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cahistorygeek's review against another edition
2.0
I was pretty underwhelmed by this. Revoyr's Southland was so powerful, I thought all her books would be as moving but this one was not. I found it really hard to get into this book and don't remember much of it because it was so average. I do remember it being pretty predictable. Switching from past to present, the main character's life as a silent film star was intriguing at first but grew tiresome quickly.
readerpants's review against another edition
2.0
Nina Revoyr is one of my favorite authors: I think that both [b:The Necessary Hunger|529493|The Necessary Hunger|Nina Revoyr|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1312014939s/529493.jpg|517179] and [b:Southland|428722|Southland|Nina Revoyr|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328698159s/428722.jpg|417728] were beautiful and evocative. Heck, they made me want to spend lots of time in L.A., and I could never have predicted that. But I was very disappointed in The Age Of Dreaming.
While the story was strong, once it got going, the first-person voice felt contrived and stilted. I wasn't able to get into the flow of the book because that narrative voice just kept pushing me back out with its awkwardness. I appreciated that Jun was an unreliable narrator, but it just wasn't enough to save it. If it had been written in the third person, I think the good story would have carried it.
While the story was strong, once it got going, the first-person voice felt contrived and stilted. I wasn't able to get into the flow of the book because that narrative voice just kept pushing me back out with its awkwardness. I appreciated that Jun was an unreliable narrator, but it just wasn't enough to save it. If it had been written in the third person, I think the good story would have carried it.
aprisky's review against another edition
4.0
A Japanese American silent film star recounts the history and mysteries of his career some 50 years later. Told with measure and restraint - an interesting book throughout.
rjreadrocks's review against another edition
5.0
The book does a great job of really stretching out a story as much as it can so we don't get a sense of rushing such an intricate and complex history in the protagonist Nakayama. The book does a great job really taking you step by step through his life--both in the present and in the past--so when the revelations come at the end, you personally feel affected with him. It was a beautiful story. Just wished I had read this book sooner. I've had this book for almost 3 years. I finally decided to read it now and (not gonna lie) I don't think I would have had the appreciation and discipline back then for this book than I do now. Had a tough time deciding whether it got 4 or 5, but I'll give it 5 just because I love memoirs, even fictional ones like this, that take you really in-depth.
sassenak's review against another edition
5.0
Relecture mais cette fois en anglais et je l'ai trouvé toujours aussi bien ! Des personnages attachants et un magnifique hommage au cinéma muet et à une époque où tous les rêves semblaient possibles.
melrosereads's review against another edition
4.0
I fairly enjoyed this story. It was incredible because we were taken from Jun Nakayama's childhood to his retirement age however the timeline is mixed but it wasn't confusing, the pacing was good and also the writing style. I was engrossed with the aspect of the silent film era. It was told with elegancy and artfully I could really picture the stories of the films where Jun starred in.
Jun Nakayama is a proud man that's for a fact and I'm kinda weirded out with what happened with Nora. The beginning, middle was good but the ending felt rushed and underwhelming despite of that it was still a solid read for me.
Jun Nakayama is a proud man that's for a fact and I'm kinda weirded out with what happened with Nora. The beginning, middle was good but the ending felt rushed and underwhelming despite of that it was still a solid read for me.
elibriggs's review against another edition
4.0
interesting and unique point of view. not as riveting as Wingshooters.
the_discworldian's review against another edition
5.0
I found this book on the dollar shelf at a local used bookstore. I don't even remember why I picked it up. I needed something to read for a trip, and it was a dollar, and the premise sounded intriguing (I like Old Hollywood stuff if it's done well) and when I read a test page I thought the writing was pretty good.
I didn't even bring it on that trip, but I'm so glad I picked it up last weekend. That was officially the best dollar I've ever spent.
I LOVED THIS BOOK. I don't even know how to describe how much I loved it. It fully occupied my brain while reading it and it's still bouncing around in there while I digest a few twists and turns. When I put it down I couldn't wait to get back to it. I read the first 50 pages on a train packed with tourists, and hardly noticed. It absorbed me from the first.
A good deal of this had to do with the narrator. On the cover of my book, someone compared the narrative voice to "Remains of the Day," which I haven't read. What Jun's narration reminded me of was Iris of Margaret Atwood's "The Blind Assassin," a self-deceiving, self-important elderly figure looking back on the past. However, contrary to Iris, I was always 100% with Jun. I wanted to get to the secrets, of course, but I almost wanted him to hang on to his delusions. I liked him so much. But once we got through all of the revelations, I still liked him. This book was so satisfying, start to finish. And, gosh - heart-warming. Heart-warming without being cheesy. I could tell that the author had a lot of affection and sympathy for her characters, as imperfect as they were. She managed, too, to create one really good person, Hanako Minatoya, and make her one of those rare all-around-good characters who doesn't make the reader want to gag.
There were a couple of flattish characters, but because the whole book was from Jun's perspective, I could forgive it. The contemporary ones (solely from the 1964 end of things, not his colleagues who appeared at both ends of time) were, with one important exception (), a little one-dimensional. But I believed that was mostly because of what Jun was choosing to tell us. Pretty much everything to do with the character Nora was (deliberately, I believe) squirm-worthy: Jun may describe her as having gone insane since the pivotal murder, but if Nora Minton Niles was ever sane in any part of the book, I am the ghost of Errol Flynn.
When I was in college, one of my English major friends told me that if I was ever stuck for a good bullshit phrase when analyzing literature, I should use "the human condition." "Just say it's reflective of the human condition," he said. I don't think I ever resorted to that, or wanted to (although I thought it was pretty funny). But wouldn't you know that's kind of what I want to say now, no bullshit? Jun is so incredibly human: the way we like to present ourselves (to self and others) as inherently dignified and rational, but a certain amount of reflection and revelation will always unveil the petty, self-indulgent, mistaken and occasionally catastrophic choices we've made and will make. But for Jun, and all of us, this book seems to say, it's never too late to redeem those choices.
I didn't even bring it on that trip, but I'm so glad I picked it up last weekend. That was officially the best dollar I've ever spent.
I LOVED THIS BOOK. I don't even know how to describe how much I loved it. It fully occupied my brain while reading it and it's still bouncing around in there while I digest a few twists and turns. When I put it down I couldn't wait to get back to it. I read the first 50 pages on a train packed with tourists, and hardly noticed. It absorbed me from the first.
A good deal of this had to do with the narrator. On the cover of my book, someone compared the narrative voice to "Remains of the Day," which I haven't read. What Jun's narration reminded me of was Iris of Margaret Atwood's "The Blind Assassin," a self-deceiving, self-important elderly figure looking back on the past. However, contrary to Iris, I was always 100% with Jun. I wanted to get to the secrets, of course, but I almost wanted him to hang on to his delusions. I liked him so much. But once we got through all of the revelations, I still liked him. This book was so satisfying, start to finish. And, gosh - heart-warming. Heart-warming without being cheesy. I could tell that the author had a lot of affection and sympathy for her characters, as imperfect as they were. She managed, too, to create one really good person, Hanako Minatoya, and make her one of those rare all-around-good characters who doesn't make the reader want to gag.
There were a couple of flattish characters, but because the whole book was from Jun's perspective, I could forgive it. The contemporary ones (solely from the 1964 end of things, not his colleagues who appeared at both ends of time) were, with one important exception (
Spoiler
CharlieWhen I was in college, one of my English major friends told me that if I was ever stuck for a good bullshit phrase when analyzing literature, I should use "the human condition." "Just say it's reflective of the human condition," he said. I don't think I ever resorted to that, or wanted to (although I thought it was pretty funny). But wouldn't you know that's kind of what I want to say now, no bullshit? Jun is so incredibly human: the way we like to present ourselves (to self and others) as inherently dignified and rational, but a certain amount of reflection and revelation will always unveil the petty, self-indulgent, mistaken and occasionally catastrophic choices we've made and will make. But for Jun, and all of us, this book seems to say, it's never too late to redeem those choices.
axmed's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5