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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
fast-paced
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I quite liked this one! Jennifer Egan has a knack for putting stuff in unobtrusive, plain language that other authors often reach through more labored writing- really sad or humanizing moments, pieces of reflection which cut right to the center of the characters and lays them bare in their own way.
I remain a fan of linked, mutually referential narratives and this is a pretty good job at that- the focus of the project seeming to be on using these different connections between characters to move through time and explore how it changes them. To say it in a way which is less self-evidently bland, it's about how the marks that get left on each person from those big moments that can't help but come along- you lose the girl, you see someone else get hurt badly, you fuck up your career- get faded, or stretched out wider, or eroded out into deeper and deeper hollows as the rest of the world makes the rest of its impressions, slowly changing people through exposure.
Each story is more or less its own little experiment in form, and some I naturally cared for more than others. I think I will remember "Out of Body," the story about the student who's attempts to repress his knowledge of himself have resulted in him living out this fully depersonalized life for a while yet. That, and the early triad of stories which kind of turns around Lou- despite how unpleasant a person he really is, seeing how his presence has left marks on so many people, and then how his presence is really echoing forward out of the past, repeating the same cycle again until finally, time catches up with all of it. No one gets out cleanly. This book didn't make me feel like I have very much to look forward to if I live out some more decades- and yet is also kind of oddly reassuring about it all happening too.
I remain a fan of linked, mutually referential narratives and this is a pretty good job at that- the focus of the project seeming to be on using these different connections between characters to move through time and explore how it changes them. To say it in a way which is less self-evidently bland, it's about how the marks that get left on each person from those big moments that can't help but come along- you lose the girl, you see someone else get hurt badly, you fuck up your career- get faded, or stretched out wider, or eroded out into deeper and deeper hollows as the rest of the world makes the rest of its impressions, slowly changing people through exposure.
Each story is more or less its own little experiment in form, and some I naturally cared for more than others. I think I will remember "Out of Body," the story about the student who's attempts to repress his knowledge of himself have resulted in him living out this fully depersonalized life for a while yet. That, and the early triad of stories which kind of turns around Lou- despite how unpleasant a person he really is, seeing how his presence has left marks on so many people, and then how his presence is really echoing forward out of the past, repeating the same cycle again until finally, time catches up with all of it. No one gets out cleanly. This book didn't make me feel like I have very much to look forward to if I live out some more decades- and yet is also kind of oddly reassuring about it all happening too.
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Second Read:
I remember enjoying this book when I first read it, over 10 years ago. Recently added The Candy House to my TBR list, but realized it's a sequel novel to this one. Hence the re-read. I still think it's very cool how everything weaves together, and love all the music references. This time I bought the kindle version and listened along with the audio at the same time. Much easier to follow. The theme of time, and how things change with age, was something I picked up more now that I'm older too. Touching, sublime, poignant, bittersweet - all the words for different angles of being both beautiful and tragic for different characters.
Original Review:
This is really a unique book. Each chapter has a completely different style. And even have completely different subject matter! The characters weave in and out of each others stories... It was somewhat hard to listen to on audiobook because I found myself wanting to flip back to other chapters and re-check out the names to see how everyone was connected. So I think I missed some things but I still got it. I also liked all the music references sprinkled throughout. Really a cool read.
I remember enjoying this book when I first read it, over 10 years ago. Recently added The Candy House to my TBR list, but realized it's a sequel novel to this one. Hence the re-read. I still think it's very cool how everything weaves together, and love all the music references. This time I bought the kindle version and listened along with the audio at the same time. Much easier to follow. The theme of time, and how things change with age, was something I picked up more now that I'm older too. Touching, sublime, poignant, bittersweet - all the words for different angles of being both beautiful and tragic for different characters.
Original Review:
This is really a unique book. Each chapter has a completely different style. And even have completely different subject matter! The characters weave in and out of each others stories... It was somewhat hard to listen to on audiobook because I found myself wanting to flip back to other chapters and re-check out the names to see how everyone was connected. So I think I missed some things but I still got it. I also liked all the music references sprinkled throughout. Really a cool read.
Couldn't distinguish the characters
This was a 3 for a while but I completely lost interest the last 50 or so pages. There was also a PowerPoint as part of the story that was really hard to view on my eReader. Luckily there was an easier to read version on the authors website.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Vignettes held together by the connections between characters, however tenuous. I never really strongly loved any of the characters, but I was very invested in each one’s story as I read it. This is one of the books I will think about in the future but not remember what book it is because there are so many moments that seem out of place at first. I love that attribute in a book.
dark
emotional
reflective
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