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lupercalia's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
сподобалося, класний роман, але думала, що у фіналі буде більше страстєй) не знала, що ця книжка є пастишем? кавер-версією? короче, варіацією на тему Howards End Форстера, якого я не читала, візьмуся тепер за нього.
kristenesantos's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
emma_reading_love's review against another edition
I enjoyed Part 1, but didn’t want to continue reading about academia.
whatkathrynreads_'s review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
christiek's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this! It's complicated, funny, insightful, tense. These characters all annoyed and infuriated me, but I was invested in their well being, so Smith is doing something right with these oftentimes unlikable characters.
lucydroege's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
flawed_ghost's review against another edition
3.0
Really well-written, but the characters feel very stilted at the start of the book, and a lot of the subplots just peter out.
catbag's review against another edition
1.0
Euch.
That's the only emotion, expression, whatever, that I can muster for this.. book. It was just so mediocre. And weird. And gross.
If it wasn't obvious, On Beauty was not an enjoyable read for me at all. Half of the main characters were ridiculously unlikeable, the descriptions of people were strangely sexual and over-detailed, and the plot didn't seem to get anywhere. The characters were the same when you started and when you finished, with the exception of maybe two. One of those two died. That's it.
I feel like I'm missing something here. I feel like this book is supposed to be some grand statement about the world and its meaning is just flying over my head. There was an entire subplot about the son, Levi, that made NO sense. At all. It felt absolutely pointless, save for the very end where an object appears in a new location because of this subplot. Other than that, it was the worst. Just the worst. Sure, if you dig into the characters you can find themes about beauty and life and whatever, but it doesn't feel worth digging into. It wasn't enjoyable.
This book is also basically a copy of [b:Howards End|38374795|Howards End|E.M. Forster|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1518837828s/38374795.jpg|1902726]? Apparently it's supposed to be 'loosely' based on Howard's End but that seems fake. The characters and the plot are the same. The same. Why was this written? Smith also used poems her husband wrote and a title some philosopher had for an essay, and she probably found inspiration elsewhere. Everything just felt poorly put together and dumb.
So Smith clearly got the name of the main father character from Howard's End. His name is Howard. He is the worst. Howard was probably the single most unlikeable character I have ever read. He cheated on his wife (multiple times) and didn't understand why she was upset. He basically banned art from his house because he hates art in his personal life (did I mention he's an art history professor?). He is in a mixed-race family but refuses to talk about race. He is apparently an intellectual so he is constantly criticizing others but he doesn't actually do anything in regards to his career at all. He is also in his mid-fifties and had a sexual fascination with a 17-year old girl. In basically every scene with her he talks about how her nipples look and. So that's messed up. He was the worst. The worst.
Another annoying thing about this book is that it tries so hard, and in some cases it even succeeds in moving you. For a brief instant every few dozen pages you get a line like:
And then the next instant you'll get some weird rant like this weird inner monologue by Howard:
What even? Why? Whatever. I'm so over this book. I could say a lot more about how icky it was but I just want to throw On Beauty into the nearest dumpster and move on with my life.
If you are a reader who loves finding themes like how beauty is approached or how intellectuals can be really dumb or stuff like that, this is a great book for you. If you like characters that make you angry, yep, you've found your book. Personally, I just... euch.
That's the only emotion, expression, whatever, that I can muster for this.. book. It was just so mediocre. And weird. And gross.
If it wasn't obvious, On Beauty was not an enjoyable read for me at all. Half of the main characters were ridiculously unlikeable, the descriptions of people were strangely sexual and over-detailed, and the plot didn't seem to get anywhere. The characters were the same when you started and when you finished, with the exception of maybe two. One of those two died. That's it.
I feel like I'm missing something here. I feel like this book is supposed to be some grand statement about the world and its meaning is just flying over my head. There was an entire subplot about the son, Levi, that made NO sense. At all. It felt absolutely pointless, save for the very end where an object appears in a new location because of this subplot. Other than that, it was the worst. Just the worst. Sure, if you dig into the characters you can find themes about beauty and life and whatever, but it doesn't feel worth digging into. It wasn't enjoyable.
This book is also basically a copy of [b:Howards End|38374795|Howards End|E.M. Forster|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1518837828s/38374795.jpg|1902726]? Apparently it's supposed to be 'loosely' based on Howard's End but that seems fake. The characters and the plot are the same. The same. Why was this written? Smith also used poems her husband wrote and a title some philosopher had for an essay, and she probably found inspiration elsewhere. Everything just felt poorly put together and dumb.
So Smith clearly got the name of the main father character from Howard's End. His name is Howard. He is the worst. Howard was probably the single most unlikeable character I have ever read. He cheated on his wife (multiple times) and didn't understand why she was upset. He basically banned art from his house because he hates art in his personal life (did I mention he's an art history professor?). He is in a mixed-race family but refuses to talk about race. He is apparently an intellectual so he is constantly criticizing others but he doesn't actually do anything in regards to his career at all. He is also in his mid-fifties and had a sexual fascination with a 17-year old girl. In basically every scene with her he talks about how her nipples look and
Spoiler
has sex with her while she is intoxicated during her mother's funeralAnother annoying thing about this book is that it tries so hard, and in some cases it even succeeds in moving you. For a brief instant every few dozen pages you get a line like:
"There is such shelter in each other."
And then the next instant you'll get some weird rant like this weird inner monologue by Howard:
“You had to imagine yourself into a different universe to imagine fucking her; and that would not be how it went anyway - she would fuck you. She was infamously proud (most women disliked her) and, like any wife of a superficially attentive man, she was admirably self-contained, apparently without external social needs”
What even? Why? Whatever. I'm so over this book. I could say a lot more about how icky it was but I just want to throw On Beauty into the nearest dumpster and move on with my life.
If you are a reader who loves finding themes like how beauty is approached or how intellectuals can be really dumb or stuff like that, this is a great book for you. If you like characters that make you angry, yep, you've found your book. Personally, I just... euch.
mfahey27's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75