Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me a while to get into this, but then I picked it up after a couple months break and really liked it. Gets at the way life feels, day to day, in a way that I have never experienced in another book. Related to Kate the most. The ending feels slightly dishonest-he just sort of gets on with life after explaining through the book all the ways that is impossible. But maybe that just is what you have to do. His description of the 'romantic' toward the end of the book was a more interesting version of the stuff people are saying about performativity today. Very glad to have read it.
reflective
This had been in my "own but haven't read" category for many years and seemed short enough to tackle with a pandemic-compromised attention span. I'll never know whether the extended time it took me to get through it was because of that limitation or something else. I guess I'll know if I reread it, but this feels like it goes in the "used to own, didn't read, eventually read, respected" category. If I'd never read this novel described as significant or historic (National Book Award, transcendently "modern," etc.), I might have enjoyed it more on its own terms. But I fell into the trap of wondering when the amazing part was coming. I recognize that the achievement is the low-key loser tone maintained throughout, and I liked that fine. Unfairly, I just prefer that kind of thing from writers who followed in Percy's footsteps.
Update, May 19, 2024
I truly forget that I've not only read this but that I did so rather recently. Listening as an audiobook this time made a difference, and I felt more in tune with the voice and the atmosphere. I also found wit in it that I think escaped me before. Looking forward to tackling the novel I associate with this one, for oblique reasons, A Fan's Notes and maybe finding out that I've read that before, too. Sunsetting the hard way out here.
Update, May 19, 2024
I truly forget that I've not only read this but that I did so rather recently. Listening as an audiobook this time made a difference, and I felt more in tune with the voice and the atmosphere. I also found wit in it that I think escaped me before. Looking forward to tackling the novel I associate with this one, for oblique reasons, A Fan's Notes and maybe finding out that I've read that before, too. Sunsetting the hard way out here.
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a strange book this is. Nothing really happens, the character is incapable of engaging with the world in any meaningful way, but it's a hugely interesting riddle about what it all means. Just like Binx Bolling we find ourselves pondering the meaning of the journey. I'm left feeling like its a bit of a koan, the type of book that you return to again and again (similar to Binx's "reflections") to try to solve it.