Ross
Reviewing this book and rating it is difficult due to the controversies surrounding the author. Regarding my rating: reading this was not necessarily “enjoyable”, but you cannot help but care about the characters. That being said, the controversies surrounding the author make the work itself just feel cynical. But, do bad people have things perhaps worth saying and to consider? Hopefully, I think.
I will say, I do want to read the other books (I read this one because I wanted to read them, and that I still do is a mark in its favor). What does Yunior look like grown up? How does a grown up Junot Diaz write him? Hopefully one day we will find out.
The Bible faculty at my high school were all Anglican except one Presbyterian pastor. He would say one of the saddest misconceptions of Calvin was that he thought the world was and people are evil. Anyway, I'm sure he read this book
George Saunders is my favorite author. Once you get the hang of the format it reads quickly. If empathy annoys you you may not like it, but that's Saunders (thankfully, he doesn't ask us to empathize with everybody)
This is a lovely (not an adjective I use, but most appropriate I can think of), satisfying book. There are parts I didn't like as much (I was uninterested in the narration of comics stories, but there wasn't too much of that), but to not give this 5 stars just feels disingenuous.
One time I went to the store with my older brother. The cashier, a girl, asked him, “Did you find everything you need?”
He, handing her exactly what he had come for, replied, “I don't think so...”
I enjoyed reading this book, Zadie Smith is a very entertaining writer. However, sometimes it felt like I was being written “at” if that makes any sense, but I also don't know if that's just something of a feature of English social novels™.
I very much enjoyed all the sorts of irony in the book, particularly with the faithless-religious Samad and the not-so-religious but very full-of-faith Archie. I found all the characters endearing despite their flaws, except the Chalfens, who are my least favorite characters I've ever read about in my entire life (joking, slightly).
It is a hard read, but it's a good read. It is fast-paced, and the structure helps divide things up. I like how the author did not try to sell the railroad, it is just a matter of fact. The book is fair and clear-eyed. The author's style is criticized as overly “clinical” but I think it lends to what he's doing here - he's not sensationalizing chattel slavery or it's effects. Just as the fact of the literal railroad he's simply describing things as they are. I've heard of authors described as society's physicians, and I could advocate a similar description for this book as well. It is difficult to rate “important” books, but it's worth reading and I did enjoy it. So, 5 stars
Whatever it's literary bonafides (I'll leave that to the pros) this book is just very cool. If I had read it in high school I would have been obsessed with it. The stories set in the past made me think of Douglas Copeland, while others (particularly “Selling the General” and “Pure Language”) remind me of George Saunders. The last three chapters are my favorite, and however gimmicky “Great Rock and Roll Pauses by Alison Blake” may be criticized, it is also the most poignant.
I couldn't say I “enjoyed” this book all the time. One of the chapters is the hardest thing I've read all year. It's easy to see why, though, this book has inspired so many other memoirs. The genius of this one, though, is that the author never loses sight of the light. Her genuine love for her family always shines through. The literary merits are also worth pondering, particularly in relation to the telling of stories and the veracity of family tales. After reading this, I'm especially excited to read Lit