Take a photo of a barcode or cover
bookkate 's review for:
The Celebrants
by Steven Rowley
Read via NetGalley
Publisher: Penguin Group, Putnam
Publication: 30 May 2023
I LOVED "The Guncle" so was excited to see a new book by Steven Rowley coming out. The cover is beautiful also.
This book didn't sneak into my heart the way The Guncle did though. I almost DNFed it & if it had not been a NetGalley book for review, I may have.
Review contains spoilers.
I was intrigued by the premise & have sometimes thought this before as well -- would it not be more wonderful to show up for the people you love, when you're all still alive to tell them how important they are, rather than at a funeral? If you think about modern society, we all go along saying we're too busy, too busy, too busy - but we will drop everything to get to an important funeral. Why wasn't it more important to go see that person when they were living?
However, I really, really couldn't get into this book -- the characters all felt superficial, like we were just skimming along on the surface of their lives. They tell us stuff, but don't really show us any feeling or depth to their characters & lives. I think the most annoying facet of the book was the dialogue - whenever this group of friends got together, it never seemed like they actually talked with each other -- there were some random trivia factoids, a few non-sequiturs, and then someone would yell something (e.g. "I KNOW WHERE DUBROVNIK IS!" or "BOTH OF YOU STOP IT" or "OH MY GOD!"). It was like no one ever actually had a real conversation or the author was looking for random trivia tidbits with which to fill the pages. I kept thinking - do these people actually know each other? like each other? grow in relation to each other? And despite their pact to 'leave nothing unsaid' - whenever they got together, they devolved into these non-conversations and trite sayings at their friends' 'funerals'.
And don't even get me started on the Naomi chapter -- wherein she drunkenly decides they'll all go skydiving, then tries to seduce the pilot while he's flying the plane in a VERY weird way (is this meant to be funny? sad? pathetic?), then forcibly decides NOT to skydive, herself, after everyone else does. Just....WTAF was this? I guess I didn't get it.
The one shining moment in this book was the chapter near the end when Jordan surprises Jordy with the Alcatraz swim -- this chapter really gripped me -- Jordy's feelings as he was swimming, Jordan's fears on the shore as he tried to give his husband a fresh start, or a memory that can eventually give him a fresh start, while also facing his own death. This chapter was beautiful and then looking back at the rest of the book, I think it was the brief windows into Jordan & Jordy's life that felt the most vivid (least skimmed over?) of all the characters. I think I wish Rowley and his editor had picked this apart a bit more and focused on the Jordan & Jordy story -- maybe even continuing after Jordan's death.... and the rest of the gang become secondary characters in their story? What do I know, I'm not an editor. But, this is my review.
I thought this was a beautiful sentiment: "...grief can be a prison. And some day in the future I wanted him to look back on this day and remember that he has the strength to break free."
I think there's a bunch of other stuff I kind of want to rant about in this book, but will end with just one last peeve - what are you saying with these microphthalmic kittens? That we're all just bumbling blindly through life? What is with this? It feels blatantly obvious and annoyingly obtuse all at the same time. Urhghghg.
Publisher: Penguin Group, Putnam
Publication: 30 May 2023
I LOVED "The Guncle" so was excited to see a new book by Steven Rowley coming out. The cover is beautiful also.
This book didn't sneak into my heart the way The Guncle did though. I almost DNFed it & if it had not been a NetGalley book for review, I may have.
Review contains spoilers.
I was intrigued by the premise & have sometimes thought this before as well -- would it not be more wonderful to show up for the people you love, when you're all still alive to tell them how important they are, rather than at a funeral? If you think about modern society, we all go along saying we're too busy, too busy, too busy - but we will drop everything to get to an important funeral. Why wasn't it more important to go see that person when they were living?
However, I really, really couldn't get into this book -- the characters all felt superficial, like we were just skimming along on the surface of their lives. They tell us stuff, but don't really show us any feeling or depth to their characters & lives. I think the most annoying facet of the book was the dialogue - whenever this group of friends got together, it never seemed like they actually talked with each other -- there were some random trivia factoids, a few non-sequiturs, and then someone would yell something (e.g. "I KNOW WHERE DUBROVNIK IS!" or "BOTH OF YOU STOP IT" or "OH MY GOD!"). It was like no one ever actually had a real conversation or the author was looking for random trivia tidbits with which to fill the pages. I kept thinking - do these people actually know each other? like each other? grow in relation to each other? And despite their pact to 'leave nothing unsaid' - whenever they got together, they devolved into these non-conversations and trite sayings at their friends' 'funerals'.
And don't even get me started on the Naomi chapter -- wherein she drunkenly decides they'll all go skydiving, then tries to seduce the pilot while he's flying the plane in a VERY weird way (is this meant to be funny? sad? pathetic?), then forcibly decides NOT to skydive, herself, after everyone else does. Just....WTAF was this? I guess I didn't get it.
The one shining moment in this book was the chapter near the end when Jordan surprises Jordy with the Alcatraz swim -- this chapter really gripped me -- Jordy's feelings as he was swimming, Jordan's fears on the shore as he tried to give his husband a fresh start, or a memory that can eventually give him a fresh start, while also facing his own death. This chapter was beautiful and then looking back at the rest of the book, I think it was the brief windows into Jordan & Jordy's life that felt the most vivid (least skimmed over?) of all the characters. I think I wish Rowley and his editor had picked this apart a bit more and focused on the Jordan & Jordy story -- maybe even continuing after Jordan's death.... and the rest of the gang become secondary characters in their story? What do I know, I'm not an editor. But, this is my review.
I thought this was a beautiful sentiment: "...grief can be a prison. And some day in the future I wanted him to look back on this day and remember that he has the strength to break free."
I think there's a bunch of other stuff I kind of want to rant about in this book, but will end with just one last peeve - what are you saying with these microphthalmic kittens? That we're all just bumbling blindly through life? What is with this? It feels blatantly obvious and annoyingly obtuse all at the same time. Urhghghg.