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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
a bit too sing-songey for its content, and just about lulled me to sleep
The bedtime nursery meter and rhyme tended to make me sleepy and then I'd miss what was happening. It really isn't a congruent style to go with his content -- reading about rape in rhymed couplet is strange. Maybe that's part of the point, but it made me long for a /real/ epic poem, with a more adult meter.
Listen to this as an audiobook! David Rakoff finished recording it just 13 days before he died, and he reads it so, so excellently. There are some really satisfyingly clever rhymes, and even better are the times when he reads so naturally that you don't even notice the line breaks and the rhymes just sort of surface briefly and reflect off each other without distracting from the meaning.
Sure the story itself was charming but I found myself groaning often at words and phrases that sounded like they were worked in only to rhyme with a preceding word. These instances rendered the poetry kind of cheesy. This novel read more like a draft than a finished work.
This is a beautiful and sad work. The rhyming is impressive, and most of the time it enhanced the story. I loved the sentiment, which at times was heartbreaking because you could tell Rakoff was describing his own anxieties about dying. I wish it was longer, but the depth of the characters was impressive considering the brevity of the book.
"a novel" is part of the title, but it's short stories about inter-connected characters. The stories and the characters are made harder to follow by the rhyming structure.
It's a kind of achievement to write a long form narrative poem. The poetry isnt great, however and the book, and the reader, suffers from it.
It was 1) amusing enough and 2) short. 3) It's by David Rakoff. That's 3 stars.
It's a kind of achievement to write a long form narrative poem. The poetry isnt great, however and the book, and the reader, suffers from it.
It was 1) amusing enough and 2) short. 3) It's by David Rakoff. That's 3 stars.
I wish I had the audio book version, however, reading this was still beautiful.
Think of a well-written Dr. Seuss for adults.
Think of a well-written Dr. Seuss for adults.
Excellent! Quick but thorough read. I loved that it was all set to poetic verse!
First off, this is narrative poetry at its best. David Rakoffwhas a vocabulary befitting a master poet. The rhymes are never pedantic or forced (except in the few passages he wants them to be for a characters sake) and the entire book feels fresh.
It covers several characters, vaguely interconnected (some more than others) through a few decades of history and life. More than a rendering of life, it seems to capture the essence of humanity in its best and worst moments for these characters. Each character is different and each poem section feels very different.
Definitely recommend this as a great read!
It covers several characters, vaguely interconnected (some more than others) through a few decades of history and life. More than a rendering of life, it seems to capture the essence of humanity in its best and worst moments for these characters. Each character is different and each poem section feels very different.
Definitely recommend this as a great read!