going about her daily life jet setting to Europe and the West Coast at the drop of a dime. But as a woman, I can definitely relate to how a relationship can gradually disintegrate until there is nothing left. Isadora is searching for something she might have found. We follow along as she meets quite cast of characters. She's restless, she's bored and she's been betrayed by her husband. But I found the "character" to be unlikable and selfish in this sequel. The 70's was a hedonistic time. That is captured fairly well. I raced through it as it is a fast paced read. I laughed out loud a few times. But didn't feel any particular way at the end.
Isadora Wing, the 1970's, NYC... What could be better?
Except it could definitely be better
I read FoF years ago (and I recommend reading it before reading this. I recommend reading FoF even if you don't read this.). Isadora Wing is back and not better than ever. There might be elements of the book that resonate. I myself can't relate to a rich woman going about her daily life jet setting to Europe and the West Coast at the drop of a dime. But as a woman, I can definitely relate to how a relationship can gradually disintegrate until there is nothing left. Isadora is searching for something she might have found. We follow along as she meets quite cast of characters. She's restless, she's bored and she's been betrayed by her husband. But I found the "character" to be unlikable and selfish in this sequel. The 70's was a hedonistic time. That is captured fairly well. I raced through it as it is a fast paced read. I laughed out loud a few times. But didn't feel any particular way at the end.
paradismaja's review against another edition
4.0
Precis som med Rädd att flyga så finns det något i Erica Jongs berättarröst som fängslar mig. Hela boken blir som ett rinnande vatten och jag bara följer med. Mycket sex, känslor och orationellt tänkande - och jag fängslas över hennes beskrivningar av det. Nackdel; väldigt ostrukturerat (vilket egentligen bidrar till bokens charm?).
lesleynr's review against another edition
2.0
Loved the title--obviously. Great 70's feminist awakening type stuff.. and I tend to enjoy and agree with Jong's blogging on Huffington Post... but after about 160 pages, frankly, I was done. She's already had two ongoing affairs with guys named Jeffrey, experimented with a lesbian affair (didn't really like being on top, but was DETERMINED to make her lover come--how goal oriented and male), turned down the opportunity for a three-way in a hot tub in LA, and is now happily in love and "winging it" with a "younger man." If this chick is going to save her own life, I guess all that that's left is to figure out that sex is not love and the younger guy isn't the answer. I don't care if she stays with her husband or not... but my guess is she doesn't.
bunnieslikediamonds's review against another edition
2.0
Much like listening to your narcissistic friend complain about her miserable relationship until you want to yell "Just leave already!" There is some smut and an orgy, but the navel-gazing spoiled the fun.
yourfriendtorie's review against another edition
1.0
I really wanted to like this book after being so disgusted by the stories of the passive women in Sara Davidson's "Loose Change." I mentioned in my review of that book how the most valuable idea I took from it was that the women of that generation learned lessons the hard way so those of mine wouldn't have to. I kind of feel the same way about Erica Jong's book, which is the story of the time she spent psyching herself up to leave her husband. While Isadora, the Jong character, isn't exactly passive, her desperation for male companionship and her paralyzing indecisiveness were way too tiresome to spend an entire novel reading about. Her critique of fame, which is ostensibly what the book wants to be, is overshadowed by annoying talk of psychoanalysis and other boring, self-indulgent trends of the 1970's. Erica Jong is a good writer, and at the very least she has a very feminist sensibility, but loveless bourgeois marriages and their attendant hypocrisy, deception, and guilt can only be played over and over for so long before it becomes embarrassing.
biscuithead's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Erica Jong has done it again! I love her. Also the cover on storygraph is horrible, I wish they would upload the 1977 version.
lizshine74's review against another edition
3.0
There are things about this book I loved and things I didn't. Fear of Flying was a huge influence on me when I first came across it at 16. I had a conservative upbringing, so the bold, open sexuality and wit of the main character blew my mind. This book had that too, but to be in Isadora Wing's head at this point in my life was a different experience. She's something of an unreliable narrator with her inflated sense of self and her liberated, but not liberated ways. In the end she really just wants a man to dominate and conquer her. :/
chajara's review against another edition
5.0
I can't get enough of Erica Jong. It surprises me sometimes that this was written in the 70's and yet I feel she touches something inside of me several decades later. I particularly appreciated this book more than fear of flying, because as she says so herself, she takes a much more optimistic approach at love, an idea she might have turned me onto.