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A review by blueshadow
Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley
2.0
An underwhelming 2.5 stars, rounded down because of the amount I skimmed over just to get to the end.
The book sat in an uncomfortable place for me... too much plot to be a book read purely for enjoyment of the writing and characters. Too many coincidences to take the plot seriously (human characters are either amazingly astute or astonishingly obtuse, depending on which is most convenient to the plot at the time.) Writing isn't quite good enough to pull the book through by its own merit, not bad enough to set the whole thing aside. Too much philosophizing for me to enjoy it. And an utterly predictable ending.
Overall, the book was fine, but not to my taste.
The book sat in an uncomfortable place for me... too much plot to be a book read purely for enjoyment of the writing and characters. Too many coincidences to take the plot seriously (human characters are either amazingly astute or astonishingly obtuse, depending on which is most convenient to the plot at the time.) Writing isn't quite good enough to pull the book through by its own merit, not bad enough to set the whole thing aside. Too much philosophizing for me to enjoy it. And an utterly predictable ending.
Overall, the book was fine, but not to my taste.