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beanpod's review against another edition
4.0
Too long. And I am not afraid of large page numbers. Safran Foer seemed to be paying penance for something through his characters - or maybe felt the world needed to in personified form. When it was good it was very, very good. When it was bad it was....long.
almpjepalmpjepepernoot's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
adam75241's review against another edition
2.0
Here I am, wishing I skipped this book. Being a fan of Foer's other works, with two of them ranking five stars for me, I found this lengthy novel utterly unfulfilling.
ekmook's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rotefrida's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sunrays118's review against another edition
3.0
Yea... so this was good.
It wasn't great.
The strange thing was, this WAS a great book. But it was buried by its own weight. The book is nearly 600 pages and in truth, only about 200 of them matter to the book. The book would have been far stronger if it didn't cling to so much unnecessary weight. It detracted from the book itself. It was an odd gamble the author took and I think he lost.
One thing the author does well is bring back small ideas from earlier in the chapter, section or even the novel itself. This is gorgeous and pulls at our heart strings as we understand how rich and complicated life is. The problem, naturally, is when he fails to come full circle with all of the recurring plot points. It feels a bit like a steep valley. We spend so much time climbing up these impressive mountains and then are suddenly freewheeling into a serious plot that carries us along swiftly, impulsively, only then to be thrown out at the top of the mountains again with a long, arduous conclusion. If the book at stopped 160 pages earlier with a last reference to the worlds that are created that are bigger on the inside than the outside, I would have cried and cried and hugged the book to my chest and said it was beautiful. Instead, it ended on a forced note. It was too intentional and in the end lacked any emotion. More questions were left open and yet I no longer cared as much.
The narration changes throughout the book, some feels worthwhile and some feels like a ploy. The same could be said for how Jewish the book feels. At times it feels essential and at times it feels like it is only there to provide some type of Eruv.
The characters were uniquely dislikable. Moments of fleeting connectedness fell and then washed away. Time was dealt with in a heavy handed way. The book would have been equally strong told in a linear fashion but it was as if the author did not have the confidence in the story to do that. It felt that time was deliberately made complicated to add a missing layer to the story. It failed to do that.
I kept waiting, waiting for something beautifully tragic that never came. Instead it just, was.
It wasn't great.
The strange thing was, this WAS a great book. But it was buried by its own weight. The book is nearly 600 pages and in truth, only about 200 of them matter to the book. The book would have been far stronger if it didn't cling to so much unnecessary weight. It detracted from the book itself. It was an odd gamble the author took and I think he lost.
One thing the author does well is bring back small ideas from earlier in the chapter, section or even the novel itself. This is gorgeous and pulls at our heart strings as we understand how rich and complicated life is. The problem, naturally, is when he fails to come full circle with all of the recurring plot points. It feels a bit like a steep valley. We spend so much time climbing up these impressive mountains and then are suddenly freewheeling into a serious plot that carries us along swiftly, impulsively, only then to be thrown out at the top of the mountains again with a long, arduous conclusion. If the book at stopped 160 pages earlier with a last reference to the worlds that are created that are bigger on the inside than the outside, I would have cried and cried and hugged the book to my chest and said it was beautiful. Instead, it ended on a forced note. It was too intentional and in the end lacked any emotion. More questions were left open and yet I no longer cared as much.
The narration changes throughout the book, some feels worthwhile and some feels like a ploy. The same could be said for how Jewish the book feels. At times it feels essential and at times it feels like it is only there to provide some type of Eruv.
The characters were uniquely dislikable. Moments of fleeting connectedness fell and then washed away. Time was dealt with in a heavy handed way. The book would have been equally strong told in a linear fashion but it was as if the author did not have the confidence in the story to do that. It felt that time was deliberately made complicated to add a missing layer to the story. It failed to do that.
I kept waiting, waiting for something beautifully tragic that never came. Instead it just, was.
kswing418's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
orangeblorange's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
travisclau's review against another edition
5.0
I'm always surprised to read reviews of this novel as plotless, but in so many ways, the novel is not about that. Foer captures so beautifully the fine texture of feelings that too often, as he describes it, go "subterranean." The novel is at once speculative fiction about a possible future for Israel, but it is first and foremost about marriage and a family. Foer has always had a knack for capturing in almost aphoristic fashion the particularities of human interaction. He says what we intuit, what we feel but don't quite know how to express with the kind of wit or clarity that he and his characters do. Reading the novel is an affective investment, but perhaps Foer would say any marital or familial relation is an investment that is just beyond our fullest comprehension.
andrepinza's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Questo romanzo mi introduce all'opera di JSF, che non ho mai letto prima e che mi ripropongo di recuperare. Ho apprezzato fin da subito la trama molto semplice, quotidiana, con un stile di scrittura tagliante, snello e umoristico. Per certi versi, mi è sembrato di leggere una sceneggiatura per quanto sia evocativo e "visibile" il suo linguaggio. Mi ha ricordato molto lo stile di Franzen, anche se poi dalla metà del libro se ne distacca completamente.
La capacità di JSF di mescolare la Storia con la storia è notevole: il terremoto in Israele funge da molla narrativa per parlare anche dei terremoti interiori dei personaggi. Anche la tematica del distacco dalla realtà tramite la tecnologia (Sam in Other Life e Jacob con gli sms piccanti) l'ho trovato molto sensato e attuale.
La scrittura si caratterizza anche per il mix di generi e di stili che ti fanno avanzare nella lettura ogni volta con un ritmo diverso. Tramite il meccanismo dell'anticipazione, leggiamo cose che ci sembrano buttate lì per riempire gli spazi ma che poi, invece, vengono riprese, stressate e sezionate al millimetro.
Leggere della situazione in Israele, poi, oggi che abbiamo una situazione così critica, è struggente e fa gelare il sangue. È sicuramente un libro che ti fa pensare, anche quando non lo stai leggendo.