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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
realistic in the sense that emotionally unavailable people JUST DON'T TALK!!!! both men have gone through so much shit in their childhoods (which totally informs their unhealthy not-coping mechanisms), and despite their history and attachment to one another, theirs is a relationship non-conducive to growth and healing. they're committed via complacency, and not even entirely at that given the physical and emotional infidelity committed by both of them. and like, that's ok! not every relationship can be nurturing or beneficial. some are really toxic (which this was) or simply unfulfilling (which this also was). again, realistic. sometimes you need to be alone to grow, and I feel like only mike got to do that: in osaka, reestablishing a relationship with his estranged father, integrating into the community around eiju's bar, and caring for his father in his final days. what struck me was mike's aversion to tan considering home to be wherever his mother is. "I don't think you should make a home of another person." a perspective crystallized like shards of broken glass over the course of his and benson's self-destructive relationship. but the thing is, mike has always tried to make a home of people, just not a singular person, but the community around him: his parents, his neighbors, his bar regulars. for him, home *is* people; it's caring for them, making them food. and he tries so hard to find it and keep it, but the indecision and fear of what's the right choice in the end (going back to osaka or staying in houston) may keep him rooted, frozen, stuck again in the same cycles of hurt and suffocation emblematic of his and benson's relationship. and ben? ben still doesn't really know what home is for him; I don't think he's even really looking yet. his apathy--for mike, his family, his life, himself--remains constant and frustrating til the end. but I can't totally blame him. memorial is about two men, so scarred by their upbringings, so scared of turning into their absent fathers that in many ways they do just that: retreating into themselves, withholding their emotions and love for one another for fear of vulnerability begetting pain. it's the hedgehog dilemma. and at this point, the two should stop trying to connect, they'll just keep hurting and getting hurt. but they don't have to with other people. they already have.
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really wanted to like this book but I just got bored and forced myself to see through to the end
Somehow, this novel finally broke my pandemic reading slump. For the first time in months and months I easily slipped into a story and didn't want to stop reading. I'm not sure what about the book did the trick, but it did.
I really liked the description of Mike's mom and her awkward presence in the apartment with Benson after Mike leaves. I like how difficult and unpleasant Mike and Benson's relationship is - well, I don't LIKE it, but I think it's a realistic portrayal of a relationship. They aren't all tidy and kind and nice.
I struggled with the transition to Mike's section. The shift from short sections to longer ones felt rough and it took several pages for me to remember I was in Mike's head and not Benson's.
But mainly I'm just thankful to (hopefully) be back in my reading groove.
I really liked the description of Mike's mom and her awkward presence in the apartment with Benson after Mike leaves. I like how difficult and unpleasant Mike and Benson's relationship is - well, I don't LIKE it, but I think it's a realistic portrayal of a relationship. They aren't all tidy and kind and nice.
I struggled with the transition to Mike's section. The shift from short sections to longer ones felt rough and it took several pages for me to remember I was in Mike's head and not Benson's.
But mainly I'm just thankful to (hopefully) be back in my reading groove.
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Here thanks to uncarley
First off, the formatting of this book gave me a headache. No quotation marks and no chapter breaks for parts of the book? No thanks
I read a review saying that Mike and Benson's relationship was built and sustained off of their mutual laziness, and that hit the nail on the head.
I need to know what Mitsuko told Mike before she left. Is she dying too? I guess we'll never know.
Unlikeable characters and not much of a plot. It gets points for taking place in Houston.
First off, the formatting of this book gave me a headache. No quotation marks and no chapter breaks for parts of the book? No thanks
I read a review saying that Mike and Benson's relationship was built and sustained off of their mutual laziness, and that hit the nail on the head.
I need to know what Mitsuko told Mike before she left. Is she dying too? I guess we'll never know.
Unlikeable characters and not much of a plot. It gets points for taking place in Houston.
Hello yes I need to read more books like this. I love these kind of stories, focusing on one or two people and carefully detailing their experiences. It was funny and both heart-breaking and heart-warming. Can't wait to read more from Washington.
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was reviewed so highly as an emotional and thoughtful book but it was the complete opposite for me.
All the characters had very dry dialogue and a lot of characters repeated the same phrases like they all had the same personality. (Except Mike's mom I loved her)
All their trauma was boring and barely explained. It was like anytime anything emotional started to happen it ended abruptly.
You would think a book about underrepresented minorities would expand on their traumas and circumstances but they were so bland.
I would have loved for them to have had more emotional conversations and connections to the people around them but it just felt like everyone existed to exist.
They were all boring :/
This book was also apparently supposed to be a dramedy... That was a lie.
Also has an unresolved ending, which to me is a horrible way to end a book.
If I could go back I would not read this book.
All the characters had very dry dialogue and a lot of characters repeated the same phrases like they all had the same personality. (Except Mike's mom I loved her)
All their trauma was boring and barely explained. It was like anytime anything emotional started to happen it ended abruptly.
You would think a book about underrepresented minorities would expand on their traumas and circumstances but they were so bland.
I would have loved for them to have had more emotional conversations and connections to the people around them but it just felt like everyone existed to exist.
They were all boring :/
This book was also apparently supposed to be a dramedy... That was a lie.
Also has an unresolved ending, which to me is a horrible way to end a book.
If I could go back I would not read this book.