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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
3.5/5
To be 100% honest, I'm not sure what to rate this, because my enjoyment of the novel was hampered by when I read it. I finished the first half before starting a new job, and only got through more than 10 days at it, when obviously I had less time to read. (Not to mention some added stress) Suddenly the dense but beautiful prose didn't seem as lyrical anymore, and I started skimming here and there because no matter how well-written it was, having two whole pages devoted to the backstory of Grady's in-law's house wasn't needed to tell the story. There were a lot of unnecessary bits like that.
I don't know. Maybe this book was a victim of circumstance. In fact, I'm sure it was; maybe one day I'll come back to Wonder Boys and give it another go, just out of curiosity. I loved a lot in this novel. There wasn't one character in here I didn't enjoy in some way, and it's one of the funniest damn books I've read in a while.
But even if I don't go back to it again, Wonder Boys made me go out and pick up The Mysteries of Pittsburgh the day after starting it, and add most of his other books to my wishlist--this could be the first, if somewhat flawed, step in the journey of a new author. Which is exciting.
To be 100% honest, I'm not sure what to rate this, because my enjoyment of the novel was hampered by when I read it. I finished the first half before starting a new job, and only got through more than 10 days at it, when obviously I had less time to read. (Not to mention some added stress) Suddenly the dense but beautiful prose didn't seem as lyrical anymore, and I started skimming here and there because no matter how well-written it was, having two whole pages devoted to the backstory of Grady's in-law's house wasn't needed to tell the story. There were a lot of unnecessary bits like that.
I don't know. Maybe this book was a victim of circumstance. In fact, I'm sure it was; maybe one day I'll come back to Wonder Boys and give it another go, just out of curiosity. I loved a lot in this novel. There wasn't one character in here I didn't enjoy in some way, and it's one of the funniest damn books I've read in a while.
But even if I don't go back to it again, Wonder Boys made me go out and pick up The Mysteries of Pittsburgh the day after starting it, and add most of his other books to my wishlist--this could be the first, if somewhat flawed, step in the journey of a new author. Which is exciting.
Every other Michael Chabon novel that I have read has started out so slow that I've abandoned it for months at a time, but ultimately has been profound and moving and made me feel like I have a place in the universe. Wonder Boys did the opposite. Despite it's easy readability, Wonder Boys made me feel hated, like the world for which it's written or is found funny is a world that is antithetical to people like me.
About a quarter of the way through, I realized that I'd seen and hated the movie. That added to the feel of the novel, to be honest -- this is a novel about people using drugs and alcohol to self-medicate the sort of depression that comes not from any sort of psychopathology, but rather the reasonable self-loathing if you're the sort of dick to do idiotic things while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Not surprisingly, this becomes a downward spiral of totally unsympathetic assholes continuing to do idiotic things then self-medicate further, then become more of a self-absorbed asshole who does even more idiotic things. I read the book with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach, anticipating how things could possibly get even worse. Knowing the specific form the devolution takes from watching the movie added to the ambiance, so to speak.
So why two stars? The second star comes entirely from a Passover seder scene that is laugh-out-loud funny. Fights over what to put in the second seder plate space for bitter herbs (or even how to pronounce "Chazeret") are reminiscent to every Jewish home and also to what I love about most Chabon novels. It was like a breath of fresh air (before that, too, became another drug-using, drunk-driving, pet-killing rampage)
About a quarter of the way through, I realized that I'd seen and hated the movie. That added to the feel of the novel, to be honest -- this is a novel about people using drugs and alcohol to self-medicate the sort of depression that comes not from any sort of psychopathology, but rather the reasonable self-loathing if you're the sort of dick to do idiotic things while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Not surprisingly, this becomes a downward spiral of totally unsympathetic assholes continuing to do idiotic things then self-medicate further, then become more of a self-absorbed asshole who does even more idiotic things. I read the book with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach, anticipating how things could possibly get even worse. Knowing the specific form the devolution takes from watching the movie added to the ambiance, so to speak.
So why two stars? The second star comes entirely from a Passover seder scene that is laugh-out-loud funny. Fights over what to put in the second seder plate space for bitter herbs (or even how to pronounce "Chazeret") are reminiscent to every Jewish home and also to what I love about most Chabon novels. It was like a breath of fresh air (before that, too, became another drug-using, drunk-driving, pet-killing rampage)
Wonder Boys incepe bine si se termina prost. Pe scurt, profesorul Grady Tripp se lupta cu manuscrisul de 2600 de pagini care ar trebui sa fie continuarea romanului sau de succes din urma cu 7 ani. Povestea lui incepe sa se desfasoare atunci cand intra in scena editorul sau cu orientari sexuale indoielnice si studentul sau extrem de ciudat, James Leer.
In plus, nevasta il paraseste si afla in aceeasi zi ca amanta lui este insarcinata (drama). De aici personajul nostru (care in general este mai mult drogat decat treaz) se trezeste intr-o incurcatura cu un caine mort, o jacheta furata care apartinuse lui Marilyn Monroe si diverse parti dintr-un boa constrictor.
Daca par teribil de amuzante aceste incurcaturi, din pacate dupa 150 de pagini romanul isi cam pierde suflul. In primul rand pentru ca nu e teribil de amuzant, poate doar prin remarcile acide date de Tripp. Simbolismul povestii ar trebui sa mearga in jurul ideii raportului dintre scriitor si opera sa, anume ca la un moment dat autorul ajunge sa se identifice cu personajele din povestile sale – ceea ce nu mi se pare deloc convingator, avand in vedere ca Tripp este mai mereu drogat.
Tripp nu sufera de un ‘writer’s block’, asa cum se intampla de multe ori in cazul scriitorilor ratati. Dimpotriva, el are parte de opusul acestuia – o diaree in ceea ce priveste ideile pe care vrea sa le puna pe hartie, are in minte zeci de finaluri pentru cartea sa si nu reuseste sa foloseasca niciunul. Cam acelasi lucru face Chabon cu personajele sale. Nu reuseste sa le dea un fir concret si la final le imprastie peste tot. Spre exemplu, Crabtree (editorul lui Tripp) este la inceput genul bisexualului naiv – se imprieteneste in avion cu un travestit, insa pare sa nu-si dea seama ca este de fapt un barbat, pe cand spre final nu numai ca este gay declarat, ci este pornit si pe corupere de tineri nehotarati. Exemplele pot continua si cu celelalte personaje, insa nu vreau sa intru in detalii.
Wonder Boys nu este doar titlul romanului neterminat al lui Grady Tripp, ci simbolizeaza si personajele din jurul sau; la final soarta lui Tripp ma lasa rece, mare parte pentru ca nu mi se pare deloc convingator din punctul de vedere al scriitorului ratat.
In plus, nevasta il paraseste si afla in aceeasi zi ca amanta lui este insarcinata (drama). De aici personajul nostru (care in general este mai mult drogat decat treaz) se trezeste intr-o incurcatura cu un caine mort, o jacheta furata care apartinuse lui Marilyn Monroe si diverse parti dintr-un boa constrictor.
Daca par teribil de amuzante aceste incurcaturi, din pacate dupa 150 de pagini romanul isi cam pierde suflul. In primul rand pentru ca nu e teribil de amuzant, poate doar prin remarcile acide date de Tripp. Simbolismul povestii ar trebui sa mearga in jurul ideii raportului dintre scriitor si opera sa, anume ca la un moment dat autorul ajunge sa se identifice cu personajele din povestile sale – ceea ce nu mi se pare deloc convingator, avand in vedere ca Tripp este mai mereu drogat.
Tripp nu sufera de un ‘writer’s block’, asa cum se intampla de multe ori in cazul scriitorilor ratati. Dimpotriva, el are parte de opusul acestuia – o diaree in ceea ce priveste ideile pe care vrea sa le puna pe hartie, are in minte zeci de finaluri pentru cartea sa si nu reuseste sa foloseasca niciunul. Cam acelasi lucru face Chabon cu personajele sale. Nu reuseste sa le dea un fir concret si la final le imprastie peste tot. Spre exemplu, Crabtree (editorul lui Tripp) este la inceput genul bisexualului naiv – se imprieteneste in avion cu un travestit, insa pare sa nu-si dea seama ca este de fapt un barbat, pe cand spre final nu numai ca este gay declarat, ci este pornit si pe corupere de tineri nehotarati. Exemplele pot continua si cu celelalte personaje, insa nu vreau sa intru in detalii.
Wonder Boys nu este doar titlul romanului neterminat al lui Grady Tripp, ci simbolizeaza si personajele din jurul sau; la final soarta lui Tripp ma lasa rece, mare parte pentru ca nu mi se pare deloc convingator din punctul de vedere al scriitorului ratat.
“Wonder Boys” is one of my favorite movies. When I first saw the movie, though, I didn’t know about the novel. I discovered it sometime later and have owned a copy for years, but I’ve been afraid to read it because I didn’t want to hate the novel, or have it somehow alter my love of the movie. I love the book. I feel like I got to know Grady, James, and Terry on different level and I think I relate to them even more. Chabon’s writing style is also pleasantly quirky. It’s smart, witty, and nuanced. Honestly, the novel was everything I hoped it would be, and more, in terms of character, story, and writing.
A fun, fast-paced story but a bit too calamitous for me. Calamity plus a too-neat bow-tie, for that matter.
I don’t think I’ve ever been more sad when finishing a book. I loved this.
So for some reason I always assumed I would hate Michael Chabon, so I never read any of his books even though I knew people loved him. Then somehow I started in on [b:The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay|3985|The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay|Michael Chabon|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1344312973s/3985.jpg|2693329], loved it, and now I've read three Chabon novels in the space of as many months and I'm probably going to keep going till I've read them all.
Having just finished [b:Saving the World|159084|Saving the World|Julia Alvarez|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1348369850s/159084.jpg|3140688], a somewhat tedious and self-absorbed book about a writer with writer's block, I have to say that Wonder Boys makes the same subject much, much more engaging. Grady Tripp is a college professor who's written some successful novels but whose current project, itself entitled Wonder Boys, is a bloated, 2,000+ page behemoth that's nowhere near completion. His old friend - and current publisher - Terry Crabtree is coming to town for a writing conference, and Grady knows he's going to have to have something to show for himself, so he's taken to writing one possible ending after another and pretending he doesn't have thousands of other pages of plot points yet to cover between his current point and his novel's eventual end. Grady's life is a mess - he smokes way too much pot, he's getting in over his head with a longtime affair with his boss, his wife has just found out and left him, the sexy college student who lives in his basement provides a source of near-unbearable temptation, and he's somehow ended up taking on as protégé a student whose writing and personality he can barely stand. Over the course of a single weekend, all these things come to a head, and while Grady certainly isn't a very likable character, he's engaging, and the reader can't help but get drawn in as things get more and more over-the-top and out of control.
Having just finished [b:Saving the World|159084|Saving the World|Julia Alvarez|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1348369850s/159084.jpg|3140688], a somewhat tedious and self-absorbed book about a writer with writer's block, I have to say that Wonder Boys makes the same subject much, much more engaging. Grady Tripp is a college professor who's written some successful novels but whose current project, itself entitled Wonder Boys, is a bloated, 2,000+ page behemoth that's nowhere near completion. His old friend - and current publisher - Terry Crabtree is coming to town for a writing conference, and Grady knows he's going to have to have something to show for himself, so he's taken to writing one possible ending after another and pretending he doesn't have thousands of other pages of plot points yet to cover between his current point and his novel's eventual end. Grady's life is a mess - he smokes way too much pot, he's getting in over his head with a longtime affair with his boss, his wife has just found out and left him, the sexy college student who lives in his basement provides a source of near-unbearable temptation, and he's somehow ended up taking on as protégé a student whose writing and personality he can barely stand. Over the course of a single weekend, all these things come to a head, and while Grady certainly isn't a very likable character, he's engaging, and the reader can't help but get drawn in as things get more and more over-the-top and out of control.
Unlike his other books, I had a hard time liking his main characters - especially, the main character..
He wasn't interesting and all he did was cause train wreck after wreck that could have been easily avoided.
Overall, I liked the book but the enjoyment mainly came from the surrounding chracters.
He wasn't interesting and all he did was cause train wreck after wreck that could have been easily avoided.
Overall, I liked the book but the enjoyment mainly came from the surrounding chracters.
I was surprised to like this more than Kavalier & Clay, but then again I'm older now and feel like I have a better sense of the genres that Chabon is speaking to. Wonder Boys is like The Big Lebowski but a little more serious and sympathetic with the characters that it sometimes makes fun of; but there were some laugh-out-loud moments which were perhaps my favorite moments of reading. I think I'll continue with Chabon for when I want fun, page-turning genre fiction without sacrificing thoughtful and interesting prose.