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3.1 AVERAGE
3.1 AVERAGE
A rare one-star book that I read cover to cover, thinking for a long while that it was going to garner more stars. At first, the lovely writing and scene-setting made me think it could even be a 4-5. Then, upon meeting Hunter the megalomaniac rich guy, I thought it would be a stretch to hold onto a 4-star rating, but you never know.
I became fairly disillusioned, though, a few pages later when Francis, who is a biologist, goes on a little anti-evolution tirade (pg. 67). I was thinking Mr. St-Aubyn might want to do a little more research on how evolution works; in fact I was a little embarrassed for him that he put it out there that he thinks that evolution is on par with other "creation myths." Or, if it's not his personal perspective, then why would the biologist be the one who is anti-evolutionary theory? Why include it at all? It's an ignorant perspective. So now we are around 3 stars.
As noted by others, the story is thin. There are authors who can pull this off – where the story and the characters are mostly a vehicle for ideas – but St. Aubyn is definitely not one of them.
I kept reading, because I was just curious enough about where it was heading, as the thin plot took hold. There still seemed to be potential! How would he tie these ideas and characters together? However, I ended up skimming near the end, but only Sebastian’s stream of consciousness blather, because I just didn’t care.
You’d think all these many characters and ideas would lead somewhere. You think they might, but they never do. They are mostly cartoons, and their behavior changes happen without explanation or reason. spoiler: The dialog is pretty bad too. The ending is bad. The one-star rating is justified.
I became fairly disillusioned, though, a few pages later when Francis, who is a biologist, goes on a little anti-evolution tirade (pg. 67). I was thinking Mr. St-Aubyn might want to do a little more research on how evolution works; in fact I was a little embarrassed for him that he put it out there that he thinks that evolution is on par with other "creation myths." Or, if it's not his personal perspective, then why would the biologist be the one who is anti-evolutionary theory? Why include it at all? It's an ignorant perspective. So now we are around 3 stars.
As noted by others, the story is thin. There are authors who can pull this off – where the story and the characters are mostly a vehicle for ideas – but St. Aubyn is definitely not one of them.
I kept reading, because I was just curious enough about where it was heading, as the thin plot took hold. There still seemed to be potential! How would he tie these ideas and characters together? However, I ended up skimming near the end, but only Sebastian’s stream of consciousness blather, because I just didn’t care.
You’d think all these many characters and ideas would lead somewhere. You think they might, but they never do. They are mostly cartoons, and their behavior changes happen without explanation or reason. spoiler:
Spoiler
Even the character with the most depth – Francis – turns out to suddenly behave like a 16-year old boy, suddenly and inexplicably seduced by this truly awful character named Hope who literally throws herself at him on multiple occasions. It made no sense whatsoever in light of his earlier Zen-like musings and relationship with Olivia. And Hunter, a lifelong drug addict and proud of it suddenly changes his stripes because he is just that in love with Lucy? Really?
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
To be honest, this book felt like when you meet someone incredibly attractive, seeming like the best lay you could ever have with the initial contact exploding with chemistry, which then ends up summing up a lousy sexual encounter where every kiss is weird, every caress insincere, awkwardly fumbling, and finally dwindles into a very disappointing attempt of a fake climax. An intense flame going out in -20C winter.
So yeah, I had great expectations from reading the first couple of pages, where St Aubyn touches on the climate change/biodiversity crisis, but he only ends up making a couple of other comments on that and other topics throughout the book, with no other real thoughts than what scientists and other people more clever than him, have already published. There's no story. Similarly he doesn't seem to have wanted to use the characters as anything other than vessels of his 'ground-breaking' thoughts. As soon as I became interested in a character's life and work, I was dragged into another set of issues. Furthermore the end was strange and abrupt; Hunter's sudden firing of Saul, Olivia and Sebastian meeting and the ridiculous way Francis simply escaped his responsibilities in a psilocybin-infused escape was almost comical if it wasn't so stupid. Not that conservationists should be held to higher standards than other people, but it just didn't match up with how he had otherwise acted in the book. An awful lot of ties that had to be knotted quickly. If only he had stuck to one topic and storyline.
If I could give him an advice, it would be to pull this book from the market and then write Francis' story as a struggling conservationist. Or whatever. Maybe I'll just write the book he seemingly was too lazy to gather enough information for or which he found was way too political/scientifically complex.
I guess this is a book, which he purposefully designed to be a taster for several relevant and difficult topics, but which he lacked the expertise and patience to direct at anything in particular. Ultimately, it left me feeling intellectually frustrated. At least I don't have to walk home afterwards.
So yeah, I had great expectations from reading the first couple of pages, where St Aubyn touches on the climate change/biodiversity crisis, but he only ends up making a couple of other comments on that and other topics throughout the book, with no other real thoughts than what scientists and other people more clever than him, have already published. There's no story. Similarly he doesn't seem to have wanted to use the characters as anything other than vessels of his 'ground-breaking' thoughts. As soon as I became interested in a character's life and work, I was dragged into another set of issues. Furthermore the end was strange and abrupt; Hunter's sudden firing of Saul, Olivia and Sebastian meeting and the ridiculous way Francis simply escaped his responsibilities in a psilocybin-infused escape was almost comical if it wasn't so stupid. Not that conservationists should be held to higher standards than other people, but it just didn't match up with how he had otherwise acted in the book. An awful lot of ties that had to be knotted quickly. If only he had stuck to one topic and storyline.
If I could give him an advice, it would be to pull this book from the market and then write Francis' story as a struggling conservationist. Or whatever. Maybe I'll just write the book he seemingly was too lazy to gather enough information for or which he found was way too political/scientifically complex.
I guess this is a book, which he purposefully designed to be a taster for several relevant and difficult topics, but which he lacked the expertise and patience to direct at anything in particular. Ultimately, it left me feeling intellectually frustrated. At least I don't have to walk home afterwards.
slow-paced
Not sure how this book got on my reading list but I enjoyed it and it had its problems, mostly towards the end. There were quite a few extraneous characters. The ones I developed an attachment to didn't always find emotional resolution although I can understand why from the perspective of lives unfolding thematic text and tone.
So far this book swings between being extremely dense and technical about subjects like ecology and genetics, and the more internally reflective stories of the female characters. As much as I like the latter, I can't slog through the former.
challenging
reflective
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
The whole book felt forced, should have limited the subject matter he was dealing, grabbed on to way too many bold-big conversations that end up being diluted due to the lack of depth achieved beneath impressive/overdone language. At times felt like someone writing an essay on a topic they didn’t understand, as I reader I didn’t believe it.
De eerste helft van dit boek vond ik geweldig. De 2e helft voelde alsof het erbij gesleept was en de inspiratie ondergeschikt was aan het plot om het kloppend te krijgen. De personages worden steeds ongeloofwaardiger en grotesker. jammer, want in het subtielere begin zit veel interessants. Toch houd ik van de schrijfstijl van St.Aubyn en zijn sfeer, maar zijn boeken zijn al even niet van het niveau van de Patrick Melrose serie.