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lizaroo71's review against another edition
3.0
review The writing here is strong, but I felt the threads didn't quite come together as cohesively as I would have liked.
There are several people and time periods represented here, but the commonality is a location in the Mojave desert, the Pinnacles. These rock formations may harness some magnetic power of the earth or work as a conduit between two worlds.
Kunzru stays clear of defining what exactly is happening in the area. He, instead, gives several scenarios and people that have been affected by this area and makes an attempt to connect them.
At the heart of the story is a couple with a young son that is autistic. Their son, Raj, goes missing while the family is vacationing near the Pinnacles. When Raj returns, he is different somehow, but he is not able to verbalize what exactly has happened to him. His father, Jaz, becomes obsessed with wanting to know what exactly happened to his son while he was gone.
The different looks at culture are interesting, but the science is left at the wayside part way through the book. (less)
There are several people and time periods represented here, but the commonality is a location in the Mojave desert, the Pinnacles. These rock formations may harness some magnetic power of the earth or work as a conduit between two worlds.
Kunzru stays clear of defining what exactly is happening in the area. He, instead, gives several scenarios and people that have been affected by this area and makes an attempt to connect them.
At the heart of the story is a couple with a young son that is autistic. Their son, Raj, goes missing while the family is vacationing near the Pinnacles. When Raj returns, he is different somehow, but he is not able to verbalize what exactly has happened to him. His father, Jaz, becomes obsessed with wanting to know what exactly happened to his son while he was gone.
The different looks at culture are interesting, but the science is left at the wayside part way through the book. (less)
ashcomb's review against another edition
If I tell you a story about Coyote and its trickster ways, you better find it confusing, jumping around and making loops and twists. Gods Without Men is just that, a vast story that you wait to come together before the desert swallows it. The book follows nine characters across the time from the 1700s to the 2000s, mixed with the story of Coyote. Hari Kunzru gives every one of them an elaborate backstory to such an extent that I felt exhausted. I waited for the connections to begin, but they actually never did. Not in the way that my brain hungered for. All the strangers were connected by the desert, some loosely, others more tightly. The main story is about the disappearance of an autistic child, Raj, and how that tears his mother and father and their lives apart.
I honestly didn't enjoy the book. It felt overcrowded, as if it couldn't decide what story to tell, what issue to criticize and ponder: autism and how that influence the family, immigration, religion, cults, losing meaning, war, trauma, media... the list is endless. There is nothing wrong with a book having so many themes, but it didn't work here and now for me. I just wanted to get to the Coyote parts as they felt the most naturally told stories in the book. Others were forced. Even when the ending somehow clarified what the book was about, it felt empty. And I kind of disliked it because of how it fixed Raj and his autism.
What can I say? Not a book for me, sorrily. I wanted to enjoy it. It had such a great start, but sometimes it goes like this. Maybe there comes a time I can revisit this story, and it speaks to me.
Thank you for reading, and if you find a coyote in the desert, hear its stories, but be aware <3
I honestly didn't enjoy the book. It felt overcrowded, as if it couldn't decide what story to tell, what issue to criticize and ponder: autism and how that influence the family, immigration, religion, cults, losing meaning, war, trauma, media... the list is endless. There is nothing wrong with a book having so many themes, but it didn't work here and now for me. I just wanted to get to the Coyote parts as they felt the most naturally told stories in the book. Others were forced. Even when the ending somehow clarified what the book was about, it felt empty. And I kind of disliked it because of how it fixed Raj and his autism.
What can I say? Not a book for me, sorrily. I wanted to enjoy it. It had such a great start, but sometimes it goes like this. Maybe there comes a time I can revisit this story, and it speaks to me.
Thank you for reading, and if you find a coyote in the desert, hear its stories, but be aware <3
rbreade's review
The title comes from Balzac's 1830 short story, "Une Passion dans le desert": "Dans le desert, voyez-vous, il y a tout, et il n'y a rien...c'est dieu sans les hommes," which, translated, is "In the desert, you see, there is everything and nothing...It is God without men."
Kunzru accomplishes the feat of weaving southwestern Native American mythology into a story that also includes autism, UFO fever as experienced from the 1940s through the 1970s, stock-market-prediction models, and the making of methamphetamine. He does an especially good job capturing the double-nature of the trickster god, Coyote, who throughout most of the novel gleefully sows his brand of chaos and change into the world. Here he is usually malicious, even while displaying threads of--good is too simple and inaccurate a word, so let's say his schemes seem to nudge a fractured, sick world toward healing, whether intentionally or not. And the section on human nature, especially the sort that loves Internet anonymity, is merciless as it reveals that culture's semi-literate hatefulness.
Kunzru accomplishes the feat of weaving southwestern Native American mythology into a story that also includes autism, UFO fever as experienced from the 1940s through the 1970s, stock-market-prediction models, and the making of methamphetamine. He does an especially good job capturing the double-nature of the trickster god, Coyote, who throughout most of the novel gleefully sows his brand of chaos and change into the world. Here he is usually malicious, even while displaying threads of--good is too simple and inaccurate a word, so let's say his schemes seem to nudge a fractured, sick world toward healing, whether intentionally or not. And the section on human nature, especially the sort that loves Internet anonymity, is merciless as it reveals that culture's semi-literate hatefulness.
kaylielongley's review against another edition
5.0
Books serve a multitude of personal and social purposes. They inspire, educate, surprise, and support. They are slices of history, imagined or lived, with an individual’s perspective stamped throughout. Sometimes, books are so much more than the lessons learned. This is the case for Gods Without Men. It’s startling, profound, and deeply odd. This book took me a month to read, with life too often getting in the way for me to purely enjoy it, but it was well worth it.
It’s 2008 in the desert. Politics are subsuming life. People are heated, physically and emotionally. A boy with autism goes missing, and a handful of people are to blame. The exhausted parents. A perpetually drunk yet deep rock star. A hotel manager who has seen better days. Certainly, these people shape the book’s contents. Each character is neither good nor evil. Each wander, but all end up at the Pinnacles, a trio of rocks in the middle of the desert, where the secrets of the universe are revealed to the select few.
The scope of this book is just as vast. It spans 250 years, weaving the present and past. Native American myths clash with modern stock theory. But most of Gods Without Men focuses on signs. Kunzru has an acute understanding of humanity’s devotion to the metaphysical, not literal, elements of life. It’s seen in Lisa’s return to Judaism in the hope of understanding life without her son and also in the saucer people’s obsession of making contact with aliens. Kunzru tells his readers that belief takes all forms, and sometimes, finding what or who to believe in – whether it’s God, aliens, math, or music – is just as difficult and strange as the practice of belief.
I was absorbed by this book. My brain couldn’t help but wander to my own life philosophies. This book reflects life. Sometimes the dots are difficult to connect, but that’s the point – it forces attention and observation. This is not a happy book, but it certainly is an intriguing, personal one.
It’s 2008 in the desert. Politics are subsuming life. People are heated, physically and emotionally. A boy with autism goes missing, and a handful of people are to blame. The exhausted parents. A perpetually drunk yet deep rock star. A hotel manager who has seen better days. Certainly, these people shape the book’s contents. Each character is neither good nor evil. Each wander, but all end up at the Pinnacles, a trio of rocks in the middle of the desert, where the secrets of the universe are revealed to the select few.
The scope of this book is just as vast. It spans 250 years, weaving the present and past. Native American myths clash with modern stock theory. But most of Gods Without Men focuses on signs. Kunzru has an acute understanding of humanity’s devotion to the metaphysical, not literal, elements of life. It’s seen in Lisa’s return to Judaism in the hope of understanding life without her son and also in the saucer people’s obsession of making contact with aliens. Kunzru tells his readers that belief takes all forms, and sometimes, finding what or who to believe in – whether it’s God, aliens, math, or music – is just as difficult and strange as the practice of belief.
I was absorbed by this book. My brain couldn’t help but wander to my own life philosophies. This book reflects life. Sometimes the dots are difficult to connect, but that’s the point – it forces attention and observation. This is not a happy book, but it certainly is an intriguing, personal one.
bookishgoblin's review
2.0
This book was okay, it was a little slow to start and with any novel that has so many split narratives I definitely had favourites, it felt a bit like three different novels forced into one book together. Some parts were fun to read though
brdgtc's review against another edition
4.0
It would be too easy to compare this to books by David Mitchell and other authors who weave together seemingly disparate narratives over time and space, but Gods Without Men really stood out to me in this genre. First, I inhaled it in three sittings - the prose and plot were so compelling. Second, I know I will be thinking about it for a long time to come (I'm tempted to reread it, in fact) - some connections I caught right away and others are going to come to me out of the blue 5 years from now.
moirastone's review against another edition
3.0
A puzzle-box of a novel that didn't, unfortunately, come together entirely in the end. But a hell of a good read nonetheless.
walmas's review against another edition
4.0
An enjoyable read- not as good as Transmission or My Revolutions but kunzru's talent and descriptive evocative and wide ranging intellect shines forth never the less
ajkhn's review against another edition
1.0
Meh. I like Hari Kunzru on twitter, but man, this book. I usually like the whole David Mitchell, atemporal, dreamy, sort of thing. But if you're going to introduce an autistic character, don't have him cured by some new agey, "oh, here's some Native American pablum" sorta thing. That ain't okay. American religion isn't some freaking plot point for you, it's a real thing. So that was pretty frustrating.
So maybe if the plot was good enough to get around the whole "racist and under-researched assumption that Native old-timey religion cures all" thing, it would be a good book. But it's not. It's just...people doing things.
So it's a good concept, but just not a very good book. That's a problem.
So maybe if the plot was good enough to get around the whole "racist and under-researched assumption that Native old-timey religion cures all" thing, it would be a good book. But it's not. It's just...people doing things.
So it's a good concept, but just not a very good book. That's a problem.
hollyevaallen's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0