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myrthekorf's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
doulicia's review
1.0
The sum was less than the whole of its parts.
I can't put my finger on what I didn't like about this book. I want to say it was boring, but how can a book that includes rape, murder, madness and riots be boring? And while I thought the dialogue was really well written, the characters had nothing to say.
The book felt arbitrary and random. So much so, it really did seem like reportage of one family's lives. This, for any of our lives, without the overlay of storytelling, becomes just a tedious series of events. Thus go 500+ pages of "them."
I couldn't tell which secondary characters I should be paying attention to. Events that seemed significant at the time amounted to nothing. Other major events occurred between chapters, so that one was plunked down in a new and disorienting place and had to figure out what was going on.
Probably all of this was intentional on Oates's part. Why not make the reader feel as groundless, as subject to caprice, as confused as the characters in the story? If that was her intention, it only made me frustrated, not sympathetic.
Finally, I think the book could be improved by liberal editing. It's too long; its length doesn't add to its value. 1-2 pages of characters saying anguished I love yous would convey the insanity of a relationship as well as the 10 or 20 Oates uses. So many scenes went on for too long. I would think "I get your point," and still have pages and pages of the same to wade through.
I only stuck this out because it's part -- the very first part, in fact -- of my plan to read a National Book or Pulitzer Prize winner from each year of my life between now and when I turn 50 in 2019. I'm still scratching my head that this was the National Book Award winner for 1970.
I can't put my finger on what I didn't like about this book. I want to say it was boring, but how can a book that includes rape, murder, madness and riots be boring? And while I thought the dialogue was really well written, the characters had nothing to say.
The book felt arbitrary and random. So much so, it really did seem like reportage of one family's lives. This, for any of our lives, without the overlay of storytelling, becomes just a tedious series of events. Thus go 500+ pages of "them."
I couldn't tell which secondary characters I should be paying attention to. Events that seemed significant at the time amounted to nothing. Other major events occurred between chapters, so that one was plunked down in a new and disorienting place and had to figure out what was going on.
Probably all of this was intentional on Oates's part. Why not make the reader feel as groundless, as subject to caprice, as confused as the characters in the story? If that was her intention, it only made me frustrated, not sympathetic.
Finally, I think the book could be improved by liberal editing. It's too long; its length doesn't add to its value. 1-2 pages of characters saying anguished I love yous would convey the insanity of a relationship as well as the 10 or 20 Oates uses. So many scenes went on for too long. I would think "I get your point," and still have pages and pages of the same to wade through.
I only stuck this out because it's part -- the very first part, in fact -- of my plan to read a National Book or Pulitzer Prize winner from each year of my life between now and when I turn 50 in 2019. I'm still scratching my head that this was the National Book Award winner for 1970.
lydia_kbm's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse
mshem1's review against another edition
3.0
This book got difficult to read. There was so much description with so little happening at times. Toward the middle and into the end, it felt like a chore to get through.
cdcsmith's review
3.0
I feel like I should like this book a lot more than I did. When I first started reading it, I did. I can't say I enjoyed it. The story isn't the kind such a pleasant word should be used for. I was engaged. As the story went on, I became less so. Towards the end, even when I had been making some connection to the citizens of the pages, I started counting how much further until I was at the end. Almost knocked it down to 2 stars, but the every end saved it for me.
penny_literaryhoarders's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. I'm not going to finish it, even though I really hate doing that. It's just not holding me to it...
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