You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
Richard Brautigan's writing remind me of Bukowski lite. He rambles and repeats many themes, is a bit of a misogynist (of course it was the late 60's), and seems unhappy or perhaps unsatisfied. Of course he committed suicide so that's not done great revelation to say he was unhappy.
Some of these stories made me laugh and some caused me to reflect on circumstances and experiences in my own life. After completing the collection I felt... meh vs how I felt upon completing a Saunders, O'Connor or Carver collection. I would suggest you seek them out rather than read this collection though I do plan to try one of Brautigan's longer pieces as that is what he was most known for.
Some of these stories made me laugh and some caused me to reflect on circumstances and experiences in my own life. After completing the collection I felt... meh vs how I felt upon completing a Saunders, O'Connor or Carver collection. I would suggest you seek them out rather than read this collection though I do plan to try one of Brautigan's longer pieces as that is what he was most known for.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
A highly anticipated return to the works of Richard Brautigan. After reading and highly enjoying Trout Fishing in America and A Confederate General From Big Sur last year, I was excited to revisit the strange but delightful world of Richard Brautigan. There were many places I could have gone next but I decided to go with Revenge of the Lawn, mainly for the title although it being a collection of stories from 1962-1970 I thought it might be a good bridge into his later works of the 1970s.
Revenge of the Lawn started off very strong. I was finding at least one in every five stories to be one of my favorites of his. It was clear that with some of these longer stories (the 3-4 page ones) we were really getting a growth from Brautigan and a perfection of his short story formula. That being said I did feel a quality drop after the first 70 or so pages. There were still stories I really liked after this point but they were coming by less frequently.
I think some of this quality disparity can be related to the fact that this is not a singe, cohesive (for Brautigan) work but rather a collection of stories across eight years of his career and these eight years were probably the most impactful of his career. Some stories feel on par with his work from the early 60's, some feel like the next step in his writing ability, and some just feel like filler. That being said, even filler from Brautigan is often times better than most writers. You get a sense of his career progression, some stories reflect on his success or the events of the later 60s but often times you are just emersed in the world of Brautigan's reflections on childhood, love life, or other matters.
While there were some great highs in this book I wasn't fully blown away. There are a few essential works of his from the late 60s that I'm skipping over for the time being I'm excited to see where his writing goes as I explore some of his works from the 1970s. I already have a copy of Willard and His Bowling Trophies that I've been eyeing ever since I acquired it.
Revenge of the Lawn started off very strong. I was finding at least one in every five stories to be one of my favorites of his. It was clear that with some of these longer stories (the 3-4 page ones) we were really getting a growth from Brautigan and a perfection of his short story formula. That being said I did feel a quality drop after the first 70 or so pages. There were still stories I really liked after this point but they were coming by less frequently.
I think some of this quality disparity can be related to the fact that this is not a singe, cohesive (for Brautigan) work but rather a collection of stories across eight years of his career and these eight years were probably the most impactful of his career. Some stories feel on par with his work from the early 60's, some feel like the next step in his writing ability, and some just feel like filler. That being said, even filler from Brautigan is often times better than most writers. You get a sense of his career progression, some stories reflect on his success or the events of the later 60s but often times you are just emersed in the world of Brautigan's reflections on childhood, love life, or other matters.
While there were some great highs in this book I wasn't fully blown away. There are a few essential works of his from the late 60s that I'm skipping over for the time being I'm excited to see where his writing goes as I explore some of his works from the 1970s. I already have a copy of Willard and His Bowling Trophies that I've been eyeing ever since I acquired it.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Incredible collection, I tried to find reasons not to give it 5 stars and simply couldn’t.
Lots of interesting shaped stories. Liked some a lot. Less concentrated weirdness than in watermelon sugar but some similar vibes.
Like it when an old lady glides away on a sail made of bones
Without doubt the greatest collection of stories I've read. He was an absolute genius.
Excellent short stories (really vignettes), with Brautigan's typical humor and worldly insight into the human condition. A very fun, quick read.
I didn’t know how to rate this one. Out of 62 total stories (the majority of them flash fiction of under two pages), about five of them are five-stars stories, about that many are four-star and then there are about two dozen two-star stories that are not much more than sketches or a snippet/idea for a story that was never really fleshed out and probably added to the collection as filler. The rest of the stories are three stars.
The most effective (and memorable) stories in Revenge of the Lawn are the ones in which Brautigan really sticks the landing, like, for example: “This might have been a funny story if it weren’t for the fact that people need a little loving and, God, sometimes it’s sad all the shit they have to go through to find some”. The ones that don’t work so well, just kind of fizzle out with no discernible ending.
The highlights: Pacific Radio Fire, The Scarlatti Tilt, World War I Los Angeles Aeroplane, 1/3 1/3 1/3, Homage to the San Francisco YMCA, The Betrayed Kingdom, Corporal.
The most effective (and memorable) stories in Revenge of the Lawn are the ones in which Brautigan really sticks the landing, like, for example: “This might have been a funny story if it weren’t for the fact that people need a little loving and, God, sometimes it’s sad all the shit they have to go through to find some”. The ones that don’t work so well, just kind of fizzle out with no discernible ending.
The highlights: Pacific Radio Fire, The Scarlatti Tilt, World War I Los Angeles Aeroplane, 1/3 1/3 1/3, Homage to the San Francisco YMCA, The Betrayed Kingdom, Corporal.