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ruairim95's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Racial slurs
zakcebulski's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I have to say that his book has me very conflicted upon finishing it. The book takes the point of view of an unreliable narrator who illustrates a fantastical and very sexual relationship between Anne-Marie and Phillip, a French girl and a Yale dropout, respectively.
This book, to me, is more of a feeling, an aesthetic, rather than a narrative that is told. The book delves deeply into the sexual exploits of the main characters, and goes through their day to day lives- in much less detail it should be said. And that, in my estimation, is the end of the story. I will say that what shines through in this book is the absolutely breathtaking prose created by James Salter. Salter's prose is absolutely stunning and he does amazingly well in illustrating the images in his head.
There were several scenes which I read over and again just to enjoy the writing more.
All in all, there is not much I can say about this book. I didn't really love the "story", but, there wasn't one. I think that the choice to keep the characters very surface level was an intentional choice because to the narrator Phillip (Dean) and Anne- Marie are characters, and he is only interested in having them fuck, which they do, very very very often.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Sexual content
irfoxwriter's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book is so highly praised and perhaps in its time that was appropriate. Personally I did not enjoy it. The writing is beautifully atmospheric, but it’s of a style that we don’t see in more recent literature and it’s quite hard to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Stalking
Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Sexism, Body shaming, and Emotional abuse
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