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A review by aliciaczellmer
Wonderland by Joyce Carol Oates
3.0
I feel quite conflicted about this book. I didn’t particularly like it.. but as a medical doctor (and currently a resident), I did find myself identifying with some of the pain and struggles he experienced during his years in medical school and residency. I think these would be good excerpts for medical trainees to read and reflect on. But everything in the book seems to be taken to an extreme degree, almost creating a piece of fiction that would be better categorized as magical realism. None of the characters seem truly “real.” I read this because I was inspired by JCO’s masterclass, and she said she had Alice in Wonderland, which she read many times as a child, in mind when she wrote it, and you can certainly tell. She precedes the book with a disclaimer: “for all of us who pursue the phantasmagoria of personality.” That certainly stands true in this bizarre novel.
What I didn’t particularly like about this book was there was no character redemption. Every single person in the book is, chooses to be, or becomes irredeemable. It’s utterly depressing. I’m not saying every book has to be a happy book, but be warned this has no slivers of joy interwoven.
Bottom line: I think this book would be valuable for medical professionals to read, to expand upon themselves within the medical humanities, but I question it’s value beyond that. I would only re-read it for that reason. That being said, if you do read it, I recommend reading the alternate ending of whatever version you pick up afterwards. (She wrote two endings, which are really quite different from one another. Higdon wrote an interesting article about this with excerpts from both versions.)
What I didn’t particularly like about this book was there was no character redemption. Every single person in the book is, chooses to be, or becomes irredeemable. It’s utterly depressing. I’m not saying every book has to be a happy book, but be warned this has no slivers of joy interwoven.
Bottom line: I think this book would be valuable for medical professionals to read, to expand upon themselves within the medical humanities, but I question it’s value beyond that. I would only re-read it for that reason. That being said, if you do read it, I recommend reading the alternate ending of whatever version you pick up afterwards. (She wrote two endings, which are really quite different from one another. Higdon wrote an interesting article about this with excerpts from both versions.)