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A review by pekoparty
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
3.0
"I still don't know how to trust what I love."
I got punched in the face by the Clarice Lispector quote. But that didn't take away my eye rolls at all the over explaining. Over explaining "it hits different" as Internet slang was assuming a reading audience can't catch up. Do you think Irvine Welsh wondered if people would understand Glue or Trainspotting? (I don't have endorsements for him, I just know he writes in an unreadable way that still works once you're in it).
I'm not trying to compare apples to oranges. But over explaining social context really threw me out of important moments. I also found no distinct voice between Lony and Orvil.
I did really submerge myself into the first half. And I adore Jacquie and Opal. Opal sitting on the porch asleep. Buhhhhh!!!!! I'm glad there was more. The beats and verbiage around addiction were true for me, too. But this didn't do for me what There There did. I wish the "epilogue" had been skipped, because another separate story could have been told. Tommy is still massively talented in his craft. I just felt like a teenager reading a 40 year old person trying to capture my generation, and I'll be 40 in no time.
I got punched in the face by the Clarice Lispector quote. But that didn't take away my eye rolls at all the over explaining. Over explaining "it hits different" as Internet slang was assuming a reading audience can't catch up. Do you think Irvine Welsh wondered if people would understand Glue or Trainspotting? (I don't have endorsements for him, I just know he writes in an unreadable way that still works once you're in it).
I'm not trying to compare apples to oranges. But over explaining social context really threw me out of important moments. I also found no distinct voice between Lony and Orvil.
I did really submerge myself into the first half. And I adore Jacquie and Opal. Opal sitting on the porch asleep. Buhhhhh!!!!! I'm glad there was more. The beats and verbiage around addiction were true for me, too. But this didn't do for me what There There did. I wish the "epilogue" had been skipped, because another separate story could have been told. Tommy is still massively talented in his craft. I just felt like a teenager reading a 40 year old person trying to capture my generation, and I'll be 40 in no time.