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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If I'm being honest, this wasn't a great book from a craft stance, but I did find myself unable to stop reading it. The writing was incredibly predictable. I could have almost told you exactly what was going to happen after the two main characters were introduced. It was such early 2000s literature it almost hurt.
I do love the idea of exploring how adults exhibit child like behaviors and fantasies regardless of age, status, life stage, etc. but it almost felt that Perrotta didn't trust his readers to get it. He named the book Little Children, then laid the metaphor on so thick, it felt insulting at times.
What I do think redeemed this book for me was the pacing (like I said, a quick read) and Perrotta's addition of the Ronnie McGorvey's character. He wasn't afraid to shy away from a full spectrum of adults who were obsessed with childhood to varying degrees, even to uncomfortable extents. Putting this criminal character up against very normal characters who are also struggling with facing reality was a great touch that made this book feel a bit more mature.
I am really between a two and a half and three stars here. If there was even one more intramural touch football scene? Immediate two stars. I truly skipped three whole pages of this descriptive football writing. Of course, it had a purpose, to show that Todd still had this desire in him to be an athletic star, the same as he was in high school etc, etc. But truly, who cared to read that?
Long story short, it was decent and a fast-paced read, but my biggest issue was the predictability and the thick, heavy-handed metaphor that was laid into so much, he even made it the title. Just in case his readers were too shallow to get it by just reading the book.
I do love the idea of exploring how adults exhibit child like behaviors and fantasies regardless of age, status, life stage, etc. but it almost felt that Perrotta didn't trust his readers to get it. He named the book Little Children, then laid the metaphor on so thick, it felt insulting at times.
What I do think redeemed this book for me was the pacing (like I said, a quick read) and Perrotta's addition of the Ronnie McGorvey's character. He wasn't afraid to shy away from a full spectrum of adults who were obsessed with childhood to varying degrees, even to uncomfortable extents. Putting this criminal character up against very normal characters who are also struggling with facing reality was a great touch that made this book feel a bit more mature.
I am really between a two and a half and three stars here. If there was even one more intramural touch football scene? Immediate two stars. I truly skipped three whole pages of this descriptive football writing. Of course, it had a purpose, to show that Todd still had this desire in him to be an athletic star, the same as he was in high school etc, etc. But truly, who cared to read that?
Long story short, it was decent and a fast-paced read, but my biggest issue was the predictability and the thick, heavy-handed metaphor that was laid into so much, he even made it the title. Just in case his readers were too shallow to get it by just reading the book.
3.5 stars.
A quick and engaging read but it did make me wonder something. Why do all books about middle aged parents with young kids make their lives sound like hell? They all seem to mildly dislike their kids, more than mildly dislike their spouses, and all out hate their situations in general. I get that that happens and people feel that way but...
It's not all misery? Being a parent isn't this prison/hell that all these books are constantly making it out to be. I feel like if I'd read them before becoming a parent I'd have been shocked that it wasn't so bad.
A quick and engaging read but it did make me wonder something. Why do all books about middle aged parents with young kids make their lives sound like hell? They all seem to mildly dislike their kids, more than mildly dislike their spouses, and all out hate their situations in general. I get that that happens and people feel that way but...
It's not all misery? Being a parent isn't this prison/hell that all these books are constantly making it out to be. I feel like if I'd read them before becoming a parent I'd have been shocked that it wasn't so bad.
This was a fun little romp around a small town during the summer that honestly felt vaguely Gilmore Girl-esque and I’m not mad about it.
Tom Perrotta is smarmy. The first time I read this book I did so in a day and loved it; on this reread I couldn't get past the first fifty pages because I couldn't bare to read another word about how stifling suburbia is. Perrotta is flattering his audience, giving them characters that are too cool to live in the suburbs but are stuck there anyway to flatter the egos of the disenchanted suburbanites reading it. Not impressed.
Weirder than I thought... was a little anticlimactic at the end.
Really goodbye character development
The story is not one I identify with but it sucked me in. I look forward to reading more by Tom Perrotta.
The story is not one I identify with but it sucked me in. I look forward to reading more by Tom Perrotta.
Without going into personal details, this book hit on some issues that I have been dealing with over the past year or so. Perrotta's writing was dead on with many of the emotions that I have been feeling to the point where it was almost too difficult to read. In a weird way, it felt therapeutic. The last paragraph in particular made me really sad.
The book wasn't entirely depressing. Perotta has a way of bringing out the humor and humanity in dark situations. This book touched me in a way that few other books have before. This was an important book for me to read at this point in my life.
The book wasn't entirely depressing. Perotta has a way of bringing out the humor and humanity in dark situations. This book touched me in a way that few other books have before. This was an important book for me to read at this point in my life.
This was about as bad of a book as a book I finish in a weekend could be.
After the first two chapters of this book I had to set it down and let it "rest" for a week or two. Though miles away from sharing the protagonist's experience myself, Perrota does such a deft job crafting a plausible enough scenario for how a young, creative, idealistic person finds herself somehow in a life she never sought, that it frightened me enough to set it aside.
Hmm.
Once I resumed reading, however, I found Little Children a quick, compelling read that reflected a troubled, unsatisfying version of modern life. Bereft of the simple factors that allow us to persist in lives that perhaps aren't our most sought-after ideals (simple happiness, beauty), Little Children was at times a hard swallow. I didn't particuarly like the absolutely believeable characters, but I was thoroughly engaged in following their stories.
I have to say, as good as I thought the book was, and as much as I appreciate what Perrota did with it as an author, I am in no rush to return to being a spectator in the lives of his characters any time soon. The experience of reading this book was like moving to a town for a short period of time or working a summer job back home while you're in college. You make friends with an unlikely crowd of people--they're not the kind of folks you'd usually hang out with, but somehow you fall in with them anyhow-engage with their troubles, dramas, and emotional turmoils, and join them for a short while as they wander through life. Finishing the book was like moving away--you can't say it was a bad experience, and you appreciate the friendships for what they were, but you're in no real hurry to return.
Hmm.
Once I resumed reading, however, I found Little Children a quick, compelling read that reflected a troubled, unsatisfying version of modern life. Bereft of the simple factors that allow us to persist in lives that perhaps aren't our most sought-after ideals (simple happiness, beauty), Little Children was at times a hard swallow. I didn't particuarly like the absolutely believeable characters, but I was thoroughly engaged in following their stories.
I have to say, as good as I thought the book was, and as much as I appreciate what Perrota did with it as an author, I am in no rush to return to being a spectator in the lives of his characters any time soon. The experience of reading this book was like moving to a town for a short period of time or working a summer job back home while you're in college. You make friends with an unlikely crowd of people--they're not the kind of folks you'd usually hang out with, but somehow you fall in with them anyhow-engage with their troubles, dramas, and emotional turmoils, and join them for a short while as they wander through life. Finishing the book was like moving away--you can't say it was a bad experience, and you appreciate the friendships for what they were, but you're in no real hurry to return.
This is one of those page turners that I just couldn't put down. There's some wonderful passages that I thought were so good I read them out loud to my husband. Whoa that makes me sound kind of hockey...
It's about marriages more than little children. The characters are dynamic and interesting. There's great pacing. Well worth the read. The movie is also great, pretty loyal except for a slightly different twist to the ending.
It's about marriages more than little children. The characters are dynamic and interesting. There's great pacing. Well worth the read. The movie is also great, pretty loyal except for a slightly different twist to the ending.