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irisilagan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
ababalou's review against another edition
5.0
An delicious gem. Gives the feeling of a favorite partly philosophical play, or a beloved quirky Indie film. So much fun that surely Lethem's other works need to be investigated. A testament to my sister's good taste and her knowledge of my own.
coffeenamebill's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
romyschnaiberg's review against another edition
3.0
Very well written tongue-in-cheek look at love and academia. However, I found the ending was trite and conventional.
spinstah's review against another edition
4.0
This was fantastic! A zippy, absurd story that was still totally believable in its own way. The characters were wonderful and the writing was great. I highly recommend this, especially if you find the ins and outs of academia amusing, or if you like science.
viewtoakel's review against another edition
5.0
Grabbed this simply because I loved the cover art and had heard of Lethem but never read him. I get the vibe he's pretty polarizing and I totally get that. I loved this so much though. This isn't for someone who needs things to make any sort of sense. This isn't for someone who dislikes authors that are a bit full of themselves. This is for someone who loves to abandon reality and bitterly laugh about how bizarre life, love and pain can be.
librariandest's review against another edition
3.0
A lass and a Lack! What do you do when your girlfriend falls in love with a black hole? This is the premise of Jonathan Lethem's short, weird physics-meets-romance novel. There's a lot of fun wordplay and absurdity. There are many pompous academics. There are co-dependent couples (including two blind men who I pictured as Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones from Men in Black). I liked it, but it was a little too post-modern clever-clever for me to really care about the characters.
makenal's review against another edition
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did, but I really did enjoy it! It was strange and simple all at the same time. The story arch is very simple and easy to follow, but a lot of the language can be complicated and long. It was a very classic tale of boy likes girl and girl likes someone (or something or a lack of something) else, but it told it in such a unique way that kept me intrigued throughout the book. I read a majority of the book in one day, after spending a couple days on the first fifty pages. I honestly really loved the imagery, especially in the last parts of the book. I feel like you can really feel Philip begin to descend into desperation. Overall, this was a fun book and I’m glad I picked it up!
nancykz's review against another edition
5.0
This was my first J-Leth and I loved it. It was sad, strange, a bit sentimental. I loved that it was science-fictiony but also just your typical relationship story. Guy loves girl, girl loves guy, one of them finds another.