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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
This story is a cautionary tale in high potential (everything conceit-wise that I should love!) that comes short on the execution — did the editor have an aneurysm (how many ceaseless repetitions)? why does Hill seem to get so damn high off his own supply re: voice? or is Samuel really that insufferable a writer at times, unable to find balance, the volume always at 11? (When the voice works, it’s absolute dynamite, especially satirizing Americana). The ultimate cost is that Hill loses the heart; it comes out in glimmers, and when it does, how the story pulsates! But when it’s lost, the book sinks into a mire of hundreds of pages of relative drudgery. At a phat 750, this could easily have been 200 pages thinner, and not only preserved the heart, but strengthened it — hell, cut 300, and add another 100 that are actually heart-centric, and you’ve got a masterpiece with the honed and harnessed version of Hill’s sometimes-incandescent polyphony of voices!
Lots of genuine laughs in this one, though. That cannot be denied. Guy Periwinkle is ripe for a Bob Odenkirk portrayal!
Not to mention, there were about a dozen similes starmarked as improbably brilliant bangers.
“This was the price of hope, he realized, this shattering disappointment.”
“Time heals many things because it sets us on trajectories that make the past seem impossible.”
“Sometimes what we avoid most is not pain but mystery.”
“The line for a McRib was quiet and solemn and twenty people deep.”
“It’s liberal tolerance meets dark ages denialism. It’s very hip right now.”
“We love people because they love us. It’s narcissistic. It’s best to be perfectly clear about this and not let abstractions like fate and destiny muddle the issue.”
“You’ve been carved out by the things that have happened to you. Like how the canyon can’t tell the river which way to shape it. It just allows itself to be cut.”
“Back home, life was like driving a road at sixty miles per hour, every little bump and texture flattened into an indistinguishable buzz. War is like stopping and feeling the road with bare fingers.”
“He’s doing an impression of a protest he saw on TV once, many years ago. He has sold out, just to a different set of symbols.”
Lots of genuine laughs in this one, though. That cannot be denied. Guy Periwinkle is ripe for a Bob Odenkirk portrayal!
Not to mention, there were about a dozen similes starmarked as improbably brilliant bangers.
“This was the price of hope, he realized, this shattering disappointment.”
“Time heals many things because it sets us on trajectories that make the past seem impossible.”
“Sometimes what we avoid most is not pain but mystery.”
“The line for a McRib was quiet and solemn and twenty people deep.”
“It’s liberal tolerance meets dark ages denialism. It’s very hip right now.”
“We love people because they love us. It’s narcissistic. It’s best to be perfectly clear about this and not let abstractions like fate and destiny muddle the issue.”
“You’ve been carved out by the things that have happened to you. Like how the canyon can’t tell the river which way to shape it. It just allows itself to be cut.”
“Back home, life was like driving a road at sixty miles per hour, every little bump and texture flattened into an indistinguishable buzz. War is like stopping and feeling the road with bare fingers.”
“He’s doing an impression of a protest he saw on TV once, many years ago. He has sold out, just to a different set of symbols.”
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There were some really good & compelling characters (bishop), but some were so developed and yet not equally important to the story. I'm still not sure exactly what the main point of the story was, even though it was explicitly laid out at the end. It was fairly entertaining tho
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
2017 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge
*a book recommended by a librarian"
Engrossing story of a man who confronts the mother who left him decades ago after she commits a ridiculous crime and is brought back into his life. He help clear her name, he must uncover her secret past to understand her and himself.
“Sometimes we're so wrapped up in our own story that we don't see how we're supporting character's in someone else's.”
*a book recommended by a librarian"
Engrossing story of a man who confronts the mother who left him decades ago after she commits a ridiculous crime and is brought back into his life. He help clear her name, he must uncover her secret past to understand her and himself.
“Sometimes we're so wrapped up in our own story that we don't see how we're supporting character's in someone else's.”
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This one felt like a slow build for me, but once we started with Faye and Alice's backstory, I was hooked. An interesting look into politics and protests.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
There is so much going on in this book. So many time lines, so many characters, so many plots. There’s also many genres...iFeel that sometimes it’s a comedy. iFeel that other times it’s a drama. iFeel that in some respects it’s historical fiction. iFeel that it’s also a tragedy. But ultimately iFeel that I really can’t categorize this book or explain it...you just have to experience it for yourself.
Also I’m so curious to know whether the author found the picture on the cover and built a story around it, or whether the picture was created for the story.
Also I’m so curious to know whether the author found the picture on the cover and built a story around it, or whether the picture was created for the story.