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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
First time I ever read Franzen, and I don’t if I’m a cliche worthy of Guy in Your MFA, but goddamn I dug it. The story, like most of the Oscar noms this year, really fucking meandered. But it’s the characters. And as I read in another review, it’s totally motherfucking schadenfreude. I hated everyone in this book. Even when I was starting to feel sympathetic, another monolithic chapter would come along and just churn my stomach with what a fucking asshole they were.
I’m working with a story development group, where we read screenplays and discuss their salient points, and one of the screenplays I submitted had hateful characters. Because that’s what I love. I love miserable people. I guess that trend is waning. But I felt like grabbing this huge tome and bashing my fellow writers in the face with it, screaming, “DO YOU SEE? DO YOU SEE? CRITICALLY FUCKING ACCLAIMED.”
But that was 2001. And I even read a review of a forthcoming book that touted it as “The Corrections but with characters you can stand.” So maybe The Reign of the Hateful has passed. Still, while it just seemed to keep going and going, I was okay with that. And it was amazing seeing a character suck the rootability and joy from everyone in masterstrokes. All families are selfish, but some are selfish in phenomenal ways.
I’m working with a story development group, where we read screenplays and discuss their salient points, and one of the screenplays I submitted had hateful characters. Because that’s what I love. I love miserable people. I guess that trend is waning. But I felt like grabbing this huge tome and bashing my fellow writers in the face with it, screaming, “DO YOU SEE? DO YOU SEE? CRITICALLY FUCKING ACCLAIMED.”
But that was 2001. And I even read a review of a forthcoming book that touted it as “The Corrections but with characters you can stand.” So maybe The Reign of the Hateful has passed. Still, while it just seemed to keep going and going, I was okay with that. And it was amazing seeing a character suck the rootability and joy from everyone in masterstrokes. All families are selfish, but some are selfish in phenomenal ways.
emotional
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
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual assault
This book was of a style that was really popular in the early 2000s— a WASPy family filled with distrust and disfunction ultimately learns to exist together. But man, was a SLOG to get through. The first 300 pages are filled with such inane details and unlikable characters that I almost gave up on the book. I pushed through, however, and found Denise to be the most redeeming character. The ending was also quite challenging, but made sense given the circumstances. Overall, I think this book could have been edited way down.
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think people are tired of hearing me rave madly about this book, but it completely blew my mind, so they'll just have to deal with it.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
En ehkä olisi tullut tarttuneeksi Jonathan Franzenin kirjoihin ja varsinkaan tähän tiiliskiveen, ellen olisi lukenut Kirsi Pihan kirjaa Levoton lukija, joka tutustutti lukijansa tähän kirjailijaan. Hyvä niin, sillä olihan tämä varsin kiinnostavaa fiktiota! Aihepiiri on hyvin tavanomainen sinänsä - perhe, jonka aikuiset lapset tulevat viettämään joulua vanhempiensa luokse isän sairastuttua dementoivaan sairauteen - mutta ihmisten kuvaus on hykerryttävän hienoa. Ketään ei kuvata 'hyvässä valossa', vaan jokainen perheenjäsen näyttäytyy juuri niin inhimillisen kamalana kuin mitä elämässä yleensäkin. Perheen sisäiset jännitteet ovat hyvin samaistuttavia ja todentuntuisia.
Suomennoksessa minua tökki kirjassa toistuva sana 'pingpongpöytä' - eikös meillä pöytätennnistä pelata pingispöydällä? Hiukkasen olisin myös toivonut sivumäärän tiivistämistä, kirjan paksuus varmaan karkottaa lukijoita, jotka tästä kirjasta sinänsä pitäisivät.
Suomennoksessa minua tökki kirjassa toistuva sana 'pingpongpöytä' - eikös meillä pöytätennnistä pelata pingispöydällä? Hiukkasen olisin myös toivonut sivumäärän tiivistämistä, kirjan paksuus varmaan karkottaa lukijoita, jotka tästä kirjasta sinänsä pitäisivät.
This book made me feel anxious and agitated almost constantly (except for the parts about denise! denise forever!). I did enjoy it immensely, though. Families suck so much!