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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
Lots of repetition of images and sentences throughout the book made it feel smart. I liked the exploration of “spread”, which is quantity of information that tries to overwhelm perhaps even the quality of information. The book felt a bit choppy at times, like it was trying to leave impressions rather than tell a narrative. In the end, I don’t feel like I necessarily know more about what the white male identity is based around - posturing? “Adolescence that never ends”? I did enjoy the writing though.
This is a riveting, if at times challenging, novel about a family in Topeka, Kansas, in the last quarter of twentieth century. The parents work for a renowned psychology training institute/mental health hospital they call The Foundation and they have a smart and often angry son named Adam. The novel is divided into chapters between Adam, Jane (his mother), and Jonathan (the father), where the main story unspools. There is also an account at the ends of these chapters of a fourth, an outcast named Darren, who bears most of the torment his classmates pile on him.
While this is an insular family saga, it's also a chilling social commentary, a deep exploration of the limits of language to express existential discord and looming systems collapse. The tenets of psychoanalysis rule the inner workings of The Foundation, friendships are formed and broken on the backs of confessions made during long analysis sessions, and troubled youth are pulled in for counseling, All this leads to a targeted indictment of politics, systems, and child rearing practices from the 1990s to the current day.
The Topkea Schools manages weave together distinct voices, science, sociology, economic systems, misogyny, and dread. We end up caring deeply for the characters but hurting for our world. Highly recommended.
PS: I didn't know until I read some other reviews that the skeleton for the family in the novel is the same skeleton as Ben Lerner's real family. That doesn't change my opinion of the book, which stands on its own apart from that connection. But it is interesting in light of his previous auto-fiction.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.
While this is an insular family saga, it's also a chilling social commentary, a deep exploration of the limits of language to express existential discord and looming systems collapse. The tenets of psychoanalysis rule the inner workings of The Foundation, friendships are formed and broken on the backs of confessions made during long analysis sessions, and troubled youth are pulled in for counseling, All this leads to a targeted indictment of politics, systems, and child rearing practices from the 1990s to the current day.
The Topkea Schools manages weave together distinct voices, science, sociology, economic systems, misogyny, and dread. We end up caring deeply for the characters but hurting for our world. Highly recommended.
PS: I didn't know until I read some other reviews that the skeleton for the family in the novel is the same skeleton as Ben Lerner's real family. That doesn't change my opinion of the book, which stands on its own apart from that connection. But it is interesting in light of his previous auto-fiction.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.
3/5 stars is too simple to explain how I feel about this book. Parts were 5/5. Parts were 1/5. Parts were so strange or intense that I still don't know how I feel about them.
I will say, the writing in this book is gorgeous, which kept me reading even in moments when I did not care at all about the plot (what plot?) or the characters. Definitely character-driven. If you like reading lovely writing & don't mind stories about white boys in the 90s & their "struggles," you might enjoy this book. I don't care *at all* about 90s white boys, but still found the book tolerable, even quite enjoyable in places.
I will say, the writing in this book is gorgeous, which kept me reading even in moments when I did not care at all about the plot (what plot?) or the characters. Definitely character-driven. If you like reading lovely writing & don't mind stories about white boys in the 90s & their "struggles," you might enjoy this book. I don't care *at all* about 90s white boys, but still found the book tolerable, even quite enjoyable in places.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is too literary for my taste. I’ve read the reviews and understand what it is supposed to be about, but I must have missed how the author connected the dots because I could not have seen it.
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Read almost back to back with Franzen's Crossroads, and found this much better. More masterful and profound, less concerned with showing mastery and depth. Nothing was out of place here (like whole Navajo subplot in Crossroads).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No