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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's scary because of how close it comes to the reality of what hatred/misunderstanding breeds.
"The Submission" is about all kinds of submissions. The first is a design submission for a 9-11 Memorial, the winning submission, which turns out to have been submitted by a Muslim. The second submission is the place of Islam -- which in Arabic literally means "submission" -- in America, and the related debate that the winning Memorial designer inadvertently launches. The third submission is how characters submit or not to this debate and its repercussions. This cast of characters ranges across the political and religious spectrums, from grieving 9-11 family members, to politicians on the make, to ambitious reporters, to a Bangladeshi widow living illegally in New York with her own secret.
The book, published in 2011, creates an entirely believable scenario and especially echoes the Ground Zero Mosque furor. Most of the characters' views are realistic and nuanced; they muddle through issues of ambition, tolerance, idealism, fear and grief in ways that are human, relatable, and often tragic.
I wish I could give this book 4.5 stars. I can tell it's a linger-er that will stay with me. Both the characters and the ideas will, I think, take up permanent space in my brain. But the plot was a bit slow-moving, and I wonder if to someone with different political beliefs would think it unfairly caricaturing. (I'd love to know!) From my perspective, even the distasteful characters had really wonderful depth and richly-painted motives.
It's not a cheerful book. But it is an excellent book, well-written, intelligent, and evocative. Forget "Scarlet Letter" - this is what kids should be reading in high school.
The book, published in 2011, creates an entirely believable scenario and especially echoes the Ground Zero Mosque furor. Most of the characters' views are realistic and nuanced; they muddle through issues of ambition, tolerance, idealism, fear and grief in ways that are human, relatable, and often tragic.
I wish I could give this book 4.5 stars. I can tell it's a linger-er that will stay with me. Both the characters and the ideas will, I think, take up permanent space in my brain. But the plot was a bit slow-moving, and I wonder if to someone with different political beliefs would think it unfairly caricaturing. (I'd love to know!) From my perspective, even the distasteful characters had really wonderful depth and richly-painted motives.
It's not a cheerful book. But it is an excellent book, well-written, intelligent, and evocative. Forget "Scarlet Letter" - this is what kids should be reading in high school.
2.5 stars
This book was a chore for me to get through. I found the characters to be flat and stereotypical and I did not particularly care for any of them. There is also a large cast of peripheral characters that needlessly cluttered the already crowded group of players. The author was in love with her command of the English language - or at least with her command of 100,000 dollar words- it just got to be irritating after awhile. The concept for the book is solid - prejudice and the events that can spark full on mayhem- 9/11 is a tender topic to tackle, but I didn't sympathize with anyone in this book. I appreciated the details of their loss but the characters were so shallowly conceived that I was unable to make the leap to full on compassion. If you want to read a novel about 9/11 I recommend [b:Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close|4588|Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close|Jonathan Safran Foer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327879967s/4588.jpg|1940137].
This book was a chore for me to get through. I found the characters to be flat and stereotypical and I did not particularly care for any of them. There is also a large cast of peripheral characters that needlessly cluttered the already crowded group of players. The author was in love with her command of the English language - or at least with her command of 100,000 dollar words- it just got to be irritating after awhile. The concept for the book is solid - prejudice and the events that can spark full on mayhem- 9/11 is a tender topic to tackle, but I didn't sympathize with anyone in this book. I appreciated the details of their loss but the characters were so shallowly conceived that I was unable to make the leap to full on compassion. If you want to read a novel about 9/11 I recommend [b:Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close|4588|Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close|Jonathan Safran Foer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327879967s/4588.jpg|1940137].
3.5 stars.
This book made me angry. So angry.
It's so realistic, and the thought processes that develop are ones that happen every day in the U.S. Rationalism overthrown by emotion.
The characters were interesting enough, but I didn't give it more stars, because when I finished it, I didn't enjoy it.
This book made me angry. So angry.
It's so realistic, and the thought processes that develop are ones that happen every day in the U.S. Rationalism overthrown by emotion.
The characters were interesting enough, but I didn't give it more stars, because when I finished it, I didn't enjoy it.
Excellent book. Lovely prose, intellectually stimulating and emotionally gripping.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The most striking aspect of this book is the way it highlights the importance of rhetoric and words in constructing and shaping our perceptions of the world. Each character has an agenda and it's fascinating to see the ways they use language to push it forward. I found myself really enjoying the language Waldman used to build her story as much as the language her characters use to construct their own images. Highly recommended.
This may be my favorite book club selection we have read yet. I agree with Dorsey that the characters' behavior is very uncomfortable at times but I think that is because it rings very true. Some of the writing is just exquisite - I highlighted at least twelve selections.
Again, one of the many books that has been sitting patiently on my "to-read" shelf simply because of the amount of attention it has received as of late. However, I'm sad to say that in my opinion, it wasn't really worth the crazy hype. Don't get me wrong, it was a very interesting book, and I will give credit where credit is due in saying that Waldman is an excellent writer who has also (thankfully) been blessed with the talent (or intelligence?) to marry her excellent writing with excellent research skills. As I've mentioned before, I have many friends and family members who have devoted themselves to Islam or who are born Muslim and therefore the subject is very close to my heart. That being said, I immensely appreciated that Waldman could not only weave Islamic terminology into her novel so effortlessly, but that she also seemed to be able to capture daily life and behaviour of Bengali-American citizens with the wisdom of being one herself. I also thought that the story was a very interesting one, and both sides of the controversial argument that plagued the characters were well-thought out and justified. However, I didn't enjoy this novel as much as I thought I would, simply because I felt that there wasn't much passion behind it- as if it was written for the sake of being written, so that we the readers, as free-thinking individuals, could question our morals and sense of justice in a fictional playing field. Or if it wasn't written for that reason alone, maybe this novel had to exist for the sake of pointing out a personal opinion or observation of the author and her surroundings. But for whatever reason, I still think this was a fairly good book, worth reading if recent events are interesting enough to you to be explored in a work of fiction.