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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
I happened upon this book in one of Richmond's little free libraries, streetside boxes usually home to only Self Help books and erotica. I was totally seduced by the first chapter and wish the whole book had been in 14 year-old Jane's voice --
"My theory was that if you had breasts, boys wanted to have sex with you, which wasn't exactly a big compliment, since they wanted to have sex anyway. Whereas if you had a beautiful face, like Julia, boys fell in love with you, which seemed to happen almost against their will. Then the sex that you had would be about love."
& after the breakup of her brother and his girlfriend Julia --
"I tried hard to understand what Henry had told me. But I worried about that, too. Other people might not try as hard as I did to understand him. I was always on his side, no matter what. My parents were, too. All he really had to do with us was show up. More had been expected of him as Julia's boyfriend and at that party. More would be expected of him everywhere. I didn't know what had happened between him and Julia. It scared me that my brother had failed at loving someone. I had no idea myself how to do it."
The rest of the book wavered for me, especially the inexplicable middle chapter not in Jane's voice. But overall it was an enjoyable read with snappy dialogue and more depth than expected.
"My theory was that if you had breasts, boys wanted to have sex with you, which wasn't exactly a big compliment, since they wanted to have sex anyway. Whereas if you had a beautiful face, like Julia, boys fell in love with you, which seemed to happen almost against their will. Then the sex that you had would be about love."
& after the breakup of her brother and his girlfriend Julia --
"I tried hard to understand what Henry had told me. But I worried about that, too. Other people might not try as hard as I did to understand him. I was always on his side, no matter what. My parents were, too. All he really had to do with us was show up. More had been expected of him as Julia's boyfriend and at that party. More would be expected of him everywhere. I didn't know what had happened between him and Julia. It scared me that my brother had failed at loving someone. I had no idea myself how to do it."
The rest of the book wavered for me, especially the inexplicable middle chapter not in Jane's voice. But overall it was an enjoyable read with snappy dialogue and more depth than expected.
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-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
I read this when it first came out and I loved it. I wanted to reread it to see if I still loved it - I did.
Jane is the central character in all but one of the stories in this book. She is a young lady in the 80s(?) finding her way through life, from being a teenager, then a college student, and then an adult.
Jane is the central character in all but one of the stories in this book. She is a young lady in the 80s(?) finding her way through life, from being a teenager, then a college student, and then an adult.
This book was a pleasant surprise for me. I wasn't expecting very good writing, and Bank's stories were more accomplished than I'd anticipated. Some of the stories, particularly the early ones ("Advanced Beginners" and "The Floating House"), were well worth my time. I especially liked Bank's decision to preface her chapters with topical yet screwball epigraphs taken from various guides and manuals--epigraphs like, "While home is the place where you can relax and be yourself, this doesn't mean that you can take advantage of the love and affection other members of your family have for you" ("20th Century Typewriting"). As an adolescent in Boater's Safety class, I once heard an instructor advise us to mentally picture ourselves in the crisis scenarios in our textbooks in order to prepare ourselves for acting appropriately in real life crises. Bank's stories read like the transcripts of such mental imagining as applied to romance, while also lampooning the luscious dysfunctionality hidden in all guides and manuals and demonstrating the limits of the didactic.
After reading the blurb and judging the book by its cover I thought I was in for Bridget Jones' Diary feat. a feminist lens.
I was wrong. There was a human lens with a multitude of honest, breathtaking one-liners that literally had me fist-pumping at points.
An honest take of relationships and their complex simplicity from a woman in the late 90's. We're all children inside.
3.5/5
I was wrong. There was a human lens with a multitude of honest, breathtaking one-liners that literally had me fist-pumping at points.
An honest take of relationships and their complex simplicity from a woman in the late 90's. We're all children inside.
3.5/5
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was another Dolly rec! It was super fun, super quick, and I enjoyed reading it. I’m just not sure if it’s going to stick with me at all.
It follows this main character, Jane, throughout her life and different relationships as she tries to figure out love. It’s told through little short stories and moments in her life, so it felt a little choppy to me at times. Still glad I read it for sure, I just like more start to finish things I think.
It follows this main character, Jane, throughout her life and different relationships as she tries to figure out love. It’s told through little short stories and moments in her life, so it felt a little choppy to me at times. Still glad I read it for sure, I just like more start to finish things I think.
Not really sure what happened the second half of the book.... ??
Read it on kindle and didn't realise it was a series of short stories. It did have a bit of continuity with the same character aging in nearly all the stories but then an odd two chapters which didn't go anywhere, even as short stories. First 'story' was good but went downhill from there. Did not relate to the main character at all.