A review by al07734
Solomon Gursky Was Here by Mordecai Richler

adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

All in all, it was a pretty entertaining read. The constantly switching perspectives (if you have the mental bandwidth) can be kind of fun but not enough for the unnecessary amounts of bigotry, hemophilia, racism, etc. that the characters say. Honestly it seems like Richler was told to write a "raunchy" novel so he filled it with characters saying as many slurs as possible.
If this was a movie it would not pass the Bechdel test. Even the "strongest" female characters had their biggest regrets about not keeping the man. However, the book was convoluted in a manner that was fun to read, and I genuinely really enjoyed it. This ended after the first instance of the n-word.
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