Reviews

Subtle Bodies by Norman Rush

mkrupa16's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

nicolebonia's review against another edition

2.0

I’m not fully sure what I expected when I picked up Norman Rush’s Subtle Bodies. The premise is simple but promising. Ned and Nina are a married couple trying to get pregnant with their first child when Ned is called away to attend the funeral of an old college friend (the ringleader of their witty, irreverent nonconformist clique) with whom he has had little contact for twenty years. Furious that he has left in her most fertile time of the month, Nina takes off after him and arrives to ensure their offspring, and to navigate Ned through the analysis of the brief friendship which shaped his life. Rush is a wonderfully observant writer and there is much that he gets right about the haunting dynamics of lost friendships, and the insular concerns of career and marriage, but there was a lack of emotion connecting the threads, and some insufferable characters, that made this a slow and tedious read. The characters are given to long winded political rants and lengthy conversations that lack a true conversational feel, and seem to serve more as an arena for the presentation of very big ideas (invasion, war, Jewish and Palestinian problems in the Middle East). Hopefully Rush’s other acclaimed work will more prominently feature the emotional impact missing from this one.

victor_dan's review

funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

chantelmccray's review against another edition

2.0

Four middle-aged college friends get together to commemorate the death of their ring leader by lawn mower accident. The rest of the novel is spent bragging about how brilliant, important, and funny they were in their youth, when if fact, they were quite dull and irritating. I didn't absolutely hate it; I mean, I finished it, and the dust jacket is rather beautiful, but overall I would label it self-important and tiresome.

edgeworthstan2000's review against another edition

3.0

This is so incredibly different from and inferior to Mating, which is still one of the best novels I've ever read. The characters in this one are annoying, especially at the beginning. They get less so as the novel progresses, and have some real Iris Murdoch moments as they try to articulate their feelings to each other through veils of philosophizing.

I love Rush's portrayal of happy couples & their intimacy, though Ned & Nina are nowhere near the level of the one in Mating. The background of the invasion of Iraq & the ending

Spoiler

with Ned's being buoyed up by hope and optimism at the huge march

is particularly gut-punching.

keclark's review against another edition

1.0

Had a really hard time getting into this book. It was not the style of writing I enjoy.

leighkhoopes's review against another edition

3.0

Two and a half stars, really. This is an odd, odd little book that is written well but runs off in pseudo-intellectual tangents for pages, introduces characters who provide absolutely nothing to the story besides convenient exposition, and then ends abruptly with no real resolution or climax or anything. I received an advance reader's copy of Subtle Bodies as part of the FirstReads program, and was intrigued to read something by an apparently celebrate author whose work I was totally unfamiliar with. Ned and Nina are a likable enough duo, and their relationship is cute and realistic, but the whole cadre of Ned's friends are tiresome and boring, as is all the forced yet under-explored drama surrounding their ringleader Douglas's untimely death. Old girlfriends are mentioned, a possibly borderline personality son makes a random appearance, and for some reason there are a lot of discussions about Israel that seem completely irrelevant but were probably just a little too subtle for me. I'm sure there's a very specific group of people who will love this book; I am not one of them.

saritareads's review against another edition

2.0

Honestly I just felt like this book was a little boring and pretentious? Maybe I didn’t pick up on the humor and wit enough? Only thing I liked was how much Ned loved Nina! I wanted more of that.

kcourts's review against another edition

2.0

Very Clue-like in its plot and randomness of events and conversation, but not necessarily in a good way.

jdgcreates's review against another edition

4.0

I love Norman Rush's writing. His characters are deeply intelligent and at least mildly neurotic in relatable and/or endearing ways. He writes women well and he writes men well, too. In fact, I'm thinking there's nothing this man cannot craft into beautifully humanized fiction.