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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My 2nd from the Booker longlist is this satirical look on modern media. From a young reporters account of a raid upon a rave in which a gold bar is stolen, to the reporter's encounter with her obnoxious University friends and ending with a populist columnist at a literary festival, a character typical of today's media where saying anything outrageous is defended as free speech. It is a short book that deserves a reread and definitely an appealing new literary voice.
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-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
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Not for me. I feel like I was reading an op ed piece about an op ed piece.
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read a lot of this book with my eyebrows squinched up. I deeply disliked everyone involved with this story, but also they all said things that made me think "well that part isn't wrong." It's a very-- real-- book. These people are very real. They are not cleaned up for consumption. It definitely is leaving me a little sad about the state of our media, the people who run it and the people who are the subjects of the media. My GOD is media a snake eating its own tail. Reminds me to stay away and focus on my own community because there's nothing positive happening over there.
challenging
dark
medium-paced
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm a bit stumped by this book. While I enjoyed the "reading experience", I don't understand what the author was trying to say. Was it a critique of anti-woke rhetoric? More than just that? I don't know. You need to like spending time with entertainingly awful people to enjoy this book which I do up to a point, and this book almost overstepped that point.
The play with form and structure in this novel initially drew me to it. It opens with a long-form journalism story about a man who is bludgeoned with a gold bar on the property of a wealthy man. The problems I had with the book began pretty soon after beginning to read it, though; the journalism article itself was so dry and disjointed, and the rest of the novel (which branches out into other side character perspectives and stories) suffered from the same issues. So when the journalist receives praise for what I thought was a poorly written article, I just couldn't buy into the rest of the storylines.
There are threads and character stories (potential arcs) that simply go nowhere. There's no thrust, nothing driving any sort of plot. And I can get on with a plot-less novel that is a rich character study, but the characters are so one dimensional.
The satirical social/political commentary about populism, armchair activism, profiting off of having a "hot" and controversial political take (the main character who writes "woke/unwoke" propaganda kind of reminded me of Naomi Wolf), classism, and multiculturalism, among other timely topics occasionally landed as sharp and witty but really lacked any authorial critique or point of view. I honestly can't tell what the author's own political leanings are after reading the book, which maybe was the point, but it's certainly not something I appreciate in literature that I hope to love.
There were times when the story and themes reminded me of Eleanor Catton's Birnam Wood, which was a cracker of a novel--full of energy and a deep examination of the global state we find ourselves in in regards to the terrifying rise of right wing hate speech, manipulation, and greed. But this book really fell flat for me; I'm so glad it was only 150 pages or else I likely would have DNF'd it.
The ethos of the novel is so very British, and that might have been part of the accessibility problems for me. Even so, it isn't enough of an excuse to rate the book any higher.
There are threads and character stories (potential arcs) that simply go nowhere. There's no thrust, nothing driving any sort of plot. And I can get on with a plot-less novel that is a rich character study, but the characters are so one dimensional.
The satirical social/political commentary about populism, armchair activism, profiting off of having a "hot" and controversial political take (the main character who writes "woke/unwoke" propaganda kind of reminded me of Naomi Wolf), classism, and multiculturalism, among other timely topics occasionally landed as sharp and witty but really lacked any authorial critique or point of view. I honestly can't tell what the author's own political leanings are after reading the book, which maybe was the point, but it's certainly not something I appreciate in literature that I hope to love.
There were times when the story and themes reminded me of Eleanor Catton's Birnam Wood, which was a cracker of a novel--full of energy and a deep examination of the global state we find ourselves in in regards to the terrifying rise of right wing hate speech, manipulation, and greed. But this book really fell flat for me; I'm so glad it was only 150 pages or else I likely would have DNF'd it.
The ethos of the novel is so very British, and that might have been part of the accessibility problems for me. Even so, it isn't enough of an excuse to rate the book any higher.
dark
funny
lighthearted
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