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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
What a great story with such a sad because I didn't want it to end that way ending.
A cross between The Catcher in the Rye and The Perks of Being a Wallflower so only read this if you read both of them and did not want to scream. I enjoyed it and it was a quick read.
I'm giving this a 4 star review because of subtle poignancy that it possessed. Sutter changes as much as he doesn't change.
His relationship with Aimee allows him the opportunity to love and be loved. And in that he learns about selflessness and the power of sacrifice. He reflects on whether one person can change the world. I think that one person can change another persons world. He changed Aimee's world, and subtly, she changed his. Him letting her go, giving her a future (even though it didn't include him) was actually heartbreaking.
Does a huge event happen that rocks his whole universe and changes him forever? Nope. He still wants to live in the moment, and for all intensive purposes is fundamentally the same. And that's why this book was good. You don't have to have a life altering event alter your whole being in order for your life to be altered.
Subtle poignancy.
His relationship with Aimee allows him the opportunity to love and be loved. And in that he learns about selflessness and the power of sacrifice. He reflects on whether one person can change the world. I think that one person can change another persons world. He changed Aimee's world, and subtly, she changed his. Him letting her go, giving her a future (even though it didn't include him) was actually heartbreaking.
Does a huge event happen that rocks his whole universe and changes him forever? Nope. He still wants to live in the moment, and for all intensive purposes is fundamentally the same. And that's why this book was good. You don't have to have a life altering event alter your whole being in order for your life to be altered.
Subtle poignancy.
Recommended by Heather B., who says, "Sutter Keely is the life of the party-- smooth, witty, and always with a drink at hand. Aimee is anything but-- she's quite, shy, a bit of a bookwarm, and a social unknown. Sutter decides that she needs his help in the most desperate of ways, and sets off on a mission to save her. In doing so, he just might save himself, too. Funny, dark, sad, and achingly true-to-life.''
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sspectacular%20now%20tharp__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=pearl
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sspectacular%20now%20tharp__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=pearl
I will be very surprised if Hollywood ends this the way Tim Tharp did.
Unique voice, realistic to the point of being painful, unblinkingly honest. Well done story.
Unique voice, realistic to the point of being painful, unblinkingly honest. Well done story.
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Back on my rereading books on my kindle that I bought when I was 13 grind. And this one holds up I think. One of the first books I ever read with an unreliable narrator that wasn’t a school book and I’ll be honest I don’t think I quite got that at the time.
Sutter is a very compelling protagonist and extremely tragic. The relationship between him and Aimee is heartbreaking like GIRL GET UPPPP.
Sutter is a very compelling protagonist and extremely tragic. The relationship between him and Aimee is heartbreaking like GIRL GET UPPPP.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"Goodbye, I say, goodbye, as I disappear little by little into the middle of my own spectacular now."
Sutter Keeley is great in his own mind. Larger than life, always the life of the party. Sutter is, surely, as irresistible as he is wise.
The reality, unsurprisingly, is a little different. What Sutter defines as a life as "god's own drunk" is a boilerplate drinking problem. The rest of Sutter's charms are debatable at best and vary wildly depending on if you're asking one of his beautifully amicable ex-girlfriends, his family who is legitimately worried, or his friends.
Sutter is content to live the moment, whether it involves trying to win back his gorgeous, fat ex-girlfriend Cassidy or befriending the mousy, painfully nerdy Aimee, or getting a drink. The problem with living in the moment is that eventually everyone else starts to pass you by in The Spectacular Now (2008) by Tim Tharp.
Your reaction to this book is going to depend a lot on how you feel about Sutter. Tharp provides another fine addition to the already well-populated world of lovable alcoholics in fiction. The problem--not just here but in general--is that this general affability belies the fact that alcoholics are train wrecks and only very rarely lovable.
There are no consequences for Sutter in his own mind or in real life. Drunk driving never leads to an arrest or even a ticket. Drinking only impairs his judgement so far as it needs to go for the plot. While no story needs to have a message or a moral, it felt strangely one-sided to read this story and watch Sutter skate through life on his charms, his flask, and very little else.
Following the story thread with Aimee and Sutter, it's possible to argue that Sutter is a Manic Pixie Dream Boy meant to flit through life, fall in love and leave his love interest the better for their acquaintance. Except Sutter is a really terrible MPDB and profoundly bad at making anyone's life better.
The other reading, the one I favor, is that Sutter is a sociopath. Everything in the narrative is sinister. Sutter is sinister. Ideas and themes are touched upon but never fleshed out enough to really matter or leave an impact. Sutter's unreliable narration raises more questions than the story ultimately answers.
While Tharp's writing is excellent and completely on-point The Spectacular Now is lacking in character development and, on a smaller level, heart. With a narrative that reads more as a mid-life crisis than teenage unrest, this book is interesting but ultimately frustrating.
Possible Pairings: Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You by Peter Cameron, I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga, Slumming by Kristen D. Randle, The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider, Wild Awake by Hillary T. Smith, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print
Sutter Keeley is great in his own mind. Larger than life, always the life of the party. Sutter is, surely, as irresistible as he is wise.
The reality, unsurprisingly, is a little different. What Sutter defines as a life as "god's own drunk" is a boilerplate drinking problem. The rest of Sutter's charms are debatable at best and vary wildly depending on if you're asking one of his beautifully amicable ex-girlfriends, his family who is legitimately worried, or his friends.
Sutter is content to live the moment, whether it involves trying to win back his gorgeous, fat ex-girlfriend Cassidy or befriending the mousy, painfully nerdy Aimee, or getting a drink. The problem with living in the moment is that eventually everyone else starts to pass you by in The Spectacular Now (2008) by Tim Tharp.
Your reaction to this book is going to depend a lot on how you feel about Sutter. Tharp provides another fine addition to the already well-populated world of lovable alcoholics in fiction. The problem--not just here but in general--is that this general affability belies the fact that alcoholics are train wrecks and only very rarely lovable.
There are no consequences for Sutter in his own mind or in real life. Drunk driving never leads to an arrest or even a ticket. Drinking only impairs his judgement so far as it needs to go for the plot. While no story needs to have a message or a moral, it felt strangely one-sided to read this story and watch Sutter skate through life on his charms, his flask, and very little else.
Following the story thread with Aimee and Sutter, it's possible to argue that Sutter is a Manic Pixie Dream Boy meant to flit through life, fall in love and leave his love interest the better for their acquaintance. Except Sutter is a really terrible MPDB and profoundly bad at making anyone's life better.
The other reading, the one I favor, is that Sutter is a sociopath. Everything in the narrative is sinister. Sutter is sinister. Ideas and themes are touched upon but never fleshed out enough to really matter or leave an impact. Sutter's unreliable narration raises more questions than the story ultimately answers.
While Tharp's writing is excellent and completely on-point The Spectacular Now is lacking in character development and, on a smaller level, heart. With a narrative that reads more as a mid-life crisis than teenage unrest, this book is interesting but ultimately frustrating.
Possible Pairings: Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You by Peter Cameron, I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga, Slumming by Kristen D. Randle, The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider, Wild Awake by Hillary T. Smith, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print
OMG IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. I DID NOT EXPECT TO LOVE IT THIS MUCH. I thought Sutter would not care about anything, but no. that is not the case. because he did care and had feelings and it was so beautiful. its a shame that he had to drink so much though. i cannot wait to watch the movie after reading this novel. if you havent read this already. READ IT NOW