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nationofkim's review against another edition
2.0
If I didn't feel the need to always finish what I've started...
windsrising's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
1.0
a waste of an interesting premise. kind of excruciating to get through. but the audiobook narrator, bernadette dunne, was wonderful!!
amycrea's review against another edition
2.0
This one had a lot of potential, but it just didn't get there for me.
christiebk's review against another edition
4.0
A unique novel, with lots of heart and dark humor. The author weaves together the story of Thurlow, Esme, and the four "agents" to tell a fascinating story about a misguided cult and the lives it affects. While the cult was originally created as a way to connect lonely people, it has spiraled out of Thurlow's control, and has got him into a heap-load of trouble. Unbeknownst to him, the love of his life, Esme, has been following and investigating him since they day they meet. Not complicated at all, hu?
Throughout the novel they tell the story of how they fell in love, how the Helix came to be, and how their lives started to fall apart.
This is a book that took me awhile to warm up to. It has a very unique writing structure, and a lot of characters are introduced in around about way. Though once I figured out the rhythm to that, I started to really enjoy the book. So if you don't like it at first, keep reading, it might grow on you.
(http://daydreamsandrainydays.blogspot.com/2013/07/woke-up-lonely-by-fiona-maazel-book.html)
Throughout the novel they tell the story of how they fell in love, how the Helix came to be, and how their lives started to fall apart.
This is a book that took me awhile to warm up to. It has a very unique writing structure, and a lot of characters are introduced in around about way. Though once I figured out the rhythm to that, I started to really enjoy the book. So if you don't like it at first, keep reading, it might grow on you.
(http://daydreamsandrainydays.blogspot.com/2013/07/woke-up-lonely-by-fiona-maazel-book.html)
corilarks's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the book more after I finished it. But during, it was like some information was being withheld from me constantly!
gilmoreguide's review against another edition
3.0
Many people have experienced loneliness in their life but for Thurlow Dan it was a call to organize a movement. The Helix is his solution to the isolated insulated lives we live—a reach-out-and-connect-with-someone group with no ideology beyond sharing and human interaction. Unfortunately, it is this lack of forethought that has landed Thurlow in some big trouble in Fiona’s Maazel’s novel, Woke Up Lonely. On the surface, his group is a success, with chapters spreading out across the United States and more people joining all the time.
You can read the rest of this review at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2013/04/woke-up-lonely/.
You can read the rest of this review at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2013/04/woke-up-lonely/.
orlion's review against another edition
4.0
Woke Up Lonely is a novel about frustrated desires. Sure, loneliness is a huge theme and the treatment of it is how Dan rises to power in his cult. However, ultimately, loneliness is a symptom, not a cause. This can make the reading of the novel somewhat confusing, since a lot of the overt discussion is about loneliness. But Dan Thurlow being unable to "heal himself" implies a bit more going on beneath the surface.
The novel centers on two main characters; Dan and Esme; and four minor characters; Anne, Olgo, Bruce, and some guy searching for his lost twin sister whose name escapes me. They are all connected by a cult Dan founded called the Helix, which the government believes to be a developing, dangerous revolutionary group. The government wants to take down Dan (and thus, the Helix) and forces the individual conflicts of our characters to a head.
In the case of the four minor characters, this leads to some revelations and character growth as the events force a resolution in each of their cases. For Dan and Esme, however, the resolution of their arcs are in little doubt. Instead, their sizable portion centers around revealing who they actually are.
A lot of the book is also farcical in nature. These characters are tragic, but there's a certain wry humor narrating the entirety of the events. This wry humor makes the more outlandish aspects of the novel easier to accept.
Overall, a novel about frustrated desires will ultimately frustrate the desires of the reader. The key is to not do it so completely as to turn that frustration into bitter disappointment. In my case, Maazel succeeds in this. The problem of loneliness and frustrated desires are not resolved through any singular character revelation...It's questionable at times if it can be resolved. The individual character plots are wrapped up nicely, however...And perhaps the cure for loneliness and frustrated desires is an acceptance of smaller consolations.
The novel centers on two main characters; Dan and Esme; and four minor characters; Anne, Olgo, Bruce, and some guy searching for his lost twin sister whose name escapes me. They are all connected by a cult Dan founded called the Helix, which the government believes to be a developing, dangerous revolutionary group. The government wants to take down Dan (and thus, the Helix) and forces the individual conflicts of our characters to a head.
In the case of the four minor characters, this leads to some revelations and character growth as the events force a resolution in each of their cases. For Dan and Esme, however, the resolution of their arcs are in little doubt. Instead, their sizable portion centers around revealing who they actually are.
A lot of the book is also farcical in nature. These characters are tragic, but there's a certain wry humor narrating the entirety of the events. This wry humor makes the more outlandish aspects of the novel easier to accept.
Overall, a novel about frustrated desires will ultimately frustrate the desires of the reader. The key is to not do it so completely as to turn that frustration into bitter disappointment. In my case, Maazel succeeds in this. The problem of loneliness and frustrated desires are not resolved through any singular character revelation...It's questionable at times if it can be resolved. The individual character plots are wrapped up nicely, however...And perhaps the cure for loneliness and frustrated desires is an acceptance of smaller consolations.
mattnixon's review against another edition
1.0
I can’t think of a book I’ve disliked more than Woke Up Lonely. I’ve left books disappointed, unnerved, irritated or angry that I wasted my time. Woke Up Lonely left me feeling grateful to rid myself of the company of a smiling sadist.
There’s lots of great (and good…even passable) literature that deals with unpleasant, difficult, damaged and flawed characters. There’s just as many worthy works that shine light on tragic, fantastic and far-flung “realities”. I found no emotional or social truth in Woke Up Lonely…it feels like the glimpse into the mind of a sociopath looking into the hearts of men. It’s shocking—and unprecedented in my reading experience—how much contempt author Fiona Maazel has for her creations and, by proxy, her readers.
Admittedly, I never figured out the story’s stylistic locale. The book is tethered to (and utilizes) a very specific moment in U.S. history (2000 and 2005) and world geopolitics: the Bush-year mindset and contemporary world events very much drive story and plot mechanics. However, dialogue, action, character motivations and story elements are so farcical that they could not actually happen in even the most extreme state of fictional hyper-realism. It’s like the Scooby-Doo gang as the leads in Zero Dark Thirty (Zero Zoinks Thirty?). It’s not literary juxtaposition when elements are so incongruous that they undermine and invalidate the other. No one and nothing here is true.
I could go on explicating the broad, unreal characters, the muddy and confusing POV shifts, the nonsensical too-clever-by-half loop-de-loop metaphors and look-at-my-thesaurus dialogue, but it’s really not worth it. I try to judge a work on how well it accomplishes what it’s trying to do. I’m at an complete—unprecedented for me—loss for what Maazel is doing unless it’s to create a book that makes you hate humankind for being human. Whatever charity I can extend to a flawed work withers up in the face of the contempt Maazel exhibits for her characters, her readers and her fellow women and men.
Maazel may well have cut this feeling some with a series of happy endings for the characters. I don’t know…I quit reading on page 270 (out of 320ish) after I saw how she concluded one main character’s story.
Overwritten, self-pleased, misanthropic, emotionally false and contemptuous, Woke Up Lonely’s sole notable attribute may be that it somehow dislikes me more than I dislike it. And I hated Woke Up Lonely.
There’s lots of great (and good…even passable) literature that deals with unpleasant, difficult, damaged and flawed characters. There’s just as many worthy works that shine light on tragic, fantastic and far-flung “realities”. I found no emotional or social truth in Woke Up Lonely…it feels like the glimpse into the mind of a sociopath looking into the hearts of men. It’s shocking—and unprecedented in my reading experience—how much contempt author Fiona Maazel has for her creations and, by proxy, her readers.
Admittedly, I never figured out the story’s stylistic locale. The book is tethered to (and utilizes) a very specific moment in U.S. history (2000 and 2005) and world geopolitics: the Bush-year mindset and contemporary world events very much drive story and plot mechanics. However, dialogue, action, character motivations and story elements are so farcical that they could not actually happen in even the most extreme state of fictional hyper-realism. It’s like the Scooby-Doo gang as the leads in Zero Dark Thirty (Zero Zoinks Thirty?). It’s not literary juxtaposition when elements are so incongruous that they undermine and invalidate the other. No one and nothing here is true.
I could go on explicating the broad, unreal characters, the muddy and confusing POV shifts, the nonsensical too-clever-by-half loop-de-loop metaphors and look-at-my-thesaurus dialogue, but it’s really not worth it. I try to judge a work on how well it accomplishes what it’s trying to do. I’m at an complete—unprecedented for me—loss for what Maazel is doing unless it’s to create a book that makes you hate humankind for being human. Whatever charity I can extend to a flawed work withers up in the face of the contempt Maazel exhibits for her characters, her readers and her fellow women and men.
Maazel may well have cut this feeling some with a series of happy endings for the characters. I don’t know…I quit reading on page 270 (out of 320ish) after I saw how she concluded one main character’s story.
Overwritten, self-pleased, misanthropic, emotionally false and contemptuous, Woke Up Lonely’s sole notable attribute may be that it somehow dislikes me more than I dislike it. And I hated Woke Up Lonely.
auntsarah's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
kjboldon's review against another edition
2.0
probably 2 1/2 but I'm taking a point off for prostitutes then rounding up. Prostitutes are not funny, or sexy, or stock characters and I find writing them as such is flippant and offensive.
As for book, interesting idea about cult leader, written as absurd. Intermittently entertaining. Reminded me of Leftovers and May We Be Forgiven, but less well executed. No differentiation in characters' voices, speaking versus writing. Longest index cards ever, and book often a slog at times even at only 300 pages. Shorter and tighter, this might've worked.
As for book, interesting idea about cult leader, written as absurd. Intermittently entertaining. Reminded me of Leftovers and May We Be Forgiven, but less well executed. No differentiation in characters' voices, speaking versus writing. Longest index cards ever, and book often a slog at times even at only 300 pages. Shorter and tighter, this might've worked.