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2.89 AVERAGE
2.89 AVERAGE
This was a slog to get through. Filled with boring and pretentious characters, all of whom think they are hot shit while actually being awful people.
I have to admit that I didn't hate this book as much as many, MANY other people did (see reviews here or on Amazon). If we had the chance to rate books with half stars I would definitely give this book 3.5 stars. The first half of the book really grabbed my attention and the writing is beautiful (although at times I was distracted by the author's extensive vocabulary usage). The characters were not likable but I found them to be believable. I was hoping the author would delve deeper into the friendship between the three main characters but she never really does and so I'm left to wonder why these three were friends at all. The second half of the book loses some it's focus and the more interesting story lines and conflicts get dropped. I actually found myself hurrying through the last part of the book just so I could be finished with it.
I wouldn't necessarily NOT recommend it to people though if only for the first 400 pages or so. It's an intelligent read and her writing is quite lovely. I also don't know if I would tout this as a 9/11 book as that whole plot seemed secondary to the book on a whole.
I wouldn't necessarily NOT recommend it to people though if only for the first 400 pages or so. It's an intelligent read and her writing is quite lovely. I also don't know if I would tout this as a 9/11 book as that whole plot seemed secondary to the book on a whole.
The Emperor's Children by Claude Messud is one of those creations that 'literary' people love. I thought it was quite good, though severely depressing and difficult to read. A book that weaves in and out of six lives, the majority of whom are young and entitled with plans to take over New York, it just hit a bit too close to home. Messud is an unflinching author with no qualms about creating characters with a variety of less than admirable qualities who enjoy using dialogue sharp enough to leave bloody messes wherever they step.
The stories are compelling even if the characters are primarily unsympathetic. My absolute least favorite is Marina Thwaite, the ravishing authoress-wannabe offspring of the successful journalist Murray Thwaite. Her best friend is Danielle Minkoff, by far the 'nicest' and most sensible character in the book with unusual but moderately attractive looks (you know she'll go FAR in life). Rounding out the cast is Julian Clarke, a gay and loserish Eurasian bum who cooks gourmet meals, Ludovic Seely, a libertarian Australian with dark, slightly gayish looks and plans to take over the world through a literary coup, and other colorful and distasteful characters.
For all of its pizazz, The Emperor's Children doesn't skimp on the substance, although I did wonder what the main message was supposed to be. Don't get your hopes up? Don't feel entitled? Don't be beautiful? Messud cleverly weaves all of the stories together but ends rather surprisingly, yet fittingly. Since it is an ensemble cast, the flow of the story is a bit uneven at times, though good on the whole.
The biggest surprise of The Emperor's Children is that I had to read it in front of my computer in order to expand my vocabulary. Who knew that Mayakovsky was a part of the Russian Futurism movement? And I certainly didn't know what pergola, probascis, and osculate meant before picking up this tome. Anyone other than Messud or a historian who uses the word paterfamilias would come off as conceited, but she manages gracefully, as well as inserting otherwise pretentious vocabulary including naif and uxorious. Messud is a chameleon and master when it comes to language, interspersing highbrow vocabulary with gorgeous phrases such as 'syrupy Thursday afternoons' and everyday ones including 'everything about him looked faggy'.
I apologize for getting carried away by Messud's amazing diction. Other than that, I do wish that she had softened some of the dialogue and tightened the overall structure a tiny bit. The Emperor's Children is a pretty good read, though less admirable in retrospect.
The stories are compelling even if the characters are primarily unsympathetic. My absolute least favorite is Marina Thwaite, the ravishing authoress-wannabe offspring of the successful journalist Murray Thwaite. Her best friend is Danielle Minkoff, by far the 'nicest' and most sensible character in the book with unusual but moderately attractive looks (you know she'll go FAR in life). Rounding out the cast is Julian Clarke, a gay and loserish Eurasian bum who cooks gourmet meals, Ludovic Seely, a libertarian Australian with dark, slightly gayish looks and plans to take over the world through a literary coup, and other colorful and distasteful characters.
For all of its pizazz, The Emperor's Children doesn't skimp on the substance, although I did wonder what the main message was supposed to be. Don't get your hopes up? Don't feel entitled? Don't be beautiful? Messud cleverly weaves all of the stories together but ends rather surprisingly, yet fittingly. Since it is an ensemble cast, the flow of the story is a bit uneven at times, though good on the whole.
The biggest surprise of The Emperor's Children is that I had to read it in front of my computer in order to expand my vocabulary. Who knew that Mayakovsky was a part of the Russian Futurism movement? And I certainly didn't know what pergola, probascis, and osculate meant before picking up this tome. Anyone other than Messud or a historian who uses the word paterfamilias would come off as conceited, but she manages gracefully, as well as inserting otherwise pretentious vocabulary including naif and uxorious. Messud is a chameleon and master when it comes to language, interspersing highbrow vocabulary with gorgeous phrases such as 'syrupy Thursday afternoons' and everyday ones including 'everything about him looked faggy'.
I apologize for getting carried away by Messud's amazing diction. Other than that, I do wish that she had softened some of the dialogue and tightened the overall structure a tiny bit. The Emperor's Children is a pretty good read, though less admirable in retrospect.
This book was ok. I kept waiting for it to get better. I love the concept of following the lives of four NYC friends, but it falls a little flat.
the story was alright, but the sentences too long, and i needed a dictionary every 5 pages.
All three of these stars are for the writing. I thought it was a fantastically written book.
That said, I hated the characters. They were not likable people; they treated their friends poorly; they were just shallow. I found it hard to care about them and their problems. I really wanted to like it, and I was quite absorbed by the storyline, but I just wanted the characters to be better people or at least to realize their own shallowness.
That said, I hated the characters. They were not likable people; they treated their friends poorly; they were just shallow. I found it hard to care about them and their problems. I really wanted to like it, and I was quite absorbed by the storyline, but I just wanted the characters to be better people or at least to realize their own shallowness.
I hated every character and found them all SOOO pretentious. I was an English major and I REALLY hope I wasn’t as much of an intellectual snob as the characters in this book.
But still, the story was compelling and I couldn’t put it down. Especially liked the creative use of 9/11 as a plot point.
But still, the story was compelling and I couldn’t put it down. Especially liked the creative use of 9/11 as a plot point.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was ok. I felt like the character development was a little uneven, and I really did not like the Bootie character at all. I kind of felt like the author was trying (too hard) to make this into a "great book." Her writing style, with all of the commas, bothered me as well. But in the end I read 150 pages in one day to find out how it ended, so it was not terrible.
This does not deserve four stars. I suspect some intrinsic fissure is to blame for a rasher of characters that I uniformly loathed.