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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
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
This Pulitzer finalist is a decent book. It’s well-written and reads fairly easily. At times, it’s a bit scattered and choppy, which I believe is by design. I think it’s less about toxic masculinity, as some say, and more about the conflict between heartland America’s more traditional Christian social conservatism, and the progressive liberal sensibilities of non-Christian coastal elites.
Not too much happens, but some fascinating prose on Middle America and the 2016 election.
You can say that Ben Lerner's subtlety is what makes this book so uniquely enjoyable yet always slightly out of reach. Or you can say it's the same subtlety that makes the book less than satisfying. I personally really enjoyed it. It is like he is showing you all the dots and it is up to you to connect them into something that resembles a portrait of the world we suddenly find in front of us.
A smart, entertaining read that I really liked. The scenes of high school in 1997 hit very close to home. The ending felt tied up a little too nicely, and in a way that reached for political heft that I don't feel the book had earned (or needed). In other words: 95% of the book was about growing up in Kansas with overly educated parents and a brain injury, and then Trump got elected, so suddenly Lerner felt he needed to address that too.
I loved this book. Its central topic is toxic masculinity and its disintegrative effect on society, a very relevant problem which is explored insightfully. This is, however, a widely discussed topic - what makes The Topeka School truly unique is how it connects this with the collapse of public discourse, the divorce of language from meaning, and how it not only describes, but also replicates this process in its own narration. It is extremely well written, a text that makes us the reader pause and savour individual sentences that are especially apt or expressive - and then makes the reader stumble when meanings start to fall apart. Nevertheless, although the narration is masterful, the book is not simply a linguistic exercise. The story itself is simple, but the characters are interesting and well developed, and I was intrigued to know more about them and their relationships. This is not a realist novel that describes every aspect of its characters' lives in detail; instead, a lot is left unsaid and only hinted at. Still, it feels complete.
I feel this is the kind of book that's meant to be read at least twice because until you get to the end, you don't really know where it's going. But then again, you could say the same about all of Ben Lerner's books.
I like this better than Altocha, but not nearly as good as 10:04, although there were parts in this that were on that level. Some of the Adam chapters were really difficult to follow, and the Darren chapters were confusing, but all of the parents' chapters were excellent. And that final Adam chapter was some next level shit.
I can't wait to read this again now that I know where it's going.
I like this better than Altocha, but not nearly as good as 10:04, although there were parts in this that were on that level. Some of the Adam chapters were really difficult to follow, and the Darren chapters were confusing, but all of the parents' chapters were excellent. And that final Adam chapter was some next level shit.
I can't wait to read this again now that I know where it's going.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ben Lerner's third novel is engaging but covered in flaws. The book once again follows Lerner's stand-in, Adam Gordon, tracing his last days in high school and the characters around him. The best parts of the book are the purely autobiographical portions - his explanations and narrations of debate competitions, his parents' career at the Institute, his family's personal conflicts. It feels real and powerful. Sections detailing the character Darren also have pathos.
Outside of that, it is a disappointment. The politics, whether you agree with them or not, are never fleshed out well and in some instances frankly stupid - the idea that bullying and poor communication leads to Trump supporters being what they are, for instance. And someone needed to tell Lerner that, just because you say the word "language" over and over does not mean that actually impresses your conceit properly. All over the place, from characters to plotlines to ideology, the reader is left wanting. It feels like a mish-mash of genres (autobiography, family novel, experimental novel), none of which fulfill narratively or emotionally. The plotline with the bullied, future Trumper Darren has beautiful passages but ends with a thud. And the chapters on Jane (Adam's mother) are at first an interesting perspective from an intellectual psychologist with poignant chapters detailing abuses she has suffered; but, they so often spiral into pretentious collegiate-speak that I cant help but think Lerner is making fun of.
I hate to judge a book by its ending, since this one has lovely stories throughout. Unfortunately, the conclusion seems to be saying that all of this prose was in service of a shoulder-shrug at abuse and nothing more than a gesture toward some greater politics or philosophy. There was a story in here that could have been much better. Sadly, that was not the case
Outside of that, it is a disappointment. The politics, whether you agree with them or not, are never fleshed out well and in some instances frankly stupid - the idea that bullying and poor communication leads to Trump supporters being what they are, for instance. And someone needed to tell Lerner that, just because you say the word "language" over and over does not mean that actually impresses your conceit properly. All over the place, from characters to plotlines to ideology, the reader is left wanting. It feels like a mish-mash of genres (autobiography, family novel, experimental novel), none of which fulfill narratively or emotionally. The plotline with the bullied, future Trumper Darren has beautiful passages but ends with a thud. And the chapters on Jane (Adam's mother) are at first an interesting perspective from an intellectual psychologist with poignant chapters detailing abuses she has suffered; but, they so often spiral into pretentious collegiate-speak that I cant help but think Lerner is making fun of.
I hate to judge a book by its ending, since this one has lovely stories throughout. Unfortunately, the conclusion seems to be saying that all of this prose was in service of a shoulder-shrug at abuse and nothing more than a gesture toward some greater politics or philosophy. There was a story in here that could have been much better. Sadly, that was not the case