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scarlettletters's review against another edition
4.0
Another book from the io9 top 20.
This book is basically like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the movie; I haven't read the story). Max Tivoli ages backwards. It is pretty dark at times, but I enjoyed reading it. The author managed to combine character development and historical description with a quick-moving plot. I wouldn't say I loved it, but I've liked it more than most of the other books on the list. I especially liked the time period in which it was set (1880s-1930). Of course, a story like this can't end well, but I didn't have the same sense of imminent doom I did when I read the Time Traveler's Wife. It's more a bittersweet story than super happy or gut-wrenchingly painful.
This book is basically like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (the movie; I haven't read the story). Max Tivoli ages backwards. It is pretty dark at times, but I enjoyed reading it. The author managed to combine character development and historical description with a quick-moving plot. I wouldn't say I loved it, but I've liked it more than most of the other books on the list. I especially liked the time period in which it was set (1880s-1930). Of course, a story like this can't end well, but I didn't have the same sense of imminent doom I did when I read the Time Traveler's Wife. It's more a bittersweet story than super happy or gut-wrenchingly painful.
femme55's review against another edition
5.0
I read this the first time about eight years ago and decided to pick it up again a few months ago. I was worried that my opinion of the book would be different now that I'm older and (slightly) more mature, but I still absolutely love this book - everything about it. It's similar to "The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons" in the way that the main character, Max Tivoli, ages backwards, but with major differences in story line and plot. Andrew Sean Greer is a fantastic writer - he describes love, life, relationships and emotions so visually and completely that his books really stick in your head.
djrmelvin's review against another edition
2.0
Many critics have compared this book to Fitzgerald's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", most likely because Greer had the misfortune of having his book published at about the same time the Fitzgerald story was released in film form. Both books do deal with a character born old and aging backwards, but the authors obviously feel so differently about how such a person would move through their world, the comparison must stop with that one character trait. Greer's Max is a man who thinks he knows his fate and lives each day with an ending hanging over his head ((or in this case, around his neck). He lives the life as a victim, always preparing himself for a bad outcome. A loyal, understanding friend isn't seen for the good he brings to Max's life, instead he is used to ease the complications, or worse yet, give way when the girl Max thinks he has fallen in love with falls in love with the friend.
The historical fiction aspect of this book is uneven. The late 1880's through the turn of the century are shown vivedly through Max's recollections of his early years. The small details of living in the days before automobiles and electricity are related in a natural way from someone who had lived through the time and could look back at them fondly and not as a novelty. But as time goes on, the setting becomes less nuanced, and Greer's heavy use of metaphore to replace simple narrative becomes annoying. As Max grows older, his ability to self edit diminishes, drawing out an ending that we knew from the very beginning.
The historical fiction aspect of this book is uneven. The late 1880's through the turn of the century are shown vivedly through Max's recollections of his early years. The small details of living in the days before automobiles and electricity are related in a natural way from someone who had lived through the time and could look back at them fondly and not as a novelty. But as time goes on, the setting becomes less nuanced, and Greer's heavy use of metaphore to replace simple narrative becomes annoying. As Max grows older, his ability to self edit diminishes, drawing out an ending that we knew from the very beginning.
kathrine_jeppesen's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
llynn66's review against another edition
3.0
I have wondered throughout my life about how it would be to age backwards. The conceit always captured my imagination and I focused only on the positives. You would get what are, perhaps, your hardest years over with first...frailty, pains, faulty memory, and the other ravages of time would fall away, a year at a time, to reveal a version of yourself that was stronger, sharper and more attractive. Yet, because you age in reverse, your youthful days would also contain the wisdom garnered by a life instead of the foolishness that characterizes so many of our decisions and priorities at 20. And I thought that, by getting younger instead of older, one could overcome the fear of death...leaving this world in the oblivion of infancy rather than with the weariness and knowledge of old age.
The Confessions of Max Tivoli posits such a life and reminds the reader of the downside to such a fantasy. Max is a tragic figure. He is born an ugly wizened creature with the face of someone in their seventies. (Not that 70 is so very old...this is one issue I had with the story. Why not birth Max as a Centenarian and go for broke?) As he 'ages' he becomes a more vital man of middling years and meets his lifelong muse in Alice, the girl who lives downstairs.
The rest is a poignant unraveling of a singular life that is fated to be tragic. I enjoy Greer's imagination and his writing. As in The Story of a Marriage, he plays with the concepts of illicit relationships. In the former Greer dealt with the dual taboos of a homosexual and inter-racial relationship in the 1950s. The Confessions of Max Tivoli also explores relationships the greater society will not accept, but does so in extremis. Although Max is really a youth of 17 when he first encounters young Alice, he appears to the world (and to the object of his adoration) as an "old bear" of 50. There is some Nabakov here. And also some Proust. Max lives in the past more than most. (And, if we are being honest, most of us revisit the past obsessively throughout our lives.)
Max's love can only be toxic under the circumstances under which he must live out his days. The strongest writing comes through in the passages that deal with the way the characters wound one another with feelings they cannot control. In this way, I found the style and impact to be similar to The Story of a Marriage, which I read earlier this year.
I do not remember ever having read Benjamin Button (although I am a Fitzgerald fan and own some of his short stories.) I will definitely have to seek out that story to round out my reading a bit more.
I am giving this title 3 stars instead of 4,. Although I did enjoy it and felt that, at times, the writing was of higher than average quality, somehow I wanted "just a little more" from this title. I am frustrated that I cannot articulate exactly what else I wanted to see/feel/experience with the story...maybe i have toyed with this concept in my own mind for so long that had unreasonable expectations. Still, I will remember this book and many of the characters for a long time to come.
The Confessions of Max Tivoli posits such a life and reminds the reader of the downside to such a fantasy. Max is a tragic figure. He is born an ugly wizened creature with the face of someone in their seventies. (Not that 70 is so very old...this is one issue I had with the story. Why not birth Max as a Centenarian and go for broke?) As he 'ages' he becomes a more vital man of middling years and meets his lifelong muse in Alice, the girl who lives downstairs.
The rest is a poignant unraveling of a singular life that is fated to be tragic. I enjoy Greer's imagination and his writing. As in The Story of a Marriage, he plays with the concepts of illicit relationships. In the former Greer dealt with the dual taboos of a homosexual and inter-racial relationship in the 1950s. The Confessions of Max Tivoli also explores relationships the greater society will not accept, but does so in extremis. Although Max is really a youth of 17 when he first encounters young Alice, he appears to the world (and to the object of his adoration) as an "old bear" of 50. There is some Nabakov here. And also some Proust. Max lives in the past more than most. (And, if we are being honest, most of us revisit the past obsessively throughout our lives.)
Max's love can only be toxic under the circumstances under which he must live out his days. The strongest writing comes through in the passages that deal with the way the characters wound one another with feelings they cannot control. In this way, I found the style and impact to be similar to The Story of a Marriage, which I read earlier this year.
I do not remember ever having read Benjamin Button (although I am a Fitzgerald fan and own some of his short stories.) I will definitely have to seek out that story to round out my reading a bit more.
I am giving this title 3 stars instead of 4,. Although I did enjoy it and felt that, at times, the writing was of higher than average quality, somehow I wanted "just a little more" from this title. I am frustrated that I cannot articulate exactly what else I wanted to see/feel/experience with the story...maybe i have toyed with this concept in my own mind for so long that had unreasonable expectations. Still, I will remember this book and many of the characters for a long time to come.
mose's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
smcscot's review against another edition
2.0
Predictable, trite, under-developed and painfully flat. The only saving grace to this novel was that Mr. Greer has flashes of brilliant word smithing. The reader will get through pages and pages of one dimensional characters (the only provocative character was Hughie, but you never really get to know him, and the narrator is a poor recollection of Humbert Humbert, who only comes off as a semi-sociopathic creep) to come upon a brief and brilliant description, only to lapse into more drivel. Avoid it, no matter what the today show says. If the premise interests you read "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Which the idea (idea, not plot) for the story was stolen.
aviva28's review against another edition
2.0
I really enjoyed parts of it but overall it was a bit repetitive, a bit slow, and I had a hard time caring about Max because I felt like he just made really stupid decisions. Considering I sobbed during Benjamin Button (why?!? I don't know! I couldn't stop crying!) this book was disappointing.
abookishaffair's review against another edition
3.0
This book followed the story of Max Tivoli. He is a man that was born an old man and ages backwards during the beginning of the 20th century. He falls in and out of love with the same woman throughout his life. It's a decent read.
debnanceatreaderbuzz's review against another edition
4.0
Which came first: Max Tivoli or Time
Traveler's Wife? The truth is that to me it doesn't really matter
which was published first; what matters is what I read first and that
was Time Traveler's Wife. Consequently, Max feels like an uglier
younger sister.
Max is the story of a man whose body ages backwards; that is, Max is
born old and gradually becomes younger and younger. Complicating his
life is his love for a woman who, sadly, ages normally.
The idea for the story is clever and Max is a sympathetic figure, but
I never had that can't-put-the-book-down feeling.
Traveler's Wife? The truth is that to me it doesn't really matter
which was published first; what matters is what I read first and that
was Time Traveler's Wife. Consequently, Max feels like an uglier
younger sister.
Max is the story of a man whose body ages backwards; that is, Max is
born old and gradually becomes younger and younger. Complicating his
life is his love for a woman who, sadly, ages normally.
The idea for the story is clever and Max is a sympathetic figure, but
I never had that can't-put-the-book-down feeling.