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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
Richard Ford knows language, can put words together in a captivating way, and observes everyday life with sometimes heart-stopping insight. And as a reader of all of the Frank Bascombe books, I needed to check in on Frank. There just wasn't enough there, which is maybe the point with an aging Frank...but the language got bogged down and the words were too showy, the stories developed too slowly, the surprises were not surprising enough. Frank, I'm happy to see that you're still around, but your narrowing worldview just didn't give me enough. Sorry man, maybe next time.
A wonderful coda to the trilogy. Manages to distill the sense of Frank Bascombe as a very dislikable man whose voice is very likable to listen to.
Frank Bascombe is old. Apparently Richard Ford wanted to write about getting old. And, sorry, it's just about as dull as some of Philip Roth's last books about getting old. Ford will always be a good writer, but he didn't really have much to say here.
There is only one Frank Bascombe, but I’ve known others like him and wish I’d spent more time with them, or did now.
So I did this backwards, reading the most recent entry, the fourth, in the series before reading the other three. Damn. Now, I'll have to go back and read the other three.
I love hearing from Frank Bascombe again. He's right up there with Harry Angstrom.
Loved it. Terrific look at aging while at the same time being sharp and witty. It’s a look at hurricane Sandy and politics and people. I read this for my Mississippi book club - I will make it a point to read more of his books.
Five stars for the first half and three stars for the second half average out to four stars. While this is not a funny book by a long stretch, there are some marvelous moments of dark humor that are truly impressive--e.g., the imagined conversation between Frank and the dog he has just run over. I haven't read the two (three?) Frank novels, but now I'm tempted to.