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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
dark
funny
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Hate crime
Listen, the author is a teacher for creative writing course and this shows in his book. It is a very confident debut novel that is very experimental; something you don't see from a debut novel. Most play safe and remain within the confines of the already existing story structures with few elements pushed a little bit here or there but most don't venture out. This guy builds his own path.
This is not to say that it is a highly experimental story, no it does follow a narration style but it tries to say so much, with past and present, with current social commentary and the past wars and violence that I won't lie, it does get tedious. There are portions that I enjoyed, there are portions that I did not. Sometimes I was bored. Sometimes, I was really engrossed. Overall, I commended the author and while admitting that he writes well, I sadly decided that the book is not the one I would be asking my friends to read.
I believe I must explain the experimental portion so here are the pointers:
1: The story follows a narration style. One feels highly personal, the other one is more removed and carries a precision of a surgeon. It feels distant and cold. Both narrators grow as the novel moves forward. They affect each other.
2: A very good stream of consciousness block here. I gave one star to the book especially for it. That's how well it is.
3: There is an extensive past and then an extensive present and both start from extreme and move toward each other. The final pages are about that merger. It gives a feeling of closure and I appreciated that.
4: Each character, each place was distinct. So many names and yet, somehow I was able to make sense of who was who is a marvelous job. I appreciated it.
5: The writing was non-conventional. Sometimes a sentence was repeated again and again for a page and half. Sometimes, a flow chart is presented to convey the information. There is a page with heavy pregnant pauses and so on.
I was mesmerised and amused by this non-conventional story telling. One star above is for this.
So, 2 stars for story, 1 for stream of consciousness and one for experimental writing.
Should you read it? If you are a person who likes to read a great story, this is not it. If you want to learn about storytelling, plotting, creative ways to get a point across, go for it.
Thank you for reading it.
This is not to say that it is a highly experimental story, no it does follow a narration style but it tries to say so much, with past and present, with current social commentary and the past wars and violence that I won't lie, it does get tedious. There are portions that I enjoyed, there are portions that I did not. Sometimes I was bored. Sometimes, I was really engrossed. Overall, I commended the author and while admitting that he writes well, I sadly decided that the book is not the one I would be asking my friends to read.
I believe I must explain the experimental portion so here are the pointers:
1: The story follows a narration style. One feels highly personal, the other one is more removed and carries a precision of a surgeon. It feels distant and cold. Both narrators grow as the novel moves forward. They affect each other.
2: A very good stream of consciousness block here. I gave one star to the book especially for it. That's how well it is.
3: There is an extensive past and then an extensive present and both start from extreme and move toward each other. The final pages are about that merger. It gives a feeling of closure and I appreciated that.
4: Each character, each place was distinct. So many names and yet, somehow I was able to make sense of who was who is a marvelous job. I appreciated it.
5: The writing was non-conventional. Sometimes a sentence was repeated again and again for a page and half. Sometimes, a flow chart is presented to convey the information. There is a page with heavy pregnant pauses and so on.
I was mesmerised and amused by this non-conventional story telling. One star above is for this.
So, 2 stars for story, 1 for stream of consciousness and one for experimental writing.
Should you read it? If you are a person who likes to read a great story, this is not it. If you want to learn about storytelling, plotting, creative ways to get a point across, go for it.
Thank you for reading it.
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars. Gripping, interesting, deep and funny, yes. A lot of brutality and violence and amazingly stark descriptions that I honestly struggled to get through. Not for the faint of heart.
Feel like he’s obvs / undoubtedly a great author -
Did find the magical realism historical bits slippy felt like I couldn’t get a good hold on them. Dare I say- didn’t need to make that life so fantastical given it was completely eradicated anyway? Maybe more powerfullll to not make it mystical? OOOOR if you are going to then what about the mysticism of the time coz not to be a nerd but I’d love to know more about Pale of Settlement and European jewish life in 17/1800s, and I found some of the anachronistic / evidently made up stuff just bit annoying lol. Having said that other parts completely floored me so
Did find the magical realism historical bits slippy felt like I couldn’t get a good hold on them. Dare I say- didn’t need to make that life so fantastical given it was completely eradicated anyway? Maybe more powerfullll to not make it mystical? OOOOR if you are going to then what about the mysticism of the time coz not to be a nerd but I’d love to know more about Pale of Settlement and European jewish life in 17/1800s, and I found some of the anachronistic / evidently made up stuff just bit annoying lol. Having said that other parts completely floored me so
It's hard to review this book without bias because I discovered it at the right place and time, so I absolutely loved it at the time. Safran-Foer uses the kind of language you Lose yourself in, but with focus. I could only read this book in quiet places, definitely not the NYC subway. Overall a quirky funny book with a heartwarming story. Way better than the movie.
I remembered really liking the book in college and decided to revisit it recently for personal/professional reasons. It's more pretentious than I remembered, but still generally compelling with appropriately funny and sad parts.
I hope i am not ignorant, but the parts that took place in the 1700 and 1800 where very hard to read and slow. I couldn't understand much. The letters between Alex and Jonathan and also the chapters written by Alex went on faster and smoother. They were also funny. Towards the end, also the chapters written by Jonathan became easier to read and with more logical flow to them.
This book didn't capture me from the start - I found the first 80ish pages a bit boring and I didn't understand where it was going with stories from different generations, at different times in history.
I am, however, glad I kept reading. The stories do come together in a somewhat unexpected way, and the big black hole that is created in the first half of the book, the influence of WWII on the lives of certain people, is eventually revealed.
What also happened about 80-100 pages in was that I got used to, and thereby less annoyed by, the writing style of Alex. At times, I felt like the book was making fun of weird European accents in English, which tends to sting a bit. However, the hero and Alex get to know each other better, Alex' English improves, and I got less annoyed over the course of the book.
I am, however, glad I kept reading. The stories do come together in a somewhat unexpected way, and the big black hole that is created in the first half of the book, the influence of WWII on the lives of certain people, is eventually revealed.
What also happened about 80-100 pages in was that I got used to, and thereby less annoyed by, the writing style of Alex. At times, I felt like the book was making fun of weird European accents in English, which tends to sting a bit. However, the hero and Alex get to know each other better, Alex' English improves, and I got less annoyed over the course of the book.