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gracer's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Two stars seems harsh, but, truthfully, to me this book was only "okay."
There was plenty to like, namely excellent writing - I saw a reviewer on Goodreads say that Smith is really good at atmospheric writing, and I have to agree. I'll add that this premise started strong, maybe too strong, maybe my expectations got too high.
This book is divided into four sections. In the first section we find Nick in France, fighting in WWI, meeting a woman when he's in Paris on leave, re-encountering her after another stint at the Front, etc.
I liked this part. Again, Smith created an atmosphere - of war, of wartime Paris, of soldier life - that was very real. It was believable, and it made me want to believe in this version of Nick. I wasn't sure that this was Nick Carraway, but it was a Nick, and he might have become Nick Carraway.
In Part II, Nick is back in the States, after the war, taking the train back to his home in Minnesota. He gets as far as Chicago and then spontaneously boards a train to New Orleans. Okay, I thought. Avoiding his re-entry into the old world after the experiences of war. Believable. If this Nick is gonna go on a New Orleans bender, I'm down.
For about a week of book time. Beyond that, though? Who is Colette, what is the point? It's like she exists to make Nick further regret what happened with Ella in Paris, and maybe embodies what Ella is, or would be, or will be? But to me that only takes away from Ella and I have no investment in Colette. And Judah is what, the same, for Nick? What Nick could be? Okay, I trudge along, wearily, but by the time Kade Mc-whatsit enters I really don't care. I don't understand how this is supposed to be informing the character of Nick Carraway, who, when I re-read Gatsby for the third time just a few weeks ago, still came off as a little bit young and naive and good-natured, and I don't see much of that emerging from these experiences, except maybe a bit of the good-nature, which we saw when he first encounters Judah.
If Nick Carraway had experienced all of this, I find it really hard to believe he would have stuck out the whole summer on West Egg. Maybe that was the intention: he'll hang around aimlessly with people who aren't any good and don't do anything for him, and he'll keep on doing that. But man. 300 pages of random New Orleans arson and abduction? I dunno.
I would probably have been less harsh if it hadn't been framed as a story about Nick Carraway. If it had just been a post-WWI book set in New Orleans. But to be honest, I don't know if I would have picked that book up.
All that said, I'm curious to read other books by Farris. He certainly writes well - the fact that I read this whole thing rather than moving on halfway through makes that clear. And it wasn't an unpleasant experience; it was easy reading (if rather dark and gnarly). It just didn't work, for me, as a Gatsby prequel.
There was plenty to like, namely excellent writing - I saw a reviewer on Goodreads say that Smith is really good at atmospheric writing, and I have to agree. I'll add that this premise started strong, maybe too strong, maybe my expectations got too high.
This book is divided into four sections. In the first section we find Nick in France, fighting in WWI, meeting a woman when he's in Paris on leave, re-encountering her after another stint at the Front, etc.
I liked this part. Again, Smith created an atmosphere - of war, of wartime Paris, of soldier life - that was very real. It was believable, and it made me want to believe in this version of Nick. I wasn't sure that this was Nick Carraway, but it was a Nick, and he might have become Nick Carraway.
In Part II, Nick is back in the States, after the war, taking the train back to his home in Minnesota. He gets as far as Chicago and then spontaneously boards a train to New Orleans. Okay, I thought. Avoiding his re-entry into the old world after the experiences of war. Believable. If this Nick is gonna go on a New Orleans bender, I'm down.
For about a week of book time. Beyond that, though? Who is Colette, what is the point? It's like she exists to make Nick further regret what happened with Ella in Paris, and maybe embodies what Ella is, or would be, or will be? But to me that only takes away from Ella and I have no investment in Colette. And Judah is what, the same, for Nick? What Nick could be? Okay, I trudge along, wearily, but by the time Kade Mc-whatsit enters I really don't care. I don't understand how this is supposed to be informing the character of Nick Carraway, who, when I re-read Gatsby for the third time just a few weeks ago, still came off as a little bit young and naive and good-natured, and I don't see much of that emerging from these experiences, except maybe a bit of the good-nature, which we saw when he first encounters Judah.
If Nick Carraway had experienced all of this, I find it really hard to believe he would have stuck out the whole summer on West Egg. Maybe that was the intention: he'll hang around aimlessly with people who aren't any good and don't do anything for him, and he'll keep on doing that. But man. 300 pages of random New Orleans arson and abduction? I dunno.
I would probably have been less harsh if it hadn't been framed as a story about Nick Carraway. If it had just been a post-WWI book set in New Orleans. But to be honest, I don't know if I would have picked that book up.
All that said, I'm curious to read other books by Farris. He certainly writes well - the fact that I read this whole thing rather than moving on halfway through makes that clear. And it wasn't an unpleasant experience; it was easy reading (if rather dark and gnarly). It just didn't work, for me, as a Gatsby prequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Abortion, Excrement, Drug use, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, and Child death
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, Stalking, and Grief
This book starts in the midst of WWI and reads like a Wild West action/adventure, so if you know that I think you know what to expect. I found it very palatable, considering the setting/context, but if you don't do violence, you might want to skip this one.
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