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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
The only good thing I have to say is that the prose was interesting. However I hated the narrator’s tirades in his brain, how much credit he gave himself, his treatment of women, and self destructive habits. I never rooted for him. There was only one wrenching moment and it was between a chat with a brother and the brother’s voice was all that was interesting. Also it seems like the author based the book off his own study abroad. Unfortunately for this one I can’t get past my dislike of the character or author. Not to say it’s poorly written though. If there’s something else there then I’m missing it
fast-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
An interesting book which seems polarizing in terms of the reviews here. We're in what may well be a very thinly disguised memoir of the author's time in Spain. Our narrator is a hugely unlikable presence, veering between needy snowflake and sociopathic liar, and this is usually the kind of thing I'd hate, but Lerner's writing is at times startling, and he manages to keep this the right side of the line.
dark
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
what felt profound 5 years ago now just feels a bit narrow and cynical, or maybe i am just happier now
I loved this, somehow. And it’s not not a lovable book. It’s an undeniable part of the self-absorbed man genre, compounded by the fact that it’s also about art, but it’s very beautiful and (dare I say it) true in its haze of selfish anxiety: after all, self-absorbed men are people like the rest of us. I wouldn’t say I related to the narrator, but I got it, still, all the more for the sort of highness (as in brow, not drugs, although that’s also there) of the prose.
This felt like writing about poetry that was fundamentally good enough to earn the subject matter (and John Ashbury is worth earning), and about the creative process that was knowing (cynical and hopeful) enough to be convincing. My conviction, in the text, without me having to put in the work, has felt increasingly hard to come by: Leaving the Atocha Station did it, almost instantly (it’s got a great opening).
My experience was added to by the fact I started reading it in Madrid, and read most of it in an exhausted rush on the plane back, which lent itself to the sort of dizzy breakdown the story falls into. The frenetic sense of it all is sometimes unpleasant, but not gratuitous, and feels worth it. The writing, the writing, the reflection without reflection of it.
This felt like writing about poetry that was fundamentally good enough to earn the subject matter (and John Ashbury is worth earning), and about the creative process that was knowing (cynical and hopeful) enough to be convincing. My conviction, in the text, without me having to put in the work, has felt increasingly hard to come by: Leaving the Atocha Station did it, almost instantly (it’s got a great opening).
My experience was added to by the fact I started reading it in Madrid, and read most of it in an exhausted rush on the plane back, which lent itself to the sort of dizzy breakdown the story falls into. The frenetic sense of it all is sometimes unpleasant, but not gratuitous, and feels worth it. The writing, the writing, the reflection without reflection of it.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes