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karenmichele 's review for:
Dissident Gardens
by Jonathan Lethem
I found Dissident Gardens to be uneven in its ability to draw me into the characters and plot. It read more like linked short stories that make up a novel, but don’t quite succeed in painting a complete picture. At times I was fascinated, but at other times I realized I was just turning the pages to get through a section. I was interested in the politics of the novel, but never felt a real passion for the beliefs of the characters coming through. Lethem’s writing is good, but the storytelling lacks emotion somehow. I think the non linear arrangement of the stories also made it difficult for me to follow the characters and the story arc in this book. I don’t always dislike that kind of structure, but it didn’t work well for me in Dissident Gardens. I still enjoyed the book, but I would recommend it only to those who have an interest in the time period and subject matter.