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maybeans's review against another edition
4.0
This is not a spoiler-free review!
I was so excited to read this book, got halfway through in December, and then had no time to finish. I forced myself to have time in early March after considering what to do with the art of a recently exposed monster. Claire Dederer has a fantastic skill for saying things raw and true, and elegantly weaving in the words of others in a timely manner. At the risk of sounding silly, even pretentious: reading this book made me feel smart.
I loved the way the chapters weaved together; once Dederer introduces the idea of “the stain” in chapter 2, it is brought up repeatedly throughout the book. The points that she bring up build off of each other rather than remaining in their isolated sections. The first six chapters did this well, and then Dederer starts to break away from the formula she set up starting in chapter 3 (the title of the chapter is a type of monster and the subtitle is a person or persons who fits the type). It makes sense that the first two chapters are different; they’re setting everything up. But it did irk me a little that she breaks this pattern in “The Anti-Monster” by getting more philosophical, only to fall back into the patter in the next chapter. I don’t really know why it irks me, though, so maybe it’s a me thing. The pacing and narrative just felt a little more…watery in the second half, if that makes sense. But just to be clear, I still found Dederer’s writing to be compelling and relatable throughout the second half—though not always (not through any fault of Dederer’s writing; I’m just not a mother).
I did really enjoy the conclusion of this book. Sure, it’s quite common for a book that revolves around a question (in this case, the question is “what do we do with the art of monstrous men?”) to conclude with the author realizing they were asking the wrong question all along (the question Dederer ends up with is “what do we do with our love for monstrous men?”), but it’s common because that’s what happens to us as humans. This book ended, I realized, exactly how I always expected it to end—with the conclusion that we cannot rid ourselves of our love and that does not make us good or bad—even if I couldn’t see that that was the ending. I’ve heard it said that a good novel’s ending is always inevitable; I didn’t realize the same could be true for a nonfiction book.
I was so excited to read this book, got halfway through in December, and then had no time to finish. I forced myself to have time in early March after considering what to do with the art of a recently exposed monster. Claire Dederer has a fantastic skill for saying things raw and true, and elegantly weaving in the words of others in a timely manner. At the risk of sounding silly, even pretentious: reading this book made me feel smart.
I loved the way the chapters weaved together; once Dederer introduces the idea of “the stain” in chapter 2, it is brought up repeatedly throughout the book. The points that she bring up build off of each other rather than remaining in their isolated sections. The first six chapters did this well, and then Dederer starts to break away from the formula she set up starting in chapter 3 (the title of the chapter is a type of monster and the subtitle is a person or persons who fits the type). It makes sense that the first two chapters are different; they’re setting everything up. But it did irk me a little that she breaks this pattern in “The Anti-Monster” by getting more philosophical, only to fall back into the patter in the next chapter. I don’t really know why it irks me, though, so maybe it’s a me thing. The pacing and narrative just felt a little more…watery in the second half, if that makes sense. But just to be clear, I still found Dederer’s writing to be compelling and relatable throughout the second half—though not always (not through any fault of Dederer’s writing; I’m just not a mother).
I did really enjoy the conclusion of this book. Sure, it’s quite common for a book that revolves around a question (in this case, the question is “what do we do with the art of monstrous men?”) to conclude with the author realizing they were asking the wrong question all along (the question Dederer ends up with is “what do we do with our love for monstrous men?”), but it’s common because that’s what happens to us as humans. This book ended, I realized, exactly how I always expected it to end—with the conclusion that we cannot rid ourselves of our love and that does not make us good or bad—even if I couldn’t see that that was the ending. I’ve heard it said that a good novel’s ending is always inevitable; I didn’t realize the same could be true for a nonfiction book.
butlerebecca's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Rape
sarah0003's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
susannareads's review
challenging
dark
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
One of the best books I’ve read in a while. It looks at some of the most critical questions of our current social climate through a different (and extremely engaging) lens.
sungmemoonstruck's review
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
An incredibly smart, thought-provoking reflection on what we do with the art of monstrous men, what makes a monster, and what it means to love a piece of art. This is the kind of book that rewards and demands the reader's complete attention and I loved the way it challenged me and made me think more deeply. There's no easy answers here and that felt so refreshing.
kristenleeluna's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
gretareadsbooks's review
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mass/school shootings and Sexual assault