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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
There were parts of this book I found impossible to stay interested in; and then there were parts I couldn't put down. I didn't love any of the characters, the writing wasn't particularly beautiful, and if there was supposed to be some sort of meaning to derive, I don't think I got it. But I really liked this book. I found it interesting and moving and was struck, the whole time I was reading it, with the feeling that I wasn't going to find something this good again for a while.
"The suspicion that everything was relative. That the 'real' and 'authentic' might not be simply doomed but fictive to begin with."
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11137060
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11137060
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
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
my first franzen. i love a dysfunctional family, but dare i say i found this family too boring and too aggravating? the only perspective i really enjoyed reading was denise’s (i found the men in this novel particularly unbearable), and the only character i, ironically, felt sorry for was alfred despite him also being an unpleasant person. franzen really excelled at bringing the ‘political’ into this narrative, and he did a really good job at highlighting the sorrows of aging and watching your parents, those you had depended on your entire life, in such vulnerable positions.
DNF. I gave it a good try, and honestly way more than it deserves. I read half. And while you may not think that is much, half of this disaster took much longer to suffer through than enjoying an entire average excellent book.
I’m not sure where all these so called accolades and awards for this writing came from. This is a horrible story about terrible people acting like complete idiots.
The reason for two instead of one star, and only thing that kept me going, was the writing is quite good, it is the content that sucks.
There are too many good books out there that give me enjoyable feelings, than to waste my time reading this depressing and disturbing tale of a failed family of self obsessed, ungrateful, unloving people.
I’m not sure where all these so called accolades and awards for this writing came from. This is a horrible story about terrible people acting like complete idiots.
The reason for two instead of one star, and only thing that kept me going, was the writing is quite good, it is the content that sucks.
There are too many good books out there that give me enjoyable feelings, than to waste my time reading this depressing and disturbing tale of a failed family of self obsessed, ungrateful, unloving people.
This was January 2010's book club selection that I just got aroung to reading. I am not really sure how I felt about this book; I wanted to like it more than I actually liked it and I am not sure why.
It is the story of the Lamberts, a wildly disfunctional family. Alfred and Enid are the elderly mid-western parents. Gary, Chip and Denise are their adult children with problems. None of the characters are very sympathetic, more like pathetic, with occasional redeeming graces. Denise may have been the character I liked the most, but I didn't even like her much of the time. Alfred's decline into Parkinson's disease and the family's reaction, particularly Enid's were very depressing.
I feel like maybe I missed something big in this book...
"Evening of plain vanilla closeness in his black leather chair; sweet evenings of of doubt between the nights of bleak certainty. They came to him now, these forgotten counterexamples, because in the end, when you were falling into water, there was no solid thing to reach for but your children."
It is the story of the Lamberts, a wildly disfunctional family. Alfred and Enid are the elderly mid-western parents. Gary, Chip and Denise are their adult children with problems. None of the characters are very sympathetic, more like pathetic, with occasional redeeming graces. Denise may have been the character I liked the most, but I didn't even like her much of the time. Alfred's decline into Parkinson's disease and the family's reaction, particularly Enid's were very depressing.
I feel like maybe I missed something big in this book...
"Evening of plain vanilla closeness in his black leather chair; sweet evenings of of doubt between the nights of bleak certainty. They came to him now, these forgotten counterexamples, because in the end, when you were falling into water, there was no solid thing to reach for but your children."
This book is entertaining and satisfying. The characters are such that there are no heroes or heroines. Each family member is joyfully flawed, meaning I guess that there is bad in them, but it's a kind of bad that we all halfway recognize in ourselves - self-destructiveness, stubborn denial of reality, secret feelings of remorse and hate...the things that keep us up at night.
The narrative has a nice structure, going from one character to the next and showing the same events from a few different points of view. The book seems to be loosely based on the idea of market correction, as in what happens when reality comes back to bite us in the ass after we've fantasized something into the stratosphere. But it's really about the ebb and flow of life and family and career and community, and all the small ways that our worldviews are corrected with each day's experience.
I withheld a star for some icky cheesiness (e.g. the name of the lawfirm Bragg, Knuter & Speigh) and some other annoyances. But I would definitely read more Franzen stuff.
The narrative has a nice structure, going from one character to the next and showing the same events from a few different points of view. The book seems to be loosely based on the idea of market correction, as in what happens when reality comes back to bite us in the ass after we've fantasized something into the stratosphere. But it's really about the ebb and flow of life and family and career and community, and all the small ways that our worldviews are corrected with each day's experience.
I withheld a star for some icky cheesiness (e.g. the name of the lawfirm Bragg, Knuter & Speigh) and some other annoyances. But I would definitely read more Franzen stuff.
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
It's been awhile since I've read this book, but I remembered being somewhat entertained by it, yet mystified.