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A review by jorgechachas
Abundance by Jakob Guanzon
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Guanzon was able to capture a terrifying yet very real aspect of America and turn it into a biting debut novel. Unfortunately the amazing plot and concept was weighed down by unnecessary novel fluff and what felt like derailed thoughts that made me struggle when focusing, and ultimately had me speed-scan paragraphs (sometimes full pages) until the next important piece of information was given.
Let’s get it out of the way, Abundance is obviously comparable to The Pursuit of Happyness, but they are far from being interchangeable stories. Abundance is a more tragic tale and manages to have characters equally as believable as the biographical story told in TPOH. They both scratch different itches, and there are things I prefer about both stories.
The structure of separating each chapter into different time periods of Henry’s life works as both a benefit and a fault in the story telling. Each bite of history is a gamble on intrigue, with some stories being fascinating and others excruciatingly boring to read through.
Guanzon seems to be a great writer, but often falls into an overindulgence of words. Sandwiching two sentences of dialogue outside of paragraphs of exposition, writing pages without breaking a single paragraph to (unsuccessfully) build suspense, or a page dedicated to unimportant details, are all issues that are abundant in this novel. But I also realize that they’re issues that really bother me, but many readers don’t seem to mind.
I see a future in Guanzon’s career. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of this novel, I can see why others would rate it higher. I hope he develops other great stories but focuses his writing a bit more.
I’m feeling a 6 out of 10.
Let’s get it out of the way, Abundance is obviously comparable to The Pursuit of Happyness, but they are far from being interchangeable stories. Abundance is a more tragic tale and manages to have characters equally as believable as the biographical story told in TPOH. They both scratch different itches, and there are things I prefer about both stories.
The structure of separating each chapter into different time periods of Henry’s life works as both a benefit and a fault in the story telling. Each bite of history is a gamble on intrigue, with some stories being fascinating and others excruciatingly boring to read through.
Guanzon seems to be a great writer, but often falls into an overindulgence of words. Sandwiching two sentences of dialogue outside of paragraphs of exposition, writing pages without breaking a single paragraph to (unsuccessfully) build suspense, or a page dedicated to unimportant details, are all issues that are abundant in this novel. But I also realize that they’re issues that really bother me, but many readers don’t seem to mind.
I see a future in Guanzon’s career. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of this novel, I can see why others would rate it higher. I hope he develops other great stories but focuses his writing a bit more.
I’m feeling a 6 out of 10.