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A review by krisheiney
Real Life by Brandon Taylor
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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
4.0
I had to sit with this book for a few days before I could put down thoughts about it. I’m still not quite sure what I think about it.
Once I started reading, I could barely put the book down. I’m not sure what gave it such propulsion—maybe it was a hopeless seeking out of a point in the book where something good came Wallace’s way, after so much bad. Maybe it was something about Taylor’s writing, which casts a dark sheen on everything and lends an inherent tension to the book.
Despite this, I can’t say I enjoyed the book. It felt too heavy, too saturated with awful things. But I can also hardly criticize it for that, because putting all that awfulness on display was very much the point. And the powerful way Taylor puts words to the white characters’ unreciprocated expectation of empathy from Wallace, their thinking they’re being kind while dismissing Wallace’s personhood—that makes this book an important piece of the modern American cultural landscape.
Once I started reading, I could barely put the book down. I’m not sure what gave it such propulsion—maybe it was a hopeless seeking out of a point in the book where something good came Wallace’s way, after so much bad. Maybe it was something about Taylor’s writing, which casts a dark sheen on everything and lends an inherent tension to the book.
Despite this, I can’t say I enjoyed the book. It felt too heavy, too saturated with awful things. But I can also hardly criticize it for that, because putting all that awfulness on display was very much the point. And the powerful way Taylor puts words to the white characters’ unreciprocated expectation of empathy from Wallace, their thinking they’re being kind while dismissing Wallace’s personhood—that makes this book an important piece of the modern American cultural landscape.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Rape, and Sexual violence