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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
This one has sat on my shelf for a good while. I finally picked it up and was very pleasantly surprised to find it not only readable, but also highly enjoyable.
What I Liked:
The weekend time frame
James Leer
The fast pace
The characters as novelists
The relationships between the three men
The semi-ridiculous nature of large parts of the plot (i.e. the dog, the jacket, the rescue, the vehicle)
The Passover scene
What I Disliked:
The outdated gender references at the beginning
Grady leaving James with Crabtree after James had been drinking (both times)
Grady's relatively happy ending
What I Liked:
The weekend time frame
James Leer
The fast pace
The characters as novelists
The relationships between the three men
The semi-ridiculous nature of large parts of the plot (i.e. the dog, the jacket, the rescue, the vehicle)
The Passover scene
What I Disliked:
The outdated gender references at the beginning
Grady leaving James with Crabtree after James had been drinking (both times)
Grady's relatively happy ending
One of those novels you simultaneously can't stop reading and never want to end. I would've gladly hung out with these characters for another thousand pages. Especially with Chabon's wonderful, hilarious and thoughtful prose. Some of the sentences in this book... He's so good you can't even be jealous of him; you're too busy admiring the guy.
fast-paced
A beautifully written and well done study of self absorption. Most of the characters failings seem extremely true to life, often painfully so. Well done.
This book more or less took over my life from the moment I read the first sentence; and for five days I longed to be reading it any chance I got. I even had a dream about it.
It's funny and painful and the protagonist is marvelously irresponsible. It's a fine rumination on the need to let go.
It's funny and painful and the protagonist is marvelously irresponsible. It's a fine rumination on the need to let go.
Nope, can't do it. I tried and tried to read this and I'm officially giving up. I might try again after watching the movie.
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I really enjoyed the Mysteries of Pittsburgh, but I just couldn't get into Wonder Boys for some reason. I didn't really like any of the characters, and though Chabon's style is witty and refined, it often feels like a barrier.
3.5
I must admit I watched the movie before reading the book. Sadly, I liked the movie better. This is simply because the main character is, in the movie, not as pitiful as he is in the book -for which I'm glad.
I loved James Leer, the intelligent, strange student. But I didn't like Grady himself, who was too self-absorbed and so indecisive with his life.
And in the end, he doesn't seem to have learned much or to have decided anything, really.
I must admit I watched the movie before reading the book. Sadly, I liked the movie better. This is simply because the main character is, in the movie, not as pitiful as he is in the book -for which I'm glad.
I loved James Leer, the intelligent, strange student. But I didn't like Grady himself, who was too self-absorbed and so indecisive with his life.
And in the end, he doesn't seem to have learned much or to have decided anything, really.