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mavisbird's review
This book was exceptional! I really enjoyed reading it! It is very interesting to see the world through Egger's eyes. He is witty, dramatic, and a bit dark as well. This is a great book to read, touching on not only the struggles of responsibility and death, but also the struggles of jobs, friends, family, and self-pity. I recommend this book to anyone, especially young adults!
katykelly's review
3.0
This book doesn't work well as an audiobook.
I was intrigued by the title, by the story - the recounting (with embellishments) of a twenty-something man who takes guardianship of his 9-year-old brother after both their parents die of cancers, just four months apart.
Eggers is clever. He uses verbal tricks and voices and styles that would have played better on paper than they did listening on CD, where sometimes they were confusing.
I did find some of the book very moving indeed. Especially the first part, as Eggers describes what it was like as his mother lay dying. Some parts though I admit I found boring and rambling. Toph, the little brother, is at times a lovely little character and at others little more than background. Though seeing Eggers as a parent struggling to get his child to school on time was amusing.
Hit and miss for me though, so a 3-star read.
I was intrigued by the title, by the story - the recounting (with embellishments) of a twenty-something man who takes guardianship of his 9-year-old brother after both their parents die of cancers, just four months apart.
Eggers is clever. He uses verbal tricks and voices and styles that would have played better on paper than they did listening on CD, where sometimes they were confusing.
I did find some of the book very moving indeed. Especially the first part, as Eggers describes what it was like as his mother lay dying. Some parts though I admit I found boring and rambling. Toph, the little brother, is at times a lovely little character and at others little more than background. Though seeing Eggers as a parent struggling to get his child to school on time was amusing.
Hit and miss for me though, so a 3-star read.
midici's review
1.0
There were very few things I liked about this book. I liked the style: the long, run on sentences that conveyed a sense of urgency, or of time passing, that captured the expression of a place at a certain point in time and everything it felt like at that one moment. But I only liked that style when describing a place, or when using it to convey a large spread of time. I think it's something that would have worked well in a short story. In a long novel, told in first person, it became a one-man rant, a sort of never ending misery that I struggled to slog through.
The main character comes across as a pretentious, narcissistic idiot. I could not stand him. And through his point of view, everyone was described as terribly boring people - I could barely remember their names, let alone care about them. Every one was described as faking some sort of personality and it was impossible to like any of them.
The other people were only props to the narrator, to tell this story in which nothing happens. The first chapter or so when his parents die and he gets custody of his younger brother is vaguely interesting and moving, but that's practically the last bit of humanity. It's all down hill from there.
The worst part is that you're supposed to ignore these issues because you're in on the joke. There's a whole intro to put you into that frame of mind:
"P) THE SELF-AGGRANDISEMENT AS ART FORM ASPECT
Q) THE SELF-FLAGELLATION AS ART FORM ASPECT" etc, etc.
The wink-wink, nudge-nudge to say, 'I know this is self-absorbed bullshit and so do you, and the self-awareness means that it's not actaully as self-serving as it seems.' It doesn't work.
The main character comes across as a pretentious, narcissistic idiot. I could not stand him. And through his point of view, everyone was described as terribly boring people - I could barely remember their names, let alone care about them. Every one was described as faking some sort of personality and it was impossible to like any of them.
The other people were only props to the narrator, to tell this story in which nothing happens. The first chapter or so when his parents die and he gets custody of his younger brother is vaguely interesting and moving, but that's practically the last bit of humanity. It's all down hill from there.
The worst part is that you're supposed to ignore these issues because you're in on the joke. There's a whole intro to put you into that frame of mind:
"P) THE SELF-AGGRANDISEMENT AS ART FORM ASPECT
Q) THE SELF-FLAGELLATION AS ART FORM ASPECT" etc, etc.
The wink-wink, nudge-nudge to say, 'I know this is self-absorbed bullshit and so do you, and the self-awareness means that it's not actaully as self-serving as it seems.' It doesn't work.
branthegremblin's review against another edition
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
book_concierge's review against another edition
1.0
Digital audio read by Dion Graham
Water the Flowers!
I had heard about this memoir when it first came out and had it on my TBR ever since. I was intrigued by a book written by a young man who took on the responsibility for raising his much younger brother after both their parents died within a few weeks of one another. I expected some tragic, emotionally charged scenes and some sense of enlightenment or inspiration. I read another book by Eggers and really enjoyed it, so when the audio finally came in from the library, I was pleased to finally get to this on our long drive to Texas.
It’s clear that Eggers is intelligent. Obviously the circumstances that resulted in his guardianship of his baby brother were tragic, and every older sibling’s nightmare. I should have read the reviews by Goodreads members before I decided to finally read / listen to the book.
I found Eggers self-absorbed, immature, irresponsible and totally lacking in any insight. I really pity his little brother who might have been better off raised by wolves.
The most entertaining part of the book is the forward/preface/acknowledgments/copyright notice … which on the audiobook are read at the very end. Had this come first, I might have gone into the book expecting something more on the lines of satire, and (while satire is not my favorite genre) had different expectations and a different take on the work. But I went into it expecting a memoir of a tragic and difficult time in a young man’s life, and some reflection / insight / growth in character as a result. Too bad for me. Well, the preface,etc gets him one star.
Dion Graham does a reasonably good job reading the audiobook. Not his fault that the F bomb is used so often or that the writer gives us a manic narrative. (Not helped by my decision to listen at double speed to get through the 13 hours faster.)
Water the Flowers!
I had heard about this memoir when it first came out and had it on my TBR ever since. I was intrigued by a book written by a young man who took on the responsibility for raising his much younger brother after both their parents died within a few weeks of one another. I expected some tragic, emotionally charged scenes and some sense of enlightenment or inspiration. I read another book by Eggers and really enjoyed it, so when the audio finally came in from the library, I was pleased to finally get to this on our long drive to Texas.
It’s clear that Eggers is intelligent. Obviously the circumstances that resulted in his guardianship of his baby brother were tragic, and every older sibling’s nightmare. I should have read the reviews by Goodreads members before I decided to finally read / listen to the book.
I found Eggers self-absorbed, immature, irresponsible and totally lacking in any insight. I really pity his little brother who might have been better off raised by wolves.
The most entertaining part of the book is the forward/preface/acknowledgments/copyright notice … which on the audiobook are read at the very end. Had this come first, I might have gone into the book expecting something more on the lines of satire, and (while satire is not my favorite genre) had different expectations and a different take on the work. But I went into it expecting a memoir of a tragic and difficult time in a young man’s life, and some reflection / insight / growth in character as a result. Too bad for me. Well, the preface,etc gets him one star.
Dion Graham does a reasonably good job reading the audiobook. Not his fault that the F bomb is used so often or that the writer gives us a manic narrative. (Not helped by my decision to listen at double speed to get through the 13 hours faster.)
libellum_aphrodite's review
3.0
In the "Rules and Suggestions for Enjoyment of this Book," Eggers says "5. Matter of fact, the first three or four chapters are all some of you might want to bother with. That gets you to page 109 or so, which is a nice length, a nice novella sort of length. Those first four chapters stick to a one general subject, something manageable, which is more than what can be said for the book thereafter." This was a fairly accurate statement. Those first four chapters, covering the deaths of his parents, particularly his mother, are very tight, well-executed, and moving; the rest of the book goes in fits and bursts of interestingness and quality. There are a few character traits of his various family members introduced in that latter section that do really heighten the initial story, and I'm glad I read on to learn them: [spoilers!] Eggers' father's drinking and eruptive anger; his mother's means of coping with that situation; the difference in the two's parenting styles and relationship with their kids; how those styles influence Eggers raising Toph. Other than these points, the exploits of Might magazine were not very compelling and the friend group around the magazine was minimally developed.
Stylistically, the stream of conscious narrative was quite captivating. I particularly enjoyed the device where Toph or other friends seamlessly start speaking Eggers' inner dialog aloud to him. This is superbly executed so that the shift occurs with the reader hardly realizing it, but without being confusing.
Stylistically, the stream of conscious narrative was quite captivating. I particularly enjoyed the device where Toph or other friends seamlessly start speaking Eggers' inner dialog aloud to him. This is superbly executed so that the shift occurs with the reader hardly realizing it, but without being confusing.
celtic_oracle's review against another edition
1.0
This book had some initial promise - Eggers does know how to write. His description of watching his mother die from cancer was so evocative, I almost had to stop listening - too many vivid memories from watching loved ones go.
Unfortunately, when he strays from this type of straight-reporting style (his description of early Silicon Valley was also fascinating), everything falls apart. The writing moves to a more stream-of-consciousness format that results in repetition and thoughts of "where the hell is he going with this?" He also has a habit of having secondary characters break character, so he can thoroughly explain the symbolism that the reader is so obviously missing.
Finally, Eggers consistently comes off as a total jerk - a friend is in hospital and all he can think about is having sex with another friend? Someone please tell me all guys aren't really like this.
Unfortunately, when he strays from this type of straight-reporting style (his description of early Silicon Valley was also fascinating), everything falls apart. The writing moves to a more stream-of-consciousness format that results in repetition and thoughts of "where the hell is he going with this?" He also has a habit of having secondary characters break character, so he can thoroughly explain the symbolism that the reader is so obviously missing.
Finally, Eggers consistently comes off as a total jerk - a friend is in hospital and all he can think about is having sex with another friend? Someone please tell me all guys aren't really like this.