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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I had high hopes for this book, as I had seen that it was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 greatest novels. I liked the beginning and ending, but the middle felt aimless, the characters struck me as one dimensional, and I could not figure out the appeal of Faye, whom seemingly everybody was obsessed with. Maybe that was the point, but I never really got absorbed into it. Not a bad book, but somewhat disappointing.
West is a vivid, cutting writer. The novel is both absurdly funny and viscerally disturbing. He portrays Hollywood like an evil force-field that distorts the identities of all who enter it. Any true sense of self gets subsumed into a vulgar performance of self. In the absurd pursuit of individual fame and recognition, life’s losers instead become anonymous faces in a murderous, soulless mob.
I listened to the first half of this "Hollywood Gatsby" a month ago, but hated the audio. I just got it from the library so I could finish and could not get into it. It's really just awful.
A biting attack on Hollywood and the dreamers who hang around it. I have to say I prefer a novel with a sympathetic character or two. Still it was pretty well written, holds up well compared to other things I've read from that era (mostly Salinger I guess, haven't really read much 40s or 50s lit).
Short novel about a beautiful woman seeking fame and success in Hollywood and all of the men that desire her.
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Just your classic mostly forgettable novel of not for a completely unforgettable ending.