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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
"The chapel was about a quarter of a mile from the offices and when he got there he could see a blue gasoline sign above the door and behind the lamp a large sign that said WELCOME. The building was a considerable tribute to human ingenuity. Bamboo had been lashed into a scaffolding and this was covered with palm matting--all of it holding to the conventional lines of a country church. There was even a steeple made of palm matting and there was an air of conspicuous unpopularity about the place. [...] The chaplain, a first lieutenant named Lindstrom, was there, writing a letter. He wore steel-rimmed GI spectacles on a weak and homely face, and he was a man who belonged to the small places of the earth--to little towns with their innocence, their bigotry and their devilish gossip--and he seemed to have brought, intact to the atoll, the smell of drying linen on a March morning and the self-righteous and bitter piety with which he would thank God, at Sunday dinner, for a can of salmon and a bottle of lemonade."
This book was a bit challenging in a way that I hadn’t expected, as sections of the prose were fairly experimental. It was quite an enjoyable family epic, that rarely dwelt on any particular events or scenarios, but moved in a linear fashion with hardly a backwards glance. Incredible amounts of drama presented with little scrutiny, I found this book fairly unique and eccentric.
Famous (or infamous) for being the first Book-of-the-Month Club selection to include the word “fuck,” I did not notice this word in the narrative. Perhaps I am desensitized to its use, but did not see it.
Famous (or infamous) for being the first Book-of-the-Month Club selection to include the word “fuck,” I did not notice this word in the narrative. Perhaps I am desensitized to its use, but did not see 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:
Yes
Read my full thoughts on this book and hundreds more over at Read.Write.Repeat.
A narrative of the everyday in the best way possible. There is little spectacular or ground-shaking here, but the mundane is made interesting.
A narrative of the everyday in the best way possible. There is little spectacular or ground-shaking here, but the mundane is made interesting.
It's such a flex to be the greatest American writer of short stories and then flex up and write a family generational novel about the curse of being horny. I mean wow. What a king!
Meh. I'm just glad to have it done. I recognize that this is supposed to be a great work of fiction, but I listened to it over way too long of a stretch and I just didn't really connect with the characters or the story. That is a definite hazard of audio books, or any book when you read it too slowly I suppose. I typically love family stories that explore the different characters and generations like this one did, but there wasn't a single character that I was rooting for. Perhaps you have to be a New Englander to "get it".
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No