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steller0707's review against another edition
3.0
If you are from or have visited NYC for a length of time, the observations in these essays would certainly be familiar. Yet, the first essay, The City, might be universalized, and with slight modification, could even be my own. Name a sandy beach near you and you will recognize your days spent there in the Coney Island essay. But New York City is definitely unique and the essays pay homage to its particularities very well. Here are my favorites:
The City, the first essay, serves as an introduction. It is so New York! And yet it could be my own city, where I have lived the longest.
Rain in which the challenges of dealing with rain may be more urgent without a car in the big city; nevertheless they are universal.
Broadway, Is metaphor for the city: hopes and disappointments; brilliance and decadence; beauty and squalor. And both exciting and boring.
Times Square that iconic place. Is that an angel up there; or, is it a 40 foot can of soda? What time is it in Tokyo - oh, there it is. See the ticker tape of the world! Kitschy glitz capital of the world!
Declarative sentences and sentence fragments make up the rhythm of this book of essays, which eventually got too much for me, like eating candy. Otherwise, it is 3.5/5
The City, the first essay, serves as an introduction. It is so New York! And yet it could be my own city, where I have lived the longest.
Rain in which the challenges of dealing with rain may be more urgent without a car in the big city; nevertheless they are universal.
Broadway, Is metaphor for the city: hopes and disappointments; brilliance and decadence; beauty and squalor. And both exciting and boring.
Times Square that iconic place. Is that an angel up there; or, is it a 40 foot can of soda? What time is it in Tokyo - oh, there it is. See the ticker tape of the world! Kitschy glitz capital of the world!
Declarative sentences and sentence fragments make up the rhythm of this book of essays, which eventually got too much for me, like eating candy. Otherwise, it is 3.5/5
synoptic_view's review against another edition
3.0
Started this in 2018 and returned to it now because I have been feeling a particularly strong fondness for NY. Some of the vingettes worked better for me than others. The morning commute one, for instance, didn't really mesh with my experiences, in part because I don't typically drink my coffee until midmorning. The Broadway chapter resonated more, and the dreary description of Port Authority was spot on (my phone wanted to say "spit on"--it knows what's up). The overall tone of the pieces was a bit too negative. New Yorkers love to complain, of course, but the piece didn't include enough of those sublime moments that make the city great. The closest passage I can recall was about perfectly timing one's steps to the changing of the walk signal.
I listened to most of this on audiobook. It wasn't helped by the narrator. Given that it is basically prose poetry, I hoped the audiobook format would work well. But the narrator could not pick up on the rhythm of the language. [2021/09/15 Update: I actually just finished the last story from the book yesterday and realized that the audiobook was narrated by Colson Whitehead himself. This makes it so much harder to understand why he couldn't get the rhythm. I revisited a few random sections, and it seemed like he was trying to read it like it was poetry, without letting the naturally poetic prose come through.]
I listened to most of this on audiobook. It wasn't helped by the narrator. Given that it is basically prose poetry, I hoped the audiobook format would work well. But the narrator could not pick up on the rhythm of the language. [2021/09/15 Update: I actually just finished the last story from the book yesterday and realized that the audiobook was narrated by Colson Whitehead himself. This makes it so much harder to understand why he couldn't get the rhythm. I revisited a few random sections, and it seemed like he was trying to read it like it was poetry, without letting the naturally poetic prose come through.]
thejoyofbooking's review against another edition
5.0
If you look at the tags, you’ll notice that this is – oddly – tagged as both fiction and non-fiction. I don’t have a poetry tag, but I feel like that could apply, too. This ode to New York City alternates between first, second and third person in a bizarrely sensible way, as if the book itself is your own stream of consciousness with a bit of omnipotence thrown in. For anyone who’s spent a significant amount of time in New York City and enjoyed it, this book is a must-read – it’s like retracing your own steps, or reading an eloquent diary that you forgot you wrote. Rather than comment on some of the chewy, gorgeous lines in the book, I’ll just place them here. If you like what you read, this is definitely a book you’ll enjoy.
“There are unheralded tipping points, a certain number of times that we will unlock the front door of an apartment. At some point you were closer to the last time than you were to the first time, and you didn’t even know it.”
“This place has practiced them in stuffing down weakness”
“Forming an attachment to an umbrella is the shortest route to heartbreak in this town.”
“Everyone thinks they are more deserving, everyone thinks their day has been harder than everyone else’s, and everyone is correct.”
“People spare a minute or two relishing other people’s setbacks before their own inadequacies distract them again.”
“This city is reward for all it will enable you to achieve and punishment for all the crimes it will force you to commit.”
Those statements, and many more, rang true to me in The Colossus of New York. The experience of that city is such a personal thing, but it’s also fairly universal and this unvarnished look at the beauty and grit of the place was a refreshing, nostalgic, and thoroughly enjoyable read.
“There are unheralded tipping points, a certain number of times that we will unlock the front door of an apartment. At some point you were closer to the last time than you were to the first time, and you didn’t even know it.”
“This place has practiced them in stuffing down weakness”
“Forming an attachment to an umbrella is the shortest route to heartbreak in this town.”
“Everyone thinks they are more deserving, everyone thinks their day has been harder than everyone else’s, and everyone is correct.”
“People spare a minute or two relishing other people’s setbacks before their own inadequacies distract them again.”
“This city is reward for all it will enable you to achieve and punishment for all the crimes it will force you to commit.”
Those statements, and many more, rang true to me in The Colossus of New York. The experience of that city is such a personal thing, but it’s also fairly universal and this unvarnished look at the beauty and grit of the place was a refreshing, nostalgic, and thoroughly enjoyable read.
jdizzlestewart's review against another edition
4.0
“The loneliness is the worst, because this knowledge is something that cannot be shared, only suffered.”
A wonderful ode to New York. Made me miss it.
A wonderful ode to New York. Made me miss it.
noahlikesreading's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
rick2's review against another edition
5.0
Some beautiful lines in here.
“ they hit the streets, the streets hit back”
“The true enemy is not the worlds distain, but it’s indifference”
“ what they take for her air of mystery is really a side effect of her medication “
“The loneliness is the worst for it cannot be shared, only suffered”
“ they hit the streets, the streets hit back”
“The true enemy is not the worlds distain, but it’s indifference”
“ what they take for her air of mystery is really a side effect of her medication “
“The loneliness is the worst for it cannot be shared, only suffered”
t_raww's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
3.75