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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
A lovely book, raw, offending. It's a portrait, though, and it's sad.
Simultaneously mundane and surprising. Some parts were a wonderful read, others were just okay.
I was a bit confused why all the men were Junior because the timelines don't always work between all of the stories. I AM really tired of the way these macho characters are constantly on the prowl for sexual satisfaction. Is Diaz writing the same story over and over?
This was ok. I didn't really connect with it at all. I am still interested in reading other things by Junot Diaz though.
loved this. not much else to say. the collection of short stories about Yunior and the pedestrian infidelities of the men in his family (including him) are evocative, humorous, and painful.
Something different than the usual reads I always indulge in. Can't say it was my taste but Diaz's writing is undeniably unique and enjoyable.
http://dakimel.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-to-lose-her-be-philandering-jerk.html
The thing is, no matter how artfully you tell me the story of the bad boy who keeps screwing around and screwing up his relationships, he's eventually got to be a little redeemed for me to care about his self-pitying pain. And while I was quite drawn in to the relationship between Yunior and his dying-young big brother Rafa, this is a collection of stories about romantic love. And Yunior sucks at romantic love. He's great at seducing, at having affairs, at throwing himself passionately at women he reveres even as he treats them poorly. But anyone careless enough to keep years worth of explicit emails from lovers where a rightfully suspicious girlfriend can find them is just not as interested in mature love as he claims. (Perhaps if I'd 'met' Yunior in Díaz's other books I'd be more tolerant of him, but coming to him cold leaves me, well, a bit cold.)
It's a great audio production, though. Díaz is phenomenal at tapping into his narrative voice as he reads. Now, you'd think that this is a no-brainer - he is the author, after all - but I've heard plenty of narration by authors, and non-authors, where the narrative voice is flat and uninspired. The dialogue may be great, the pacing lovely, but without that connection to the 'in between' bits, an audio book just isn't rich enough. Díaz's narration kept me engaged no matter how I felt about Yunior, and I'm glad, since his writing is lush and raw and inviting.
The thing is, no matter how artfully you tell me the story of the bad boy who keeps screwing around and screwing up his relationships, he's eventually got to be a little redeemed for me to care about his self-pitying pain. And while I was quite drawn in to the relationship between Yunior and his dying-young big brother Rafa, this is a collection of stories about romantic love. And Yunior sucks at romantic love. He's great at seducing, at having affairs, at throwing himself passionately at women he reveres even as he treats them poorly. But anyone careless enough to keep years worth of explicit emails from lovers where a rightfully suspicious girlfriend can find them is just not as interested in mature love as he claims. (Perhaps if I'd 'met' Yunior in Díaz's other books I'd be more tolerant of him, but coming to him cold leaves me, well, a bit cold.)
It's a great audio production, though. Díaz is phenomenal at tapping into his narrative voice as he reads. Now, you'd think that this is a no-brainer - he is the author, after all - but I've heard plenty of narration by authors, and non-authors, where the narrative voice is flat and uninspired. The dialogue may be great, the pacing lovely, but without that connection to the 'in between' bits, an audio book just isn't rich enough. Díaz's narration kept me engaged no matter how I felt about Yunior, and I'm glad, since his writing is lush and raw and inviting.
This book comes in at a little less than 4 stars but I feel fine about rounding up. This book marks my first encounter with Díaz and perhaps I had been expecting a little more than was delivered but overall a solid collection. I particularly liked The Sun, The Moon, The Stars, Miss Lara, and the final story (the cheaters guide to love(?)) - perhaps because these chapters exposed a more vulnerable side to Yunior and also provided a deeper voice than some of the other stories. Others have commented on the lack of well developed female characters and a machismo core that is hard to stomach, which I definitely agree with and also suspect may have been at least partly intentional.
This was a real disapointment to me; I had been looking forward to reading this for quite some time. It's a collection of stories, which generally turns me off, but for the most part it worked because they were really all about one character and in the end, there's a full, cohesive story. That is, except for that one chapter that I'm still puzzling over - I have no idea who the narrator was or what the connection with the other short stories was. On top of that, the switch from "I" to "you" which still referred to the narrator was confusing and difficult to get past. In the end, the biggest problem I had with this book was that I didn't like or feel sorry for the narrator. He was with "the love of his life," his fiancee, for six years, and cheated on her with 50 different women, from the beginning of their relationship. Seriously? What was to like about him? Or care whether or not he ever got over her? In my opinion, he could have been heartbroken for the rest of his life and I would have just thought he got what he deserved. He did acknowledge that in the end, but it wasn't enough for me to feel sympathy for him.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes