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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
Interesting portrait of love lives of our generation. And that in the end, smartly manages you to pity the main character, Nat, whom you have followed through all his thoughts.
After reading several wonderful reviews of Waldman's writing, I was disappointed by this book. In fact, I gave up on it. The characters are compelling, and Waldman writes a decent plot, but there's a crassness to this book that was unsettling. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem reading books that include profanity and harsh realities, but harsh language should serve a purpose. All language, for that matter, should serve a purpose. Waldman seemed to be employing coarse language and sexual references just for the sake of doing it, not because it fit the voice of the piece, not because the narrative needed it, just for the sake of crassness.
The author did an excellant job of making me strongly dislike this protagonist. What a jerk! But I enjoyed the book
I absolutely loved this book. Nate isn't an asshole – he often acts like one, and he knows it. He has deeply ingrained, ugly flaws, but he keeps that fact in mind at almost all times while he's unfairly judging others, and acting on those judgements. I dated someone just like Nate for six long, miserable years, and Waldman has done a startlingly good job at getting inside the mind of a man who loves women, yet belittles them, yet idolizes them, yet disregards them – basically, men who pine for women but want nothing to do with them. All the while, understanding that he's fucked up, and being unclear on whether or not that matters to him in the long run.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Nearly 5 stars, took me about 40 pages to get into it and then I didn't want to stop reading. The characters were well developed and I felt that I could have been sitting down in a bar with any of them, talking about their lives and relationships.
Waldman's rather distant, intellectual account of modern relationships never failed to capture my attention or my recognition. Her characters are completely realistic in their flaws, as is the narrative in general. While I didn't leave this story with a great sense of fondness for any of it, I appreciated that it presented a specific portrait of a certain type of bright young thing and enjoyed the journey.
I loved Waldman’s Help Wanted so much I decided to read her first one. It was well written, but I hated the main character so much I couldn’t get into it. I don’t mind complicated characters but he was such an ass it was hard to root for him. Do we need more over entitled white men?
Thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Having attended an Ivy League Institution, I felt like Adelle Waldman really captured what some of these personality types are like. Her dialogue was very convincing and she provided just enough characterization. I had sad that the book came to a close and felt that the end was slightly rushed, but I still found this to be a great debut novel.