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A review by mybooks_maryreads
The Arrest by Jonathan Lethem
5.0
I love Lethem's style. This book is about fear, relationships, family dynamics, not knowing who you are or what you should do with your life, how the circumstances of life determine what your choices are, how your personality determines what your choices are, the role of technology in our lives, the power of storytelling to impact our view of the world.... etc., etc.
What it isn't about: understanding exactly what the Arrest was or why it is allowing some types of technology and not others. Clearly not the point. He's set up a world and the reader has to enter in, and live there. Which you can do if you get the idea of "willing suspension of disbelief," a phrase I learned in high school English class (thank you, Mrs. Pfaff!)
I fear young readers today are not equipped to "get" anything that isn't fully explained. If you want realism, don't read Lethem's speculative fiction.
As for the while male author perspective - I didn't find it at all problematic here. The main character, Sandy/Journeyman, is complex and sort of pathetic, but also I was rooting for him. His sister, Maddy, is a mysterious powerhouse throughout the novel.
What it isn't about: understanding exactly what the Arrest was or why it is allowing some types of technology and not others. Clearly not the point. He's set up a world and the reader has to enter in, and live there. Which you can do if you get the idea of "willing suspension of disbelief," a phrase I learned in high school English class (thank you, Mrs. Pfaff!)
I fear young readers today are not equipped to "get" anything that isn't fully explained. If you want realism, don't read Lethem's speculative fiction.
As for the while male author perspective - I didn't find it at all problematic here. The main character, Sandy/Journeyman, is complex and sort of pathetic, but also I was rooting for him. His sister, Maddy, is a mysterious powerhouse throughout the novel.