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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I hate giving this two stars. I usually love Read with Jenna picks. And it’s a story about a writer, which is usually my thing.
But it’s a meandering story about Owen, who has returned to Kentucky, to live at home and work as a groundskeeper at a small college in return for a free writing class. He meets Alma, a writer in residence, and they begin a relationship.
The writing is good, if not stereotypical of a first novel by an Iowa Writer’s graduate. But it’s not about family, as we are told. It is about being inside the mind of Owen, who is judgmental and selfish, while telling the reader how much he hates those things in others.
P.S. The fact that he’s from Kentucky and hates it, while this former Kentucky girl still loves it, definitely didn’t help me like the book ;)
But it’s a meandering story about Owen, who has returned to Kentucky, to live at home and work as a groundskeeper at a small college in return for a free writing class. He meets Alma, a writer in residence, and they begin a relationship.
The writing is good, if not stereotypical of a first novel by an Iowa Writer’s graduate. But it’s not about family, as we are told. It is about being inside the mind of Owen, who is judgmental and selfish, while telling the reader how much he hates those things in others.
P.S. The fact that he’s from Kentucky and hates it, while this former Kentucky girl still loves it, definitely didn’t help me like the book ;)
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
An achingly thoughtful belated-coming-of-age story set in Kentucky; Owen is a man adrift, working as a groundskeeper at a storied university in exchange for minimum wage and the opportunity to attend a writing class. He's struck by Alma, a successful writer who floats in from the East Coast and they begin a shaky love affair punctuated events seemingly out of their control.
It feels trite to compare writers to Sally Rooney, but there's a vibe that can't be denied. Roony asks the question, "what do we owe the people we come up with?" Lee twists that and asks, "what do we owe the environment we come out of?" Are we obligated to defend communities and landscapes that are stuck in retrograde, or should we feel no guilt in casting them off to become a shinier, more enlightened version of ourselves? Is it worth the tears to try and drag our past along with us?
It can be difficult to evenly flesh out both characters in a story like this, and Cole walked a delicate line with Alma specifically. She went from grating to sympathetic to almost cruel in my mind, an expert on finding Owen's bruised spots and pressing against them until he folded in on himself. It'll be interesting to see how readers react to her.
Read If:
- you like gardening
- gender swapped Sally Roony comparisons get your heartrate up
- your grandparents are the most important people in your life
Owen has returned from a few aimlesss years to his native Kentucky, where he stays with his grandfather and uncle. He works as a groundskeeper on a college campus and takes writing courses. He enters into a romantic relationship with a visiting writer of Muslim Bosnian heritage. This is in part a book about trying to navigate his family and region's political and cultural sensibilities with his own more liberal ones. It's also about the nature and morality of writing autobiographical fiction. I grew frustrated with Owen, who saw the other people around him less as individuals and more as fodder for his writing.
I really appreciated the chance to read Groundskeeping by Lee Cole; thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me. This book is timely and for me welcome as I think many seek to understand identity and connection and moving on (or not) from family relationships, upbringing, and beliefs that are hateful and hurtful. This book takes on these themes of political ideologies in rural and conservative Kentucky in a way that is not negative but offers a chance to consider how a person might have to navigate a world where their family believes in things that the individual no longer, or never, fully embraced. The exploration of these experiences is portrayed within a relationship in an academic setting, a wonderful chance to show how education is not meant to indoctrinate but is instead a chance to meet new people, question ideas and beliefs, and to work to come into a stronger understanding of self and also a chance to learn how to vet and use information.
The writing style is one that really resonated with me; this is a work of literary fiction and that is a genre I really enjoy. This is a book about ideas, beliefs, and words; a well written story of Owen trying to understand that he can, and perhaps has, moved on from his family of origin within the context of a clandestine relationship with a writer in residence, Alma, from an immigrant family and a liberal background. The journey is one that many go through, understanding you can leave the past behind and that other relationships can and will have a profound impact on your sense of self. At the same time, the story also allows us to consider what it is like for Alma to learn to understand Owen and his strained family relationships and I appreciated that the author gave the reader the chance to see openness in this relationship and the ability to see people, not just beliefs or family background.
The writing style is one that really resonated with me; this is a work of literary fiction and that is a genre I really enjoy. This is a book about ideas, beliefs, and words; a well written story of Owen trying to understand that he can, and perhaps has, moved on from his family of origin within the context of a clandestine relationship with a writer in residence, Alma, from an immigrant family and a liberal background. The journey is one that many go through, understanding you can leave the past behind and that other relationships can and will have a profound impact on your sense of self. At the same time, the story also allows us to consider what it is like for Alma to learn to understand Owen and his strained family relationships and I appreciated that the author gave the reader the chance to see openness in this relationship and the ability to see people, not just beliefs or family background.
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
I am not the first and definitely will not be the last reader to compare this debut novel to Sally Rooney's novels. Smart, melancholy 20-somethings in the 21st century making questionable romantic choices, dialogue with no quotations, everyone feeling awkward as they try to be cool ... the very very basic pitch is Sally Rooney in Appalachia.
But that sells Cole's book short. It's a tender, nuanced story about people trying to find their place in the world, about loving your family even when you don't understand them, or like them. It's about different factions in America and the ways we're speaking entirely different languages.
Like Owen, the main character, I'm a first generation college student from a place so small it's like being from nowhere and everywhere. I am almost always disappointed by books about rural and/or working class America. Either authors romanticize it or condescend to it. I felt like Cole is clear-eyed about the places and people he's from. So often, I read bits of this book and thought, YES. Sometimes, I thought, NO, but even then, I felt like Cole was writing the truth as he and his characters knew it.
This is an impressive debut, and I'll look for more of Cole's work.
Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy.
But that sells Cole's book short. It's a tender, nuanced story about people trying to find their place in the world, about loving your family even when you don't understand them, or like them. It's about different factions in America and the ways we're speaking entirely different languages.
Like Owen, the main character, I'm a first generation college student from a place so small it's like being from nowhere and everywhere. I am almost always disappointed by books about rural and/or working class America. Either authors romanticize it or condescend to it. I felt like Cole is clear-eyed about the places and people he's from. So often, I read bits of this book and thought, YES. Sometimes, I thought, NO, but even then, I felt like Cole was writing the truth as he and his characters knew it.
This is an impressive debut, and I'll look for more of Cole's work.
Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy.
reflective
slow-paced
Owen is stuck between his humble beginnings, as he sees them, in rural Kentucky, his string of menial jobs, and his sense of himself as a writer living a cerebral life. He's convinced that his girlfriend looks down on him for coming from a blue-collar background, and he can't blame her, as he himself continuously sneers at his parents for their unenlightened political viewpoints and small-town perspectives.
I'm not sure what book Lee Cole thought he was writing here. Possibly a book about a struggling writer. Possibly a book of class differences in romantic relationships. Possibly a book about someone who rejects his conservative upbringing in favor of his current liberal outlook. Unfortunatley, the book ultimately doesn't succeed in being any of those. Instead, it's a mash of unrealized characters who spend a lot of time in unfulfilling conflict with themselves and each other, and it all just seemed pointless and pretentious.
FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.