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mcreed06's review against another edition
4.0
This goes under a personal category:
'A tedious book, but glad to have read it.'
The writing was dense to a high degree. Sentences, passages and pages required full concentration, and had to be read and reread multiple times for comprehension. Four hundred ninety eight pages long; Ship of Fools by Katherine Ann Porter is for dedicated readers.
For a hefty novel, the large cast of characters border on frivolity and caricature. Ship of Fools is a microcosm of the 1930s with an uncomfortably realistic portrayal of humanity.
'A tedious book, but glad to have read it.'
The writing was dense to a high degree. Sentences, passages and pages required full concentration, and had to be read and reread multiple times for comprehension. Four hundred ninety eight pages long; Ship of Fools by Katherine Ann Porter is for dedicated readers.
For a hefty novel, the large cast of characters border on frivolity and caricature. Ship of Fools is a microcosm of the 1930s with an uncomfortably realistic portrayal of humanity.
gannent's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The author has a real talent for point of view. The point of view flips between so many different characters and they all see each other differently, all observe different details, all care about different things. You can tell when POV changes in the text almost immediately because how things are observed and described is different. Yes, all the characters are horribly flawed, that’s the point. Their flaws are described so well and vividly. But definitely not a book for anyone looking for hashtag representation hashtag relatable. Characters express a lot of racist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, etc. sentiment. Lots of anti-Mexican, anti-Indigenous and anti-Spanish sentiment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism
Moderate: Alcoholism
katymvt's review against another edition
3.0
2022 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge-a book that takes place on a plane, train, or ship.
Hard to get in to. too many characters. Almost all of them unlikeable.
Hard to get in to. too many characters. Almost all of them unlikeable.
blueyorkie's review against another edition
3.0
You have to pay attention to the characters' names: there are a lot of them, and you get a bit lost. However, despite this flaw, the story's stage is fascinating—relations between travellers returning home against the background of the first beginnings of Nazism.
quoththegirl's review against another edition
3.0
Finishing Ship of Fools took me approximately an age. Porter is undeniably a talented writer, but never was a book so aptly named: every character in it was one kind of idiot or other. After 500 pages, I liked some of them even less than when I started. Maybe that’s why it took me so long to read it; if there isn’t at least one character with whom to sympathize, it’s difficult to care about what happens next. At the same time, however, I do recognize that her insights into human nature are extremely valuable: we all *are* some kind of idiot or other. The subtle (at first) hatred between Christian and Jew was eye-opening; suddenly I saw how it must have been terribly easy to fall into that trap unawares in German daily life of the 1930s. All in all, Ship of Fools is a good piece of literature, if an unlovable one.
ghahn3's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
al3ckanr3ad's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Well written and engaging, but not my cup of tea. Read it as part of a reading challenge. If you like character novels, this one is very good.
manwithanagenda's review
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A novel that took her over twenty years to write, 'Ship of Fools' is a large sprawling thing with many characters (you will be grateful for the passenger manifest at the beginning) and has a grand ambition to illustrate the world in the early 1930s in the form of a group of people on an ocean liner en route to Germany from Veracruz.
All of the people on board are guilty, with the possible exception of the mostly faceless, nameless people in steerage. But even they allow themselves to be herded from one destination to another, taking down the few who would thumb their noses at authority. In first class the passengers gravitate to groups or (in the case of a lone Jewish seller of Catholic furnishings) isolation, if sometimes unwillingly. They go along, they make the motions, they shrug off unpleasantness. The passengers in first class from the whimsical American artist Jenny to the unsavory racist Herr Rieber appear almost equally, by the end of the voyage, complicit in the shape the uncertain future is taking.
Jenny, the American divorcée Mrs. Treadwell (who I see as Porter herself), and the homely, unhappy Elsa are where most of my sympathies lay while reading, but the way narrative shifted it was possible to see them as others saw them, and most importantly, Porter gave them ample time for self-criticism and doubt. Even while they acknowledge what they're doing, they get in the way of their own happiness. Porter exactly describes those strong, temporary ties experienced by a group of people who must keep each other's company for a long period.
Some characters, particularly the Spanish dance/prostitution troupe, were given no leeway for positive action. The twins Ric and Rac are the best sociopathic children I've read since 'A High Wind in Jamaica '.I don't think 'Ship of Fools' is as universal an allegory as Porter was hoping for, but the book can be very funny and shocking, has a trove of well-drawn characters and scenes, and is certainly worth the attention it demands.
All of the people on board are guilty, with the possible exception of the mostly faceless, nameless people in steerage. But even they allow themselves to be herded from one destination to another, taking down the few who would thumb their noses at authority. In first class the passengers gravitate to groups or (in the case of a lone Jewish seller of Catholic furnishings) isolation, if sometimes unwillingly. They go along, they make the motions, they shrug off unpleasantness. The passengers in first class from the whimsical American artist Jenny to the unsavory racist Herr Rieber appear almost equally, by the end of the voyage, complicit in the shape the uncertain future is taking.
Jenny, the American divorcée Mrs. Treadwell (who I see as Porter herself), and the homely, unhappy Elsa are where most of my sympathies lay while reading, but the way narrative shifted it was possible to see them as others saw them, and most importantly, Porter gave them ample time for self-criticism and doubt. Even while they acknowledge what they're doing, they get in the way of their own happiness. Porter exactly describes those strong, temporary ties experienced by a group of people who must keep each other's company for a long period.
Some characters, particularly the Spanish dance/prostitution troupe, were given no leeway for positive action. The twins Ric and Rac are the best sociopathic children I've read since 'A High Wind in Jamaica '.I don't think 'Ship of Fools' is as universal an allegory as Porter was hoping for, but the book can be very funny and shocking, has a trove of well-drawn characters and scenes, and is certainly worth the attention it demands.
mavenbooks's review against another edition
4.0
It's a long book, and some of the philosophical bits are a bit tedious to get through, but I still liked it, for what it was.
There were a lot of characters to keep track of throughout, but it did feel like you were in each of their heads as the perspective switched. The writing would shift so well, portraying each person's thoughts and feelings, so I felt like their true character came through.
I did feel like the story petered out a little, especially towards the end, with regards to the gala, but it also felt true to what such a long voyage would be like.
There were a lot of characters to keep track of throughout, but it did feel like you were in each of their heads as the perspective switched. The writing would shift so well, portraying each person's thoughts and feelings, so I felt like their true character came through.
I did feel like the story petered out a little, especially towards the end, with regards to the gala, but it also felt true to what such a long voyage would be like.