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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
This is a great snapshot of a place and time, aka the '60s white middle class suburb. I had trouble finding any kind of empathy (or sympathy) for three out of the four characters, maybe even the fourth! (Richard-after all it was insulated that he beat Sally). Ruth does seem like the victim, but how could she be after she cheated on Jerry with Richard?!? I can't see how that was never mentioned to either Jerry or Sally.
Jerry & Sally's romance bordered on teenage hysteria and made it hard to get through the first third of the book.
The ambiguous ending , or "choose your own ending" was alternately refreshing and annoying. I choose to believe that Jerry would eventually come to his senses and go back to Ruth after getting off that island.
Overall I would compare this to Revolutionary Road or We Don't live Here Anymore, but a little more pretentious in its language and writing.
Jerry & Sally's romance bordered on teenage hysteria and made it hard to get through the first third of the book.
The ambiguous ending , or "choose your own ending" was alternately refreshing and annoying. I choose to believe that Jerry would eventually come to his senses and go back to Ruth after getting off that island.
Overall I would compare this to Revolutionary Road or We Don't live Here Anymore, but a little more pretentious in its language and writing.
Great writing style, although the book really is 50 pages too long which seriously hinders the narrative.
sad
slow-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
I wanted to try John Updike and so at least I accomplished that with this book. I realize this isn't his most renowned book, but it was pretty bad. Lots of descriptions that were well-written and fascinating, I suppose, to some, but I skipped over most of them. All the characters are immature and silly. This book was unique in that it showed the impact of children (a total of six) on these two marriages imploding. The main character is the most immature. I recommend skipping this one. I doubt I ever read another book by this author. One good point, in fairness, is that though the story takes place in 1960, the basic plot could have been written at any time and continues to be relevant today. But don't be like these couples. blech
This is a generous rating for this book, but I have a lot of tenderness for it--for Jerry, for Ruth, for Richard, and I guess even for Sally, all whom I got to know well as I made my way through the book. I also read this, my first Updike book, at a time of tumult--my last finals of my freshman year, an old classmate of mine passed, and I was tying up the lose ends of my social life which did little to fend off my terminal loneliness--and found it strange but somehow comforting to return to these characters through it all.
I was stunned by the beauty of some of the lines of the book, of how real the characters seemed, of the smartness of the dialogue, even through the boringness of the story. This book is a wonderful meditation on real love and how it relates to marriage, adultery, etc. What can real love overcome, and what can it not? Can it overcome our own narcissism, our inability to take control of our fate? I guess what I'm trying to explain is that there is nothing overtly special about this book, but there is something special about it to me. I recommend this book to anyone with a large reserve of patience.
I was stunned by the beauty of some of the lines of the book, of how real the characters seemed, of the smartness of the dialogue, even through the boringness of the story. This book is a wonderful meditation on real love and how it relates to marriage, adultery, etc. What can real love overcome, and what can it not? Can it overcome our own narcissism, our inability to take control of our fate? I guess what I'm trying to explain is that there is nothing overtly special about this book, but there is something special about it to me. I recommend this book to anyone with a large reserve of patience.
I hated this book!!! It's incredibly dated and hasn't aged well at all!
It is full of self absorbed, hateful characters who I quite frankly couldn't give a shit what happened to
It is full of self absorbed, hateful characters who I quite frankly couldn't give a shit what happened to
loved it. and wanted to die after I finished. bleak. raw. jerry conant is a motherfucker. put me on suicide watch for an hour and hide the liquor. jesus.
emotional
funny
sad
slow-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
Fairly plot driven for an Updike book. Whiny, self-centered suburbanites having affairs and not having the ability to make up their minds. I think I am always a little put off by how much more the characters in Updike books care about themselves than they do their spouses, and particularly their children. Great writing, as always.
Not sure how much of the ending was "real" and how much the protagonist imagined. . .