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A review by evirae
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
3.0
This Book Was: A good read but not very clear in its intent/goal. Perhaps I'm just not sharp enough to "get it."
Content Rating: Rated "Huh?" for some What the? moments throughout.
Maturity Rating: I honestly can't rate it.
Would I recommend it? -- I have no idea. Where am I?
---
A Gate at the Stairs isn't a bad book. Moore has a gift with prose, and the reading was overall enjoyable. After finishing, though, I really have no idea what exactly was the point.
This sounds bad-- I know. But I didn't really dislike the book at all. Essentially it turned out that the fact that this was "Post 9/11" really had no significant bearing on the text. It was as if you were looking into a girl's memoir she is penning from later on in life, and she had some really random, crazy stuff happen to her.
There is social commentary sprinkled in there. The whole 9/11 reference isn't really pertinent, nor is the fact that she is even partially Jewish-- none of these things mentioned in the blurb are really "central" to the story, but I didn't feel like anything was gimmicky.
Overall, it just wasn't clear to me what the point of the story was past showing a sliver of a girl's "coming of age in college" story. Even that doesn't seem an apt description.
I guess I'm just at a loss on this one!
--
Note from the blurb:
"Now, in her dazzling new novel—her first in more than a decade—Moore turns her eye on the anxiety and disconnection of post-9/11 America, on the insidiousness of racism, the blind-sidedness of war, and the recklessness thrust on others in the name of love."
As far as the bolded text, I CAN say that Moore did touch on these well. Overall, the story was just not tight enough to make a lasting impact on any of the topics listed, though. :/
Content Rating: Rated "Huh?" for some What the? moments throughout.
Maturity Rating: I honestly can't rate it.
Would I recommend it? -- I have no idea. Where am I?
---
A Gate at the Stairs isn't a bad book. Moore has a gift with prose, and the reading was overall enjoyable. After finishing, though, I really have no idea what exactly was the point.
This sounds bad-- I know. But I didn't really dislike the book at all. Essentially it turned out that the fact that this was "Post 9/11" really had no significant bearing on the text. It was as if you were looking into a girl's memoir she is penning from later on in life, and she had some really random, crazy stuff happen to her.
There is social commentary sprinkled in there. The whole 9/11 reference isn't really pertinent, nor is the fact that she is even partially Jewish-- none of these things mentioned in the blurb are really "central" to the story, but I didn't feel like anything was gimmicky.
Overall, it just wasn't clear to me what the point of the story was past showing a sliver of a girl's "coming of age in college" story. Even that doesn't seem an apt description.
I guess I'm just at a loss on this one!
--
Note from the blurb:
"Now, in her dazzling new novel—her first in more than a decade—Moore turns her eye on the anxiety and disconnection of post-9/11 America, on the insidiousness of racism, the blind-sidedness of war, and the recklessness thrust on others in the name of love."
As far as the bolded text, I CAN say that Moore did touch on these well. Overall, the story was just not tight enough to make a lasting impact on any of the topics listed, though. :/