Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book came highly recommended by a close friend, but it seemed to be one of those that some people really like while others really don't. I seem to have fallen in the latter group...
The writing style, itself, I liked. I can also appreciate books that are less-plot driven and more focused on the character's inner self. However, it seemed that this was less of a character and more of the author attempting to pass his (or his character's or both), frankly, obnoxious and narcissistic pseudo-intellectualism as profound (e.g., "Poems aren't about anything"). Bolaño wrote a book once with a character I very much disliked but could still appreciate—the difference there was that it was a satire and not an autobiographical novel.
His observations regarding his “most intense antipathy for those Americans who attempted to blend in” were compelling and relatable. So, too, was the feeling of the ephemerality of being abroad. But Adam/Lerner seems to have decided take that feeling and exacerbate it by adding on an active disinterest in pretty much anything. On the last page of the book, it seemed like Lerner was trying to squeeze in some character development, but it was, honestly, quite hard to believe. To conclude, I'll leave a quote from the book, as well as some analysis from another reviewer I read on Goodreads:
Julie Ehlers (the reviewer) then expands:
The writing style, itself, I liked. I can also appreciate books that are less-plot driven and more focused on the character's inner self. However, it seemed that this was less of a character and more of the author attempting to pass his (or his character's or both), frankly, obnoxious and narcissistic pseudo-intellectualism as profound (e.g., "Poems aren't about anything"). Bolaño wrote a book once with a character I very much disliked but could still appreciate—the difference there was that it was a satire and not an autobiographical novel.
His observations regarding his “most intense antipathy for those Americans who attempted to blend in” were compelling and relatable. So, too, was the feeling of the ephemerality of being abroad. But Adam/Lerner seems to have decided take that feeling and exacerbate it by adding on an active disinterest in pretty much anything. On the last page of the book, it seemed like Lerner was trying to squeeze in some character development, but it was, honestly, quite hard to believe. To conclude, I'll leave a quote from the book, as well as some analysis from another reviewer I read on Goodreads:
I forced myself to listen as if the poem were unpredictable and profound, as if that were given somehow, and any failure to be compelled would be exclusively my own.
Julie Ehlers (the reviewer) then expands:
That pretty much sums up this book. If you approach it assuming it's meaningful, you'll find meaning here. If you approach it without assuming it's meaningful but waiting to be shown meaning, you'll probably be kept waiting.
quarantine book #1
can't tell if i love or hate him, which unfortunately makes it that much more interesting, although not as much my thing as the topeka school. inclined to say i'm sick of clever men but to be honest, that's not quite true. weird to be reading such intense, neurotic, self-obsessed interpersonal conversations when it's rn very hard to have a conversation w anyone at all. but the parts about living in a crisis moment feel very true, in a guilty way, now.
can't tell if i love or hate him, which unfortunately makes it that much more interesting, although not as much my thing as the topeka school. inclined to say i'm sick of clever men but to be honest, that's not quite true. weird to be reading such intense, neurotic, self-obsessed interpersonal conversations when it's rn very hard to have a conversation w anyone at all. but the parts about living in a crisis moment feel very true, in a guilty way, now.
Just because this book is very good and its author is brilliant doesn’t mean I like it very much nor does it mean I think you should read it.
First book of the year. Not the best start.
I don't tend to enjoy movies like Rushmore, or Napoleon Dynamite, or Punch-Drunk Love, where the protagonist is kind of a dick who makes a series of bad decisions, after which everyone ends up uncomfortable or upset. (Including me.)
This is like that, but a book. Adam's a young American poet in Madrid, ostensibly researching and writing a book of poetry about Spanish history. He spends the book smoking, drinking, and swallowing a variety of stimulants and depressants. He compulsively lies to his family back home, alienates new friends and colleagues, and beds some lovely Spanish ladies. Not much else happens.
I had initially given this book three stars, but in the process of writing the review I talked myself down to two. The descriptions of the architecture and locals are really pretty.
I don't tend to enjoy movies like Rushmore, or Napoleon Dynamite, or Punch-Drunk Love, where the protagonist is kind of a dick who makes a series of bad decisions, after which everyone ends up uncomfortable or upset. (Including me.)
This is like that, but a book. Adam's a young American poet in Madrid, ostensibly researching and writing a book of poetry about Spanish history. He spends the book smoking, drinking, and swallowing a variety of stimulants and depressants. He compulsively lies to his family back home, alienates new friends and colleagues, and beds some lovely Spanish ladies. Not much else happens.
I had initially given this book three stars, but in the process of writing the review I talked myself down to two. The descriptions of the architecture and locals are really pretty.
This was very good. My heart quaked perhaps a bit too much at the remembrance of my own life in Spain.