Reviews

The story was a little long-winded and rambling (and it took me a while to finish). So, here is a long-winded and rambling review. I had other Lethem books on my to read list, but this one was available from the library when I was looking for something to read and far from my pile of books at home. The story left me thinking, which is generally a good thing. Reading a couple of reviews (Yiyun Li in NYT and Alex Preston in the Guardian) that talk about a left view of American history, orphans and orphaning, and revolutionary legacies helped me process a bit. My thoughts are with the theme of family - each generation in the novel becomes more distanced from Rose's Communist foundation, mostly because they are challenged in their relationships with each other. Even Rose loses her connections and she becomes defined by her oppositions. Her legacy is passed on most effectively to Cicero, who is not related by blood, but is more of a mentee. As with many genetically-bonded families, their relationship is complex and evolves through a range of emotions, not all of which are warm and fuzzy. Miriam and Sergius wander through the politics they feel connected to in what seems like less than thoughtful ways. They are so absorbed in themselves, that they don't see the larger context they are lost in, attaching to symbols rather than fully engaging in their worlds. The characters will stay with me though, their stories were engaging as each of them evolves over time, growing up or older and struggling to find a place as the world changes around them.

alisonjfields's review against another edition

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3.0

Why do I do this to myself? I swear to God, every time I read a Lethem novel, I'm like, "never again," and yet here we are again, thanks to the neighborhood free box.

About 30% of this book--the parts set entirely before 1965 or so--are actually pretty good and made me remember the time, in the distant, fading past, when I found Jonathan Lethem to be considerably less annoying. The rest is basically two hundred odd pages of overwritten, name-dropping eyeroll.

60degreesn's review against another edition

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4.0

good, but I expected more

charliezegers's review against another edition

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3.0

Really interesting, in that it covers about sixty years of history and dozens of major social issues, but only through their impact on this one extended family. Hard to say I enjoyed it, as the tone is overwhelmingly bleak, but I'm glad I read it, if that makes sense.

leaveittoleonor's review against another edition

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1.0

could not finish this book.

debr's review against another edition

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3.0

I loved this book in the beginning. Lethem has a strong voice and dark sense of humor that speaks to me, and the Jewish-leftist-slightly-crazy thing, that's pretty much my history and he does it really well. But this book spirals into its own navel way too far by about halfway through, and I was bereft of feeling for most of the characters by the time we lost Rose to the nursing home. It needs a little bit of redemption from itself- too paralyzingly depressing by the end for my taste.

jpowerj's review against another edition

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2.0

Wow, this book was really really tedious and generic. Every sentence felt like it should be followed with a wink and a nudge from the author, like, "see what I did there? pretty creative, eh? yeah I'm kind of a big deal in literary circles cuz I do stuff like that." The constant NYC references also got old for me after about 10 pages ("heh, get it? because people in Gramercy Park are like totally like that, right, get it? haha"), and the strains to place Miriam in the like 1950s NYC artist/hipster scene ("lol, get it? they're gonna go to Norman Mailer's party in Brooklyn. omg so New York, right?")

I'm sorry Jonathan Lethem, I feel really mean writing this because I obviously couldn't do any better, but I just had to get all that off my chest X___X

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