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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm not really a western kind of person, but recently became fascinated with the genre for no conceivable reason.
Glad I came across this because it's pretty great. Funny and bizarre in its banality. A lot of the novel is sort of about dealing with mundane things. Brushing teeth, vomiting when hungover, and on and on. It leads to brutal and kind of silly events, which heighten the absurdity and comedy and silliness of the whole novel.
But, yeah, I really enjoyed this, though I'd be surprised if I ever thought of this book again.
Glad I came across this because it's pretty great. Funny and bizarre in its banality. A lot of the novel is sort of about dealing with mundane things. Brushing teeth, vomiting when hungover, and on and on. It leads to brutal and kind of silly events, which heighten the absurdity and comedy and silliness of the whole novel.
But, yeah, I really enjoyed this, though I'd be surprised if I ever thought of this book again.
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-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
This book was pretty good; well written and quite fun to read. I think I would have liked it more if I enjoyed Westerns, about which I'm generally neutral to negative.
Since it has such great reviews and was nominated for a few awards, I thought the novel would have more interesting and unique character development and/or particular insights into people, behaviour etc. It didn't, however, and was just kind of a normal, okay book.
Since it has such great reviews and was nominated for a few awards, I thought the novel would have more interesting and unique character development and/or particular insights into people, behaviour etc. It didn't, however, and was just kind of a normal, okay book.
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So I haven't read many westerns, but I've liked the ones I did read. That said, I was interested in reading this novel. Not only was it a western, but it focused on two killers-for-hire as they traveled to their latest victim. Sure to be an interesting read, one would think. Except it wasn't.
Let me amend that a little. Some parts were interesting, but as a whole I found the book to be a little boring. For the most part the book just dealt with following the brothers on their journey to their victim and how the two evolved along the way. Which isn't a bad thing to focus on; I just didn't find it very engaging. I ended up speed reading through a lot of the book. The lighter tone helped make speed reading easy, as did the short chapters.
But as I said, there were some parts I really enjoyed. I liked the opening when Eli was explaining the problem with the horses. I liked his discovery of brushing teeth, his brief time of trying to lose weight, his interactions with women, basically all the details that grew him as a character. I also liked the gritty realism of it, like when Eli was bitten by the spider or when his brother was stealing from the dead. Probably one of the most interesting scenes was when the two were "trapped" in a house by what they presumed to be a witch's curse.
That also ended up being one of the downsides, though. They made this big deal out of being "cursed" but I never really understood why they thought so or saw any consequences for Eli walking out the front door. This was probably because there was nothing to worry about in the first place, but I kept expecting the author to do something with it. And while I liked Eli's changes throughout the book, it was also a little disappointing having him drift farther away from their profession. It would've been a completely different read if he was more accepting of the life, or even enjoyed it a little.
Overall it wasn't a terrible book. It just wasn't as interesting as I expected.
Let me amend that a little. Some parts were interesting, but as a whole I found the book to be a little boring. For the most part the book just dealt with following the brothers on their journey to their victim and how the two evolved along the way. Which isn't a bad thing to focus on; I just didn't find it very engaging. I ended up speed reading through a lot of the book. The lighter tone helped make speed reading easy, as did the short chapters.
But as I said, there were some parts I really enjoyed. I liked the opening when Eli was explaining the problem with the horses. I liked his discovery of brushing teeth, his brief time of trying to lose weight, his interactions with women, basically all the details that grew him as a character. I also liked the gritty realism of it, like when Eli was bitten by the spider or when his brother was stealing from the dead. Probably one of the most interesting scenes was when the two were "trapped" in a house by what they presumed to be a witch's curse.
That also ended up being one of the downsides, though. They made this big deal out of being "cursed" but I never really understood why they thought so or saw any consequences for Eli walking out the front door. This was probably because there was nothing to worry about in the first place, but I kept expecting the author to do something with it. And while I liked Eli's changes throughout the book, it was also a little disappointing having him drift farther away from their profession. It would've been a completely different read if he was more accepting of the life, or even enjoyed it a little.
Overall it wasn't a terrible book. It just wasn't as interesting as I expected.
Entertaining vacation read; recommended for Oregon expats living near San Francisco (or vice-versa) for the geographical tidbits. Not especially recommended for anyone else, although it's reasonably fun and enjoyably gruesome. Some favorite lines:
[On arriving in San Francisco during the gold rush:]"'I paid the sum of thirty dollars in cash.' Charlie was disgusted. 'Only a moron would pay that.' 'I agree,' said the man. 'One hundred percent I agree. And I am happy to welcome you to a town peopled in morons exclusively. Furthermore, I hope that your transformation to moron is not an unpleasant experience.'"
"I reentered the cave to stoke the fire, curling up beside it for warmth, but I could not sleep without proper covering and instead spent the rest of the night rewriting lost arguments from my past, altering history so that I emerged victorious."