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A review by verosnotebook
You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
4.0
3.75*
Wasn’t sure what score to give to this short story. On one hand, this is a very thought-provoking story, but on the other I found the end a little bit rushed and naive. Still, totally worth reading it.
Towles here takes the idea of nature vs nurture to a completely different level. Not only can you chose your child’s sex, make sure he/she has no horrendous illnesses, but decide on which kind of character traits and thus life experiences he/she will have! With all this focus on ‘could’, what about the issue of ‘should’? The choices offered here to this dad-to-be are shocking, and ultimately say less about the potential child and more about the parents and their life choices. I think the story was strong enough with just with this, and with the male lead processing all shown and re-analysing his life. It didn’t need the added subtle threat at the end, which then lead to the weak-ish ending. Otherwise, the narrative was great and compelling, and David Harbour’s (Hopper in Stranger Things) performance totally matched this.
Wasn’t sure what score to give to this short story. On one hand, this is a very thought-provoking story, but on the other I found the end a little bit rushed and naive. Still, totally worth reading it.
Towles here takes the idea of nature vs nurture to a completely different level. Not only can you chose your child’s sex, make sure he/she has no horrendous illnesses, but decide on which kind of character traits and thus life experiences he/she will have! With all this focus on ‘could’, what about the issue of ‘should’? The choices offered here to this dad-to-be are shocking, and ultimately say less about the potential child and more about the parents and their life choices. I think the story was strong enough with just with this, and with the male lead processing all shown and re-analysing his life. It didn’t need the added subtle threat at the end, which then lead to the weak-ish ending. Otherwise, the narrative was great and compelling, and David Harbour’s (Hopper in Stranger Things) performance totally matched this.