Reviews

Remainder by Tom McCarthy

elneveu's review against another edition

4.0

"He looked just like I imagined him to look but slightly different, which I'd thought he would in any case."

This book is like if Oscar from "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" grew up and then got a massive head injury.

Gotta be into a lunatic narrator to get through this one! The love thrown at people from the film industry was a nice little bonus.

mgilhart's review against another edition

challenging dark funny slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

michaeldonovan's review against another edition

3.0

This novel greatly confuses me in no small part because I have no clue how I should respond to it. While McCarthy’s prose has moments of excellence, I don’t know what he was trying to achieve with it. Why does this story matter in the slightest? Maybe I’m expecting too much from it, or maybe there’s some great big meta-commentary on the nature of reality that I’m missing here. But I don’t think McCarthy is saying anything exceptionally unique, and I don’t think he’s saying it an exceptionally unique way, either.

bibliomaniac2021's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

decoyps2's review against another edition

dark funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

kmadsen17's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

grayfox14's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

isabelmarks's review against another edition

3.5

15 million dollars and he still couldn't get a therapist. anyways this book is SO CRAZY and interesting. it's fun to read so that you can judge his weird ass choices.

mcreed06's review against another edition

4.0

Well, I have never...

So, I’m just going to echo a fellow Good Reads Reviewer who goes by “Kobe Bryant.” He wrote, "This guy would have figured everything out if he just smoked some weed."

For such a bizarre novel, the writing was neat, concise, and well paced. With a seemingly innocuous story, Tom McCarthy left me haunted and suspended.

Remainder brought to mind two long ago movies; both of which left me unsettled and uncomfortable.  Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise and Memento with Guy Pearce. Like Tom McCarthy's Remainder, both movies were mindfucks through the end. (Please excuse this Southern Lady the vulgarity. I can't think of a polite synonym with the same effect. I even looked at a thesaurus. Sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade.) 

I should know better by now.  Never do these stories truly wrap up at the end. Regardless of how well it was written, I am relieved to be out of this rabbit hole. 

amethyst_hearts_books's review against another edition

3.0

I'm not really sure what to say about it, but I liked it. Every once in a while, if you let yourself, you can get into his headspace and it all makes sense.

He's searching for enlightenment. Maybe.