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gillian_barbieri 's review for:
4 3 2 1
by Paul Auster
There is no sugarcoating this, 4321 was a beast to read, and at times felt like a slog, but it was well worth it in the end. As others have noted, the novel is almost like Auster's master thesis on how seemingly insignificant influences shape our lives and the people we become and the power of each small choice in determining our path.
There were parts I felt could have been slightly edited, but as a whole, there were very few moments of dialogue or character development that I could have done without. My main point of contention, however, was with the problematic and somewhat flat development of the female charaters thoroughout the story. I suppose that should be expected when the story is marketed as that of a mid-century male teen. I also felt all versions of Archie's views of women and sex were consistantly problematic, and I would have appreciated seeing some variation in those traits across the Archies.
There were parts I felt could have been slightly edited, but as a whole, there were very few moments of dialogue or character development that I could have done without. My main point of contention, however, was with the problematic and somewhat flat development of the female charaters thoroughout the story. I suppose that should be expected when the story is marketed as that of a mid-century male teen. I also felt all versions of Archie's views of women and sex were consistantly problematic, and I would have appreciated seeing some variation in those traits across the Archies.