I wanted to like this, I really did. I wasn’t hooked from the beginning and just kinda held on, hoping maybe I’d get into it, but I never did, so it bI wanted to like this, I really did. I wasn’t hooked from the beginning and just kinda held on, hoping maybe I’d get into it, but I never did, so it became a spite-finish more than anything. At least it wasn’t unreadable.
What turned me off: -The writing itself. At the bare-bones sentence level I wasn’t impressed or inspired to keep reading. -Manny immediately losing his former identity. I’ll be the first person to admit that I don’t read or write for character, but knowing nothing about this person (and the fact that he’s so incurious about himself) made his transformation cheap and boring. Yeah, sure, the trope about everyone becoming NYers the instant they arrive, but even Manhattan has more depth than that. -Uneven treatment of the main characters and their POVs. Brooklyn and Queens get one chapter each, whereas we live in the Bronx’s perspective as soon as we meet her. (I mean, I’d get maybe giving the Bronx more love and de-centering the Manhattan/Brooklyn dynamic of NYC stories, but it’s a city of 5 boroughs and in a story like this they needed equal weight.) -Anyone else get “wise old Native woman” trope feelings from the Bronx? Yikes. Do better. (Also, come to think of it, “strong Black woman” vibes from Brooklyn.) -The alt-right as part of the big bad felt … cheap. Really cheap. One-dimensionally cheap. -Similarly, the use of an actual Lovecraft entity might’ve been the final straw for me. Rag on Lovecraft if you want, but why stoop to his level? Be original. -YOU CANNOT SEE THE WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE FROM A FOURTH FLOOR WALKUP IN JACKSON HEIGHTS I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL
Honestly, ironically, the only character I found to be the most compelling, grappling with the biggest challenges, making the most interesting (and devastating) choices, and with the most at stake … was the racist white girl....more
I have a lot of thoughts about this. Instead, I will recommend some similar books you should read instead:
“Omon Ra” Victor Pelevin («Омон Ра» Виктор ПI have a lot of thoughts about this. Instead, I will recommend some similar books you should read instead:
“Omon Ra” Victor Pelevin («Омон Ра» Виктор Пелевин) “The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years” Chingiz Aitmatov («И дольше века длится день» Чингиз Айтматов) “Lunar Bomb” Andrei Platonov («Лунная бомба» Андрей Платонов)...more
I have wanted to read this book for three years, was looking for a copy in French, and two weeks ago learned it had just been translated. And I’m justI have wanted to read this book for three years, was looking for a copy in French, and two weeks ago learned it had just been translated. And I’m just. Wow....more
Secondary takeaway: people are terrible, and terrible to each other. The more I think about it, though, the mImmediate take away: people are terrible.
Secondary takeaway: people are terrible, and terrible to each other. The more I think about it, though, the more this book becomes about communication, or the lack thereof, or the ways that communication goes awry. Something of the sort. I still want to punch Klaus and Sven in the face, though.
Also: did anyone else spend the entire book actively trying not to read the name of the product like Kentucky?...more
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