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lexiwangler's review against another edition
3.0
I have a lot of feelings about this book. I think that it's important to keep these following points in mind while I write my review, so:
1. This is the first book that I picked up in a really long time that I had heard nothing about, nor read any reviews. I liked the jacket copy, I liked the cover, and I respect Europa as a publisher. I found it on a table in The Strand, which I also trust, and I was happy to have found it that way. Not that big of a deal to most readers, but when every book I read is immersed in the cultural backdrop of my profession, I remember the ones that aren't.
2. This is the third teacher/student/illicit relationship book I've read this year--you may remember my angry review of [b:Consent|24853763|Consent|Nancy Ohlin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424463501s/24853763.jpg|44500349], which I did not like, and [b:Tampa|17225311|Tampa|Alissa Nutting|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1393784199s/17225311.jpg|23731028], which I loved. Beginning to think books of this kind should have their own pet-obsession shelf, like serial killers and the Tudors.
3. I wasn't aware of the book's colorful history--that it is a thinly veiled fictional account of the author's experience as a teacher at the American School of Paris--until I was already about fifty pages in, and I purposefully did not read this Jezebel expose until I had finished reading the book. However, despite my attempts to remain unbiased and see the work as separate from its author, there are definite moments in the text itself where you can feel the author's blatant wish fulfillment. More on that later. Also, I'm not going to bother spoiler tagging because these stories all end the same way.
To summarize, YOU DESERVE NOTHING tells the story (in alternating, first-person chapters) of Mr. Will Silver and two of his students, Marie and Gilad. At a private American high school in Paris, Mr. Silver is a hugely popular, passionate, young, handsome teacher who left his wife, Isabelle, shortly after both of his parents died unexpectedly. Marie is ignored by her well-off parents and has a contentious relationship with her best friend. Gilad is new to the school and to Paris, and is a loner who has to come to terms with the fact that his dad hits his mom.
Despite missing his wife and the attentions of the other popular hot young teacher, Mia Keller, Mr. Silver prefers to soak up any and all approbations and validation from his adoring students--he teaches a senior seminar and a 10th grade literature-esque class. While out with his students one night after a graduation party, he meets Marie, who he hits on until he realizes she's still in school, much to his horror. There's not a lot of self-reflection or moral awareness or hand-wringing over the decision to become involved with a student, just some slight hesitation that is overcome without much fanfare. In some ways this is refreshing, having a character make a life-changing decision almost casually, but in other ways the realization that he sees himself as above things like school policy, morality, laws (you know, little things) is somewhat alarming. But Silver never comes off as a monster, just human.
But that's not my big problem. My big problem with this text is how Marie's character is handled. Marie is not in Silver's seminar--she's not even in his tenth grade class. Her best friend, who is definitely the closest thing to an antagonist (it's heavily implied that she is the one behind the lovers being caught through the gossip mill), is the one in the senior seminar. Marie isn't considered at all by Gilad, the third character from whose point of view we see Silver as a teacher, untouchable and life-changing, or really by Silver himself. He sees her as a warm body, more or less, a way to feel good about himself. This would be okay if her chapters presented her as something more, something realistic, but instead, all you get is typical male wish fulfillment bullshit. She never had meaningful sex before him, she never masturbated, she had never thought of anything or of herself sexually. He's her sexual awakening, and at points it's really transparent to the reader how much the author wishes this were the case. She's not a realistic character--she's what a man in that position would want.
Furthermore, I think that it's a huge mistake to omit any and all of Marie's life outside Mr. Silver. She's a high school student, but we never see her in school except to pass in the hallways. Do young girls become obsessed with their lovers? Yes, but not having her in any of his classes--read: any classes at all--is a huge waste of potential. The missed opportunities for drama are endless, and Mr. Silver comes off as super skeazy for shacking up with a seventeen-year-old who he's never even had a class with. Because that's a huge part of Mr. Silver's identity--the cool teacher, the good teacher, the one the students all worship. He loves his students' minds, especially when he's the one stimulating them. That's what teaching is about for him, but he and Marie never seem to have any meaningful conversations, at least in the dialogue on the page. It makes her come off as a purely physical being, and I think that's a huge disservice to the novel, let alone the actual girl her character is based on. You have to lean on Gilad and his experience in Silver's class for any intellectual conversation at all--not counting Silver's inner musings, alternately pedantic and incisive--and while Gilad is a compelling character, he's also dazzled by Mr. Silver, even after he's been disappointed, having seen the man beneath the myth. I will give you that Gilad gets some of the more engaging chapters (and they're all pretty engaging) because he is in Mr. Silver's senior seminar, where they talk about literature and philosophy and daily life. I am not a student or even an enthusiast of philosophy, but Maksik portrays these conversations so well and renders even the more elevated concepts concisely and clearly (helped by the wide range of students in his class, who are at least more realized than Marie) in a way that even people who hate philosophy can understand and appreciate.
Regardless of the above, Maksik can certainly write. I liked his prose very much--his Parisian setting feels authentic and tangible, the language seamless and elegant. His students especially seemed very realistic--even Marie was believable when she was talking about things other than Mr. Silver.
I don't know if I can recommend this book. Obviously, I had a lot of problems with it. But I was also unable to put it down, I've been talking about it to anyone who will listen, and now have written my longest Goodreads review ever on it. I wouldn't say I liked it, but I wouldn't trade the experience of reading it, either.
1. This is the first book that I picked up in a really long time that I had heard nothing about, nor read any reviews. I liked the jacket copy, I liked the cover, and I respect Europa as a publisher. I found it on a table in The Strand, which I also trust, and I was happy to have found it that way. Not that big of a deal to most readers, but when every book I read is immersed in the cultural backdrop of my profession, I remember the ones that aren't.
2. This is the third teacher/student/illicit relationship book I've read this year--you may remember my angry review of [b:Consent|24853763|Consent|Nancy Ohlin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424463501s/24853763.jpg|44500349], which I did not like, and [b:Tampa|17225311|Tampa|Alissa Nutting|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1393784199s/17225311.jpg|23731028], which I loved. Beginning to think books of this kind should have their own pet-obsession shelf, like serial killers and the Tudors.
3. I wasn't aware of the book's colorful history--that it is a thinly veiled fictional account of the author's experience as a teacher at the American School of Paris--until I was already about fifty pages in, and I purposefully did not read this Jezebel expose until I had finished reading the book. However, despite my attempts to remain unbiased and see the work as separate from its author, there are definite moments in the text itself where you can feel the author's blatant wish fulfillment. More on that later. Also, I'm not going to bother spoiler tagging because these stories all end the same way.
To summarize, YOU DESERVE NOTHING tells the story (in alternating, first-person chapters) of Mr. Will Silver and two of his students, Marie and Gilad. At a private American high school in Paris, Mr. Silver is a hugely popular, passionate, young, handsome teacher who left his wife, Isabelle, shortly after both of his parents died unexpectedly. Marie is ignored by her well-off parents and has a contentious relationship with her best friend. Gilad is new to the school and to Paris, and is a loner who has to come to terms with the fact that his dad hits his mom.
Despite missing his wife and the attentions of the other popular hot young teacher, Mia Keller, Mr. Silver prefers to soak up any and all approbations and validation from his adoring students--he teaches a senior seminar and a 10th grade literature-esque class. While out with his students one night after a graduation party, he meets Marie, who he hits on until he realizes she's still in school, much to his horror. There's not a lot of self-reflection or moral awareness or hand-wringing over the decision to become involved with a student, just some slight hesitation that is overcome without much fanfare. In some ways this is refreshing, having a character make a life-changing decision almost casually, but in other ways the realization that he sees himself as above things like school policy, morality, laws (you know, little things) is somewhat alarming. But Silver never comes off as a monster, just human.
But that's not my big problem. My big problem with this text is how Marie's character is handled. Marie is not in Silver's seminar--she's not even in his tenth grade class. Her best friend, who is definitely the closest thing to an antagonist (it's heavily implied that she is the one behind the lovers being caught through the gossip mill), is the one in the senior seminar. Marie isn't considered at all by Gilad, the third character from whose point of view we see Silver as a teacher, untouchable and life-changing, or really by Silver himself. He sees her as a warm body, more or less, a way to feel good about himself. This would be okay if her chapters presented her as something more, something realistic, but instead, all you get is typical male wish fulfillment bullshit. She never had meaningful sex before him, she never masturbated, she had never thought of anything or of herself sexually. He's her sexual awakening, and at points it's really transparent to the reader how much the author wishes this were the case. She's not a realistic character--she's what a man in that position would want.
Furthermore, I think that it's a huge mistake to omit any and all of Marie's life outside Mr. Silver. She's a high school student, but we never see her in school except to pass in the hallways. Do young girls become obsessed with their lovers? Yes, but not having her in any of his classes--read: any classes at all--is a huge waste of potential. The missed opportunities for drama are endless, and Mr. Silver comes off as super skeazy for shacking up with a seventeen-year-old who he's never even had a class with. Because that's a huge part of Mr. Silver's identity--the cool teacher, the good teacher, the one the students all worship. He loves his students' minds, especially when he's the one stimulating them. That's what teaching is about for him, but he and Marie never seem to have any meaningful conversations, at least in the dialogue on the page. It makes her come off as a purely physical being, and I think that's a huge disservice to the novel, let alone the actual girl her character is based on. You have to lean on Gilad and his experience in Silver's class for any intellectual conversation at all--not counting Silver's inner musings, alternately pedantic and incisive--and while Gilad is a compelling character, he's also dazzled by Mr. Silver, even after he's been disappointed, having seen the man beneath the myth. I will give you that Gilad gets some of the more engaging chapters (and they're all pretty engaging) because he is in Mr. Silver's senior seminar, where they talk about literature and philosophy and daily life. I am not a student or even an enthusiast of philosophy, but Maksik portrays these conversations so well and renders even the more elevated concepts concisely and clearly (helped by the wide range of students in his class, who are at least more realized than Marie) in a way that even people who hate philosophy can understand and appreciate.
Regardless of the above, Maksik can certainly write. I liked his prose very much--his Parisian setting feels authentic and tangible, the language seamless and elegant. His students especially seemed very realistic--even Marie was believable when she was talking about things other than Mr. Silver.
I don't know if I can recommend this book. Obviously, I had a lot of problems with it. But I was also unable to put it down, I've been talking about it to anyone who will listen, and now have written my longest Goodreads review ever on it. I wouldn't say I liked it, but I wouldn't trade the experience of reading it, either.
tippycanoegal's review against another edition
4.0
I read this novel with no background information and loved it. Intelligent, reflective, beautifully written, excellent characters. Came on over to Goodreads to write my rave review and for the first time saw other reviews that reference the fact that this is based on a true story by an author who was himself dismissed from the same international school as his main character for the same reason (a relationship with a student) . Spent a bit of time mulling the matter over before deciding that this new biographical information does not change my assessment of the novel. Martin Amis once said that “fiction is the only way to redeem the formlessness of life,” and even if it is true that scenes and characters in this novel correspond closely to those remembered and reconstructed by others, this author has ultimately transformed a disparate series of events into something more, something with shape and substance. (Mr. Amis is a great example of an author I find fairly distasteful as a human being, but whom I deeply appreciate as a novelist.)
Life is messy. I can understand why the ex-students are angry. The novelist may or may not be a jerk. However, I believe that an artist should be allowed to use just about everything at his or her fingertips in order to create art. The real issue for me is whether this novel, taken on its own merits, asks interesting questions and does so in a compelling way. The answer here is yes and yes. I highly recommend it without reservations.
Life is messy. I can understand why the ex-students are angry. The novelist may or may not be a jerk. However, I believe that an artist should be allowed to use just about everything at his or her fingertips in order to create art. The real issue for me is whether this novel, taken on its own merits, asks interesting questions and does so in a compelling way. The answer here is yes and yes. I highly recommend it without reservations.
featherbooks's review against another edition
4.0
[b:You Deserve Nothing|9777374|You Deserve Nothing|Alexander Maksik|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298922349s/9777374.jpg|14667081] is set in a private international high school in Paris (the setting being yet another character in the story), with compelling first-person narrations by two students and their revered English teacher who challenges them to think about their reading in moral and philosophical terms. They try to translate his intellectual messages to their lives and suffer the universal response of teenagers to the disappointments of adulthood as their beloved teacher seems to throw away his livelihood and career in careless, unwary behavior. I read it with total absorption. The following passage about teachers stuck with me:
"The ones who stay are so often some of the most depressing people you've ever met in your life. It has nothing to do with their age. They've stayed because of their dispositions--bitter, bored, lacking in ambition, lonely, and mildly insane....This is what it takes to teach for half a life-time. The ones who care, who love the subjects, who love their students, who love, above all, teaching--they rarely hang around."
Maksik is a gifted writer and I look forward to more of his work.
"The ones who stay are so often some of the most depressing people you've ever met in your life. It has nothing to do with their age. They've stayed because of their dispositions--bitter, bored, lacking in ambition, lonely, and mildly insane....This is what it takes to teach for half a life-time. The ones who care, who love the subjects, who love their students, who love, above all, teaching--they rarely hang around."
Maksik is a gifted writer and I look forward to more of his work.
corey's review against another edition
4.0
A wonderful debut novel that I was surprised I hadn't heard more about. Maksik has an extraordinary ability to inhabit the minds of very different characters and bring them to life. This book packs the kind of emotional punch that makes you want to read it again.
You Deserve Nothing is primarily the story of Will Silver, an idealistic, charismatic, hard-working, and ultimately broken teacher at an international high school based in Paris. Will is able to consistently inspire his students, to make them look forward to coming to class, and to make them work hard for him. The story is also told from the perspectives of one of Silver's doting students as well as a student with whom Mr. Silver has an affair, bringing into question all of his inspirational lectures on philosophy, literature, and morality which he gives throughout the book.
You Deserve Nothing doesn't quite re-tread Lolita territory--Will isn't an evil man, doesn't quite seem sick, though the reader is often appalled at some of his choices--but it does nonetheless seek to make the reader uncomfortable, and to push the moral envelope. Is it wrong to feel sad for a statutory rapist? Is it wrong to feel sad for the victim, who desperately wishes that the affair would continue? If we judge Will for failing to live up to his own moral standards, are we forced to examine the ways in which our own lives are and are not commensurate with our values?
In short, the novel leaves the reader not only heartbroken, but also with a lot to think about.
You Deserve Nothing is primarily the story of Will Silver, an idealistic, charismatic, hard-working, and ultimately broken teacher at an international high school based in Paris. Will is able to consistently inspire his students, to make them look forward to coming to class, and to make them work hard for him. The story is also told from the perspectives of one of Silver's doting students as well as a student with whom Mr. Silver has an affair, bringing into question all of his inspirational lectures on philosophy, literature, and morality which he gives throughout the book.
You Deserve Nothing doesn't quite re-tread Lolita territory--Will isn't an evil man, doesn't quite seem sick, though the reader is often appalled at some of his choices--but it does nonetheless seek to make the reader uncomfortable, and to push the moral envelope. Is it wrong to feel sad for a statutory rapist? Is it wrong to feel sad for the victim, who desperately wishes that the affair would continue? If we judge Will for failing to live up to his own moral standards, are we forced to examine the ways in which our own lives are and are not commensurate with our values?
In short, the novel leaves the reader not only heartbroken, but also with a lot to think about.
theshrinkette's review against another edition
Yeah so I heard about this being the author's actual story where he got a teenager pregnant and she was forced to have an abortion, and then he has the gall to exploit her and the situation and publish this as a work of fiction. Yeah, no. Nope. Nada. DNF-ing.
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