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Een hartverscheurend verhaal van duizelingwekkende genialiteit by Dave Eggers, Irving Pardoen
somanybookstoread's review against another edition
3.0
good story, well written. interesting and experimental. the downside, at times a bit whiny (my pet peeve) as well as egotistical. I really did like this book, but the poor me/i'm great thing was a big strike. I'm interested in reading more eggers.
ruthmcgrath's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
debandleo's review against another edition
4.0
I did like this book. I thought it was incredibly honest and brave. You have to admire the author, Dave Eggers. The only part that was difficult to get through was the MTV interview. Long and boring. Other than that I really did like it.
luvandkiwi's review against another edition
2.0
i wasn't too fond of this one. i was searching for it at the bookstore and a woman told me not to get my hopes up...i should have heeded her advice! so yeah i read it and it's definitely clever and honest but it's also just him thinking his life is really interesting when it's not...at least not in my opinion...there was a reason he didn't get picked for real world!
grr. i caught myself skimming a lot of it just to get thru with it.
grr. i caught myself skimming a lot of it just to get thru with it.
catymart83's review against another edition
2.0
I feel bad that I didn't enjoy the book as much as its glowing reviews promised I would. The book tells the true story of Dave Eggers and how he became the primary guardian (along with his older brother and sister) of his much younger brother Toph when both his parents die within weeks of one another through different forms of cancer. I enjoyed the first 100 pages a lot (as Eggers himself predicted I would) but my reaction to the rest of the book varied from mild warmth to wild disgust based on the level of fake (I felt) self-concious posing of the writing at the time. I really wish Eggers had stuck to a "straight" memoir detailing his life (with some of his customary cheekiness thrown in)-I would have really felt a connection to the writing then. As it is, I had to force myself to finish this book and gave it 2 stars. True Story: When I had finally finished reading AHWOSG my sister heard the disgusted sigh I let out and asked me what was wrong. I told her about the book and read the last paragraph (if you could call it that-it's basically two pages of an uninterrupted sentence filled to bursting with unnecessary curse words) out loud to her to demonstrate what I so disliked about the book. When I finished she asked why I had forced myself to finish a book that I hadn't especially like from the very beginning? My answer-(that I felt complelled to read a book that had received so many great reviews from both professional reviewers and regular readers)-made me feel like a bit of a lemming, or follower. But despite that, I still think that people should read the book because 1. they might love the book(even if I didn't) and 2. I think it is important (provided that AHWOSG sounds interesting to you at the onset) to read a book that is such a cultural milestone.
treylathe's review against another edition
4.0
I was halfway through this book before I started reading the reviews. Much of the criticism seems to miss a large point. If you approach this book to read it like a sweet and heartwarming autobiography of a orphaned man who has to raise his orphaned younger brother, you will be sorely disappointed and will probably end up giving this book 1 or 2 stars on the Amazon review. This is not an autobiography written in the voice of a seasoned and mature man looking back at his earlier age and one should not approach it as such. Instead, Dave Eggers has written this book in the very voice of a 22 year old male, with all the attendant self-absorbed, occasionally egotisical and "world-revolves-around-me" passages one would expect. Mr. Eggers was brilliant to write it this way (it will take another book to make sure its just not the way he writes ;)), it is exactly how I'd expect a typical 22 year old to sound and write making it all that much more believable and in fact, poignant. He writes of the death of his parents, the raising of his younger brother, starting his own business, love life and more, and he writes extremely well, at times hilarious and occasionally with deep pathos. The description of San Francisco is dead on true (a child's colored construction paper and pipe cleaner creation) and loving, the scene of reading his younger brother Hiroshima is sublime. Just remember as you read it, it is the voice of a 22 year old at the time of the telling, not looking back through the prism of time and maturity, then you might find how brilliant and well written it is.
But why did I give it 4 stars and not 5? because some of the criticism I read here when I was half way through the book, I came to find out was true. As he enters the long interview with the Real World staff member, I started to find my self skimming instead of immersed as I was in the earlier half. I finally skimmed quickly till I was out of the interview. The rest of the book was back to my immersion. I went back to read it to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I wasn't really. The interview is tedious and unfortunately a large portion of the book. I think I understand what he was doing, but it doesn't seem to work. Much of it could have been distilled down to 2 or 3 pages of thought-out writing. I wish he would have, it would have made for a 5 star rating on my part at least. Still, the book is excellent and I believe the start of a great career.
I do look forward to reading the next book from Dave Eggers.
But why did I give it 4 stars and not 5? because some of the criticism I read here when I was half way through the book, I came to find out was true. As he enters the long interview with the Real World staff member, I started to find my self skimming instead of immersed as I was in the earlier half. I finally skimmed quickly till I was out of the interview. The rest of the book was back to my immersion. I went back to read it to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I wasn't really. The interview is tedious and unfortunately a large portion of the book. I think I understand what he was doing, but it doesn't seem to work. Much of it could have been distilled down to 2 or 3 pages of thought-out writing. I wish he would have, it would have made for a 5 star rating on my part at least. Still, the book is excellent and I believe the start of a great career.
I do look forward to reading the next book from Dave Eggers.
thestoryowl's review against another edition
2.0
Meh, this was so erratic in its narrative, I really couldn't keep very well. It was obviously shooting for dark humor but just came off as overwhelmingly bleak for my taste.