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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Everyone in this book was having a tough time, but it didn't feel depressing -- just like "that's life." And the connections between people got really interesting at the end. Also, the PowerPoint chapter was better than I could have imagined!
After about five pages, I started really liking this book and getting excited about it. It reads with a lot of depth and the intertwining of the stories feels more real than other books where it just feels contrived. But then there was this weird powerpoint section, and after that it ended in a strange way that reminded me a bit like [b:Feed|169756|Feed|M.T. Anderson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327891005s/169756.jpg|163928].
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of those books that contains a buttload of info, most of which appears to be out of context until you're halfway through the chapter. In the end, the storylines are neatly wrapped up.
Cool, at times sad, about growing up and getting old, finding your place on Earth, moving on after hard times. Not bad.
Cool, at times sad, about growing up and getting old, finding your place on Earth, moving on after hard times. Not bad.
The Candy House was one of the best books I have ever read so I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, this didn’t hit the spot in the same way. It felt so abstract that I struggled to connect the characters although I love Evan’s storytelling and world building ability. I thought the powerpoint chapter would be a gimmick but was pleasantly surprised.
This book was....interesting. It got such rave reviews. I wouldn't say 3 stars maybe 2.5 but full marks for a powerpoint chapter that was a first!
this is the book that made realise i detest non-linear timelines more than the word moist
3.5 stars
A multi-character narration about aging while trying to maintain the authentic punk rock mindset.
The meaning of "multi-character narration" in A Visit From the Goon Squad is more expansive than anything I've ever seen in a novel before. Even more expansive than any short story collection either. Off the top of my head, I can't even count how many narrators there were in total. It remains cohesive and relatively easy to follow by still focusing on main characters who appear in another's character POV. The novel will also bring back conversations and details about main characters, making you as a reader feel clever for having noticed.
Is multi-character narration drawing upon the spirit of punk rock? Possibly. I still don't quite understand punk rock after finishing this novel, and I'm not really sure that's the point anyways. The main "point" of this novel seems to be more focused on what the turning point of a person's life is. Through different narrators, we revisit the same characters during the incident that may have changed the course of their life. Layered on top of that is whether this is also the turning point of a minor character's life. The novel leaves it up to the reader to determine how much that's really true.
Even though the POV is from a certain character's point of view for the majority of the chapter, the reader will get jarring, omnipresent flashes of a character's future. Any feeling of comfort is ripped away as we suddenly receive a character's entire grim future during what would otherwise be a quiet moment. We also get the comforting opposite of this, where a character's positive decision is shown casually in another future story. Again, it's a great technique to reward the reader's engagement and continued attention.
Visiting short periods in our character's lives is effective in popping in to view their highs and lows. At certain points in their lives, characters are winners; then we'll revisit them later to see them at their worst. I was surprised over and over again to keep seeing my predictions proven wrong.
The ending satisfies by returning to a previous POV but set in the future. Egan attempts to show us a technodystopic future where insidious guerilla marketing (in which your friends are secret agents who market you products and services by pretending to organically bring up those products and services in conversation) rules and all people are hooked on their mobile devices. It's pretty accurate in copying influencer culture and our reliance on mobile devices. This is the second instance I've seen of guerilla marketing in literature, but I feel it goes a little bit farther than influencer culture as we know it in real life now. But to be fair, most influencers are required to disclose their status as advertisement or promotion by federal law, not because of their moral compass (ex. Goodreads reviews require a disclosure of ARCs being the result of a giveaway and being given in exchange for a review). Reading more extreme examples in literature does keep me cynical and suspicious though, and hopefully it does the same for you.
This book has aged well, mostly because it doesn't focus too deeply on defining authentic punk rock. It uses punk rock as the aesthetic and setting, but Egan doesn't seem too personally concerned about gatekeeping what real punk rock is.
A multi-character narration about aging while trying to maintain the authentic punk rock mindset.
The meaning of "multi-character narration" in A Visit From the Goon Squad is more expansive than anything I've ever seen in a novel before. Even more expansive than any short story collection either. Off the top of my head, I can't even count how many narrators there were in total. It remains cohesive and relatively easy to follow by still focusing on main characters who appear in another's character POV. The novel will also bring back conversations and details about main characters, making you as a reader feel clever for having noticed.
Is multi-character narration drawing upon the spirit of punk rock? Possibly. I still don't quite understand punk rock after finishing this novel, and I'm not really sure that's the point anyways. The main "point" of this novel seems to be more focused on what the turning point of a person's life is. Through different narrators, we revisit the same characters during the incident that may have changed the course of their life. Layered on top of that is whether this is also the turning point of a minor character's life. The novel leaves it up to the reader to determine how much that's really true.
Even though the POV is from a certain character's point of view for the majority of the chapter, the reader will get jarring, omnipresent flashes of a character's future. Any feeling of comfort is ripped away as we suddenly receive a character's entire grim future during what would otherwise be a quiet moment. We also get the comforting opposite of this, where a character's positive decision is shown casually in another future story. Again, it's a great technique to reward the reader's engagement and continued attention.
Visiting short periods in our character's lives is effective in popping in to view their highs and lows. At certain points in their lives, characters are winners; then we'll revisit them later to see them at their worst. I was surprised over and over again to keep seeing my predictions proven wrong.
The ending satisfies by returning to a previous POV but set in the future. Egan attempts to show us a technodystopic future where insidious guerilla marketing (in which your friends are secret agents who market you products and services by pretending to organically bring up those products and services in conversation) rules and all people are hooked on their mobile devices. It's pretty accurate in copying influencer culture and our reliance on mobile devices. This is the second instance I've seen of guerilla marketing in literature, but I feel it goes a little bit farther than influencer culture as we know it in real life now. But to be fair, most influencers are required to disclose their status as advertisement or promotion by federal law, not because of their moral compass (ex. Goodreads reviews require a disclosure of ARCs being the result of a giveaway and being given in exchange for a review). Reading more extreme examples in literature does keep me cynical and suspicious though, and hopefully it does the same for you.
This book has aged well, mostly because it doesn't focus too deeply on defining authentic punk rock. It uses punk rock as the aesthetic and setting, but Egan doesn't seem too personally concerned about gatekeeping what real punk rock is.