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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
Probably would have given this 4 stars had the reader in the audio version (who is otherwise fantastic, BTW) had, in the voice of a lit prof, pronounced "Proust" correctly. "Napoli" too, but the "Proust" one was painful. Story was wonderfully fantastic, upside down, sci-fi sort of look at colonlialism, racial politics, human relations and many more meaty issues. And really, I do love this actor's voice....
I think Johnson accomplished what he set out to do and it’s clear how much of a fan of the original work he is. It is fun to read having read The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. It’s a successful satire that I think can lend to interesting discussions but it’s not something I will think about often.
Very rarely do I give up on a book so quickly....25 pages in I was done.
What a goofy book! I would never would have read this if I hadn't been reading books pertaining to different countries and regions, but I am really glad I did! I didn't know Edgar Allen Poe only wrote one novel in his career, because he was told to, and that it inspired this novel, among others. A great book to read when you need an uplifting, fun read.
Intriguing, surprising, and different. I had it on my shelf and avoided it for some mysterious reason for a couple years - then finally dove in last week. Starts with a bang of sorts, as you meet the main characters and experience some initial action. Kind of bogs down for a while until the adventure gets going in Antarctica. I almost quit on it a couple times, like about 1/3 in - but glad I didn't. Exquisitely written. The plot can bog down or confuse a bit, and I'm sure I didn't fully catch or appreciate the Poe backstory and callouts to other literary journey classics.
A small bonus was to discover that the author grew up in a neighborhood in Philly where I worked for five years and lived for about three, as a "cub" journalist with the neighborhood newspaper.
A small bonus was to discover that the author grew up in a neighborhood in Philly where I worked for five years and lived for about three, as a "cub" journalist with the neighborhood newspaper.
I was not expecting a savage takedown of Thomas Kinkade (painter of light!), but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book leaves me with mixed feelings, hence the 3/5 star rating. Divided into 4 parts, I was on board with the first part. The satire was being set up wonderfully, I was laughing at the absurdities of the characters that were introduced. But then as we moved through parts 3-4 it was less satirical and more straight social commentary, but the humor was missing. The additional characters were not only stereotypes, but we didn't get enough time with any of them to appreciate them.
To be fair to satirize the only (and honestly awful) novel of Edgar Allan Poe, that means following his format. The ending is a bit ambiguous, as in Poe's novel, and degenerates into a series of journal entries as opposed to the pseudo-academic narrative we had been following. This was far better than Poe's work, but having dislike the original so much, I think it was hard to really appreciate all Mat Johnson was doing with his version.
To be fair to satirize the only (and honestly awful) novel of Edgar Allan Poe, that means following his format. The ending is a bit ambiguous, as in Poe's novel, and degenerates into a series of journal entries as opposed to the pseudo-academic narrative we had been following. This was far better than Poe's work, but having dislike the original so much, I think it was hard to really appreciate all Mat Johnson was doing with his version.
Really intriguing extension of Poe's "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" amplified by the "discovered" manuscript of Dirk Peters (a character Poe calls "half-breed Indian", but whose description sounds African-American), and the inclusion of a character very like Thomas Kinkaide.