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jwmcoaching 's review for:
Dissident Gardens
by Jonathan Lethem
4 1/2 stars.
I've always had an interesting relationship with Jonathan Lethem's writing. I've read most of his books and even though I've only liked about half of them, I would still rank him as one of my favorite writers because his work is always so interesting and frequently entertaining.
Dissident Gardens is one of his best. He takes us on a half century journey through New York City and follows the exploits of one (mostly Communist/revolutionary) family. Lethem not only shows us events from the various perspectives in said family, but does it in a way that the overall picture sometimes remains tantalizingly incomplete. Like real life, you don't always get the whole story, which can sometimes be frustrating, but mainly remains fun because you're left to fill in the blanks on your own.
DG is what you might call my bread and butter when it comes to novels. It's got sharp, erudite humor, plenty of historical and pop culture references and clueless characters who strive, quixotic-like, for better things (or at least a better understanding of things) in their lives, but frequently fall short. Lethem stumbles a bit in the last fourth of the novel and the conclusion felt pretty weak to me, but otherwise, this is a near perfect work.
I've always had an interesting relationship with Jonathan Lethem's writing. I've read most of his books and even though I've only liked about half of them, I would still rank him as one of my favorite writers because his work is always so interesting and frequently entertaining.
Dissident Gardens is one of his best. He takes us on a half century journey through New York City and follows the exploits of one (mostly Communist/revolutionary) family. Lethem not only shows us events from the various perspectives in said family, but does it in a way that the overall picture sometimes remains tantalizingly incomplete. Like real life, you don't always get the whole story, which can sometimes be frustrating, but mainly remains fun because you're left to fill in the blanks on your own.
DG is what you might call my bread and butter when it comes to novels. It's got sharp, erudite humor, plenty of historical and pop culture references and clueless characters who strive, quixotic-like, for better things (or at least a better understanding of things) in their lives, but frequently fall short. Lethem stumbles a bit in the last fourth of the novel and the conclusion felt pretty weak to me, but otherwise, this is a near perfect work.