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casstheman's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
karenleagermain's review against another edition
1.0
I picked up Tom Spanbauer’s “Now is The Hour” at a Goodreads bookswap in Hollywood. The back cover looked promising and it had praise from other authors that I respect. This book fell flat and was well below my expectations.
I felt more than anything, that the story needed drastic editing. It could have conveyed the same point with about a hundred less pages. Spanbauer uses repetition, with phrases and ideas, as a stylistic choice. It drove me nuts. I bogged down the pace.
It’s a coming of age story, but after four hundred and fifty nine pages, I still didn’t feel like I had a clear idea of the main character. Maybe Spanbauer was trying to drive home the point that adolescence is confusing? I just felt muddled. Most of the characters felt like larger than life caricatures, but it didn’t fit, because most of the story was not outlandish. The female characters are particularly portrayed this way.
I really did not like the ending. Without involving spoilers, the main character is involved in a crime. It should be shocking and should be a turning point. Instead, he just goes about his business, as if this big plot point is not so important or something he should be concerned about. It fizzles and is so frustrating.
I felt more than anything, that the story needed drastic editing. It could have conveyed the same point with about a hundred less pages. Spanbauer uses repetition, with phrases and ideas, as a stylistic choice. It drove me nuts. I bogged down the pace.
It’s a coming of age story, but after four hundred and fifty nine pages, I still didn’t feel like I had a clear idea of the main character. Maybe Spanbauer was trying to drive home the point that adolescence is confusing? I just felt muddled. Most of the characters felt like larger than life caricatures, but it didn’t fit, because most of the story was not outlandish. The female characters are particularly portrayed this way.
I really did not like the ending. Without involving spoilers, the main character is involved in a crime. It should be shocking and should be a turning point. Instead, he just goes about his business, as if this big plot point is not so important or something he should be concerned about. It fizzles and is so frustrating.
opinionhaver69's review against another edition
5.0
this book dug my grave then killed me & put me in it
nunuseli's review against another edition
2.0
Si hay algo que no perdono nunca a un libro es que me dé la sensación de que estoy perdiendo el tiempo. No soporto estar leyendo un libro y estar todo el rato pensando que podría estar leyendo otra cosa, algo que me llenara más, o si me apuráis algo que me diciera algo. Creo que su principal problema es que es demasiado largo y acaba siendo repetitivo. Hay páginas y páginas describiendo minuciosamente escenas y más escenas indestriables las unas de las otras que no aportan nada: ni hacen que la historia avance ni dan más profundidad a los personajes.
No es un libro malo, pero tampoco me ha parecido para nada memorable. La historia es la de un niño que crece en un pueblo rural perdido en medio de ninguna parte y en una familia ultra-católica. La novela se inicia cuando el protagonista tiene 17 años y ha decidido marcharse de casa, porque la única forma de ser él mismo que tiene es romper con su familia. A partir de ahí nos cuenta cómo ha llegado hasta allí, cómo la amistad lo cambió y le sirvió para conocerse mejor a él mismo, cómo descubrió que era homosexual y también que de hecho dos hombres podrían quererse, y finalmente también por supuesto cómo se enamoró. Sobre el papel no está mal, pero para mí la cosa se alarga y se alarga y se alarga y se alarga innecesariamente.
Me ha gustado más la primera parte, la infancia llena de soledad y palizas de los abusones, el ambiente ultra-católico en el que todo es pecado y rezar el rosario, la relación del protagonista con su madre y su distanciamiento a medida que él se va haciendo mayor. Y la mayor pega que he encontrado al libro es el estilo. Es tremendamente repetitivo y si al principio en teoría puede tener su gracia, las últimas 200 páginas se me hizo insoportablemente engorroso. En un libro más corto puede resultar, pero en uno tan largo repetir incansablemente las mismas imágenes y las mismas descripciones, palabra por palabra, es agotador, totalmente superfluo y altamente irritante.
No es un libro malo, pero tampoco me ha parecido para nada memorable. La historia es la de un niño que crece en un pueblo rural perdido en medio de ninguna parte y en una familia ultra-católica. La novela se inicia cuando el protagonista tiene 17 años y ha decidido marcharse de casa, porque la única forma de ser él mismo que tiene es romper con su familia. A partir de ahí nos cuenta cómo ha llegado hasta allí, cómo la amistad lo cambió y le sirvió para conocerse mejor a él mismo, cómo descubrió que era homosexual y también que de hecho dos hombres podrían quererse, y finalmente también por supuesto cómo se enamoró. Sobre el papel no está mal, pero para mí la cosa se alarga y se alarga y se alarga y se alarga innecesariamente.
Me ha gustado más la primera parte, la infancia llena de soledad y palizas de los abusones, el ambiente ultra-católico en el que todo es pecado y rezar el rosario, la relación del protagonista con su madre y su distanciamiento a medida que él se va haciendo mayor. Y la mayor pega que he encontrado al libro es el estilo. Es tremendamente repetitivo y si al principio en teoría puede tener su gracia, las últimas 200 páginas se me hizo insoportablemente engorroso. En un libro más corto puede resultar, pero en uno tan largo repetir incansablemente las mismas imágenes y las mismas descripciones, palabra por palabra, es agotador, totalmente superfluo y altamente irritante.
misscalije's review against another edition
5.0
There are many reasons why I connected with this novel. The first is that it takes place in Pocatello, the place I did my undergraduate, and I recognized a few of the places that Rigby visited (Pocatello High, the Rez, and the now burned down Chief Theater). The second is because of Rigby John’s identity as a coming-of-age queer person living in a highly religious, rural area.
SIDE RANT: WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF TOM SPANBAUER BEFORE? Why must all things gay and beautiful about Idaho be kept from me until I leave the state?!? If you see this Mr. Spanbauer, I wanna meet you so bad.
What makes this novel different is its voice: Spanbauer uses repetition, thematic and literal, in a highly effective manner. Short phrases continually pop up, (smoking is praying, in that moment I loved God so much, moments of gesture) and they do work to establish emotion and create tension like I’ve never seen before.
The novel is not neat in its social politics. Racism runs amuck, even is personified in Rigby John’s father (who Rigby uses as a perpetual example of what not to be). Rigby also enters relationships where the age gap can and does incur an imbalance of power, something I’ve been critical of in popular media like Call Me By Your Name. There isn’t really any excuse for that, except for that it was another time, and the characters do address it directly. This is definitely a book that exists in the real, messed up world we live in, and for it to be anything other than what it was would be lying (and therefore breaking the ninth commandment...).
The part of this novel that I felt was most touching was Rigby’s roller coaster of a relationship with his mother. You could see her changes in character, through troubles in death and marriage and religion... She’s trapped in the social jail of the toxic patriarchy, as is Rigby, which I why I think they were able to connect as they did at various times throughout their lives. While Rigby’s father was mostly a stereotypical rough racist patriarch (which didn’t bother me at all), Rigby’s mom had her own heartbreaking arc, showing complexity in every page.
I cried in the break room.
I loved it and Imma give it to my friend.
SIDE RANT: WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF TOM SPANBAUER BEFORE? Why must all things gay and beautiful about Idaho be kept from me until I leave the state?!? If you see this Mr. Spanbauer, I wanna meet you so bad.
What makes this novel different is its voice: Spanbauer uses repetition, thematic and literal, in a highly effective manner. Short phrases continually pop up, (smoking is praying, in that moment I loved God so much, moments of gesture) and they do work to establish emotion and create tension like I’ve never seen before.
The novel is not neat in its social politics. Racism runs amuck, even is personified in Rigby John’s father (who Rigby uses as a perpetual example of what not to be). Rigby also enters relationships where the age gap can and does incur an imbalance of power, something I’ve been critical of in popular media like Call Me By Your Name. There isn’t really any excuse for that, except for that it was another time, and the characters do address it directly. This is definitely a book that exists in the real, messed up world we live in, and for it to be anything other than what it was would be lying (and therefore breaking the ninth commandment...).
The part of this novel that I felt was most touching was Rigby’s roller coaster of a relationship with his mother. You could see her changes in character, through troubles in death and marriage and religion... She’s trapped in the social jail of the toxic patriarchy, as is Rigby, which I why I think they were able to connect as they did at various times throughout their lives. While Rigby’s father was mostly a stereotypical rough racist patriarch (which didn’t bother me at all), Rigby’s mom had her own heartbreaking arc, showing complexity in every page.
I cried in the break room.
I loved it and Imma give it to my friend.
grayxen's review against another edition
4.0
it's hard to put down after "Bless us, O fucking Lord, and these Thy fucking gifts"
but it did get a little holden caufieldy and rambled on a bit at times.
i liked that the main character tells us things most of us wouldn't dare admit. pretty brave considering he's a "spineless ass".
some of my favorite quotes were:
- "She travels the world looking for something inside."
- "Nobody said anything. Each of us stood in a blue tile. Like we were a game of chess, and they were the king and the queen and I was one of those pieces you don't care about"
- "Funny, all those years praying to God, and what gets my ass out of Pocatello is the devil."
- "But what was an hour late compared to a pregnancy? Einstein was so right on with his theory of relativity."
and then when in mid hell breaking loose he stops to steal the rest of the oatmeal cookies LOL. every time something extremely dangerous was going on, the next line was hilarity. i loved it.
i cried every time george said ANYTHING toward the end.
also, the blowjob at the end killed the romantic mood for me, but whatever, i guess teenage hormones gotta get theirs.
and lastly, when he starts repeating the first chapter verbatim toward the end i wondered if he had been reading survivor by chuck palaniuk, lol.
but it did get a little holden caufieldy and rambled on a bit at times.
i liked that the main character tells us things most of us wouldn't dare admit. pretty brave considering he's a "spineless ass".
some of my favorite quotes were:
- "She travels the world looking for something inside."
- "Nobody said anything. Each of us stood in a blue tile. Like we were a game of chess, and they were the king and the queen and I was one of those pieces you don't care about"
- "Funny, all those years praying to God, and what gets my ass out of Pocatello is the devil."
- "But what was an hour late compared to a pregnancy? Einstein was so right on with his theory of relativity."
and then when in mid hell breaking loose he stops to steal the rest of the oatmeal cookies LOL. every time something extremely dangerous was going on, the next line was hilarity. i loved it.
i cried every time george said ANYTHING toward the end.
also, the blowjob at the end killed the romantic mood for me, but whatever, i guess teenage hormones gotta get theirs.
and lastly, when he starts repeating the first chapter verbatim toward the end i wondered if he had been reading survivor by chuck palaniuk, lol.
selmbry's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Racism, Drug use, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Bullying, Death, Addiction, Homophobia, Cursing, and Adult/minor relationship
elibobeli's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75