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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
So incredibly tedious, with no payoff whatsoever. It took me twice as long to read as it normally does for a book of that length, because I had absolutely no interest in it. I know many reviewers talk about the unlikability of the characters, but I just didn't care enough about them to dislike them. Other reviews talk about how wonderful the writing was, but all I could think was "There's nothing wrong with chapters." Perhaps I'm too much of a simpleton to understand Mr Franzen's genius.
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
Another one from the top 100 books of the century! took me a while to get into it, but I really enjoyed it by the end. I think my issue was that there are very few paragraph or chapter breaks, which I find mentally exhausting. I liked it overall though.
Relentlessly bleak. But also gripping and very well-written.
Took me a long time to get through this one! Everytime anyone asked me how I was enjoying the book, my response was "eh.. it's ok". Had a hard time getting into it and really disliked some of the characters. Towards the end it got a bit better, but overall just an ok book.
dark
emotional
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ambitious in a very specific Gen-X way. This was my first experience with Franzen, and I don't know that I was prepared for the scope of the novel.
For my issues with its expansiveness, I did think the characters, their wants, their needs, and their decisions all to be fully formed. There's a version of this book in which we avoid Alfred's point of view and his hallucinations of turds that would probably earn 5 stars from me.
For my issues with its expansiveness, I did think the characters, their wants, their needs, and their decisions all to be fully formed. There's a version of this book in which we avoid Alfred's point of view and his hallucinations of turds that would probably earn 5 stars from me.