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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Read this one on the plane over here, which was a month ago today, so to be honest I haven’t got an initial reaction to it any more, but just the memory of it. The memory was that it was good – a bit similar to Oscar Wao in that it crosses people and generations linked by small ties. Each chapter almost stood alone as its own story but the web of names and lives made it that much more fascinating. You know how sometimes you wish you knew what someone was like when they were younger, or what made them into who they are now? This book was like a voyeuristic peek into someone else’s life – which I guess all books are, really, but this one more so.
Most memorable part of book: Chapter 12.
Most memorable part of book: Chapter 12.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is unique in that it’s almost a collection of short stories that tells one overarching tale. Its main themes has to do with time and existentialism. What will we do in our fleeting time? How does my actions affect someone else? I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the experimental writing styles the author took.
The interconnecting short stories concept reminds me of Girl, Woman, Other, but was much less interesting to me. I didn’t love the majority of the characters. It was well written, but the style didn’t really speak to me. Some of the stories I found interesting like Stephanie’s, Sasha’s and Sasha’s kid with the PowerPoint presentation which was quite amusing. The last story though threw me for a loop, I had no idea what was going on with the “handsets” and “T’ing” people. So strange
This was a quick book to read. I didn't feel like I had a grasp on the characters or what I would have liked to know what came of them was never answered because we moves on to the next story.
The density of this book only becomes apparent as you reach the second half. Each chapter is about a different person, sometimes in a different tense, always connected somehow with the characters that came before them. Sometimes this connection appears to be a loose one, but as we delve further into these lives we see how they are all masterfully interconnected. These people touch each other’s lives in minuscule or massive ways.
This book gives off a kind of melancholic aura, as it’s characters wrestle with lives that never quite live up to their promise. Happiness is in their lives too, but always on the periphery - it hovers on the edge of our vision and is absent when we turn to look.
Most of the stories revolve around the characters from the first two chapters - Bennie, a music producer and industry heavyweight, and Sasha, his troubled kleptomaniac assistant. Through them we jump forward and backward in time, to their teenage friendships and their autumn years. Their partners, exes, friends and family all drift in and out of each other’s lives as they chase their own happiness. Herein lies the connective tissue of this book: personal happiness. Each character meditates on it, strives for it, misses it, obsesses over it. And the other great theme of this novel, growing up. We glimpse the trajectories of their lives through time, as they lose or fulfil their potential, burn out or settle down. It’s breathtaking to witness so much living in one short book.
This book gives off a kind of melancholic aura, as it’s characters wrestle with lives that never quite live up to their promise. Happiness is in their lives too, but always on the periphery - it hovers on the edge of our vision and is absent when we turn to look.
Most of the stories revolve around the characters from the first two chapters - Bennie, a music producer and industry heavyweight, and Sasha, his troubled kleptomaniac assistant. Through them we jump forward and backward in time, to their teenage friendships and their autumn years. Their partners, exes, friends and family all drift in and out of each other’s lives as they chase their own happiness. Herein lies the connective tissue of this book: personal happiness. Each character meditates on it, strives for it, misses it, obsesses over it. And the other great theme of this novel, growing up. We glimpse the trajectories of their lives through time, as they lose or fulfil their potential, burn out or settle down. It’s breathtaking to witness so much living in one short book.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is like a kaleidoscope; it starts with very fragmented perspectives, then slowly pulls together into a fully image (I am aware this isn’t how kaleidoscopes work). The book is extremely unchronological and is basically two character studies to examine why two dysfunctional people are dysfunctional in the first place. If you understand why they’re dysfunctional, do they deserve redemption? What does it look like?
I’ll warn that a part of the dysfunction is multiple sleazebag characters. I nearly gave up on the book but figured the author was doing it on purpose and kept going a few more chapters. Glad I stuck with it.
I’ll warn that a part of the dysfunction is multiple sleazebag characters. I nearly gave up on the book but figured the author was doing it on purpose and kept going a few more chapters. Glad I stuck with it.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I can appreciate what this book is trying to do with its unique structure, but it just didn’t land for me. I had no investment in any of the characters. I liked finding out how Sasha and Bennie’s stories finally ended, but it was definitely not satisfying enough to justify all the various woven plot lines.
★★★★ // a lovely piece on the inevitability of aging, growing old alone, and just this overall cloud of sadness that hovers over you each passing day.
Love it! The intertwining characters are what made it for me!