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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
Pheh...it was well written, that's for sure. But I found Nate to be a little whiny, but maybe that was the point. But, it was well written...
I really liked this book. It is a smart book. It is a mean book. It is a sad book. And it is a sweet book. The book traces about a year in the life of Nathaniel P., a Brooklyn writer whose first book is about to be published. He's had a string of girlfriends, but something changes when he meets Hannah. Nathaniel starts to feel differently, but the pull of his old self is hard to resist. I liked this book because I thought it was realistic. It doesn't end with everyone in love and happy - it's more complicated than that. Which is like life. It's really one of the best things I have read all year. I urge you to pick it up and read it.
this is one of those books that's hard for me to rate. she writes imho an unlikeable character so well that i felt annoyed while i was reading. i know people like nate p. and quite frankly prefer not to ''hang out'' with them.
I read this on the recommendation of The New Yorker, and let me tell you that was a mistake. This is a woman's reactionary version of "dick lit" or "lad lit", about a poor misunderstood creative man who doesn't, you know, want to commit, and women are crazy and always getting in the way of his productive drive, you know.
So in parodying a genre, Waldman has actually just expertly recreated it in exactly the same way, with characters almost completely lacking in self-awareness and the entire patriarchal literature status quo maintained. I hated Nathaniel, but I wasn't a big fan of Hanna, either. Someone could read this as a triumph for women, but it's just too good at being what it is to actually be subversive in the slightest.
(and yes, I realise I'm saying this as a man, so feel free to discount my review).
So in parodying a genre, Waldman has actually just expertly recreated it in exactly the same way, with characters almost completely lacking in self-awareness and the entire patriarchal literature status quo maintained. I hated Nathaniel, but I wasn't a big fan of Hanna, either. Someone could read this as a triumph for women, but it's just too good at being what it is to actually be subversive in the slightest.
(and yes, I realise I'm saying this as a man, so feel free to discount my review).
A captivating book about a man who's kind of a jerk, yet also has potential to be a nice guy. Who hasn't met someone like Nate, especially if you've worked in publishing and/or lived in Brooklyn? But it's more than just a Brooklyn novel, and I found myself swept up in it.
Loathsome. That is the best word to describe the pretentious, self-absorbed and self-congratulatory, emotionally stunted protagonist of this novel.
Smarmy. That is how I would describe the entire novel.
The entire thing left me feeling as if I needed a shower. My major complaints are listed below, in no particular order:
1. The main character is loathsome;
2. The author, though female, appeared to hate women;
3. If she used the word "gentrification" one more time, I may have smothered her in her own self-satisfaction.
4. The entire lot of characters were a bunch of winy, arrogant, hipster douchebags. (And I generally shy away from using slang in literature reviews. But I just hated this book THAT much.)
5. The callous and insensitive reference to people with Asperger's syndrome that I thought was ludicrous.
6. Back to the gentrification: for all the repeated use of this 50 cent SAT word, the author sure did enjoy heaping on the racial and cultural stereotypes. What??
**SPOILER**
7. The ending MADE NO FREAKIN' sense. Was it satire that I just didn't "get"? There was no character resolution. When we last see Nate, he is engaged in what I would determine to be a dysfunctional cyclic feeding of codependent egos. Was that supposed to be a "happy" ending?? Or were we meant to be left with the impression that once a douche, always a douche??
UGH. This book absolutely infuriated me. I wanted to bail about halfway through, but I held on, hoping for some iota of redemption. If I had taken the time to peak at the author's self-satisfied and "ironic" dust jacket photo, I would have known not to waste my time. Damn hipsters.
Smarmy. That is how I would describe the entire novel.
The entire thing left me feeling as if I needed a shower. My major complaints are listed below, in no particular order:
1. The main character is loathsome;
2. The author, though female, appeared to hate women;
3. If she used the word "gentrification" one more time, I may have smothered her in her own self-satisfaction.
4. The entire lot of characters were a bunch of winy, arrogant, hipster douchebags. (And I generally shy away from using slang in literature reviews. But I just hated this book THAT much.)
5. The callous and insensitive reference to people with Asperger's syndrome that I thought was ludicrous.
6. Back to the gentrification: for all the repeated use of this 50 cent SAT word, the author sure did enjoy heaping on the racial and cultural stereotypes. What??
**SPOILER**
7. The ending MADE NO FREAKIN' sense. Was it satire that I just didn't "get"? There was no character resolution. When we last see Nate, he is engaged in what I would determine to be a dysfunctional cyclic feeding of codependent egos. Was that supposed to be a "happy" ending?? Or were we meant to be left with the impression that once a douche, always a douche??
UGH. This book absolutely infuriated me. I wanted to bail about halfway through, but I held on, hoping for some iota of redemption. If I had taken the time to peak at the author's self-satisfied and "ironic" dust jacket photo, I would have known not to waste my time. Damn hipsters.
This book must have been well written because I wanted to punch Nathaniel in the face. Seriously what a jerk! But I kept reading hoping something would change...he stayed a jerk but the writing was good and drew me in.
It's so great that Waldman wrote a book about the romantic plight of the Ivy League educated white LitBro in NYC, a perspective that is sorely lacking in literature. I can picture Waldman banging out this bullshit and telling herself, "I'm not like other girls, I'm a COOL GIRL".
How this book was so well-reviewed is beyond me. It's 240 pages of #notallmen.
How this book was so well-reviewed is beyond me. It's 240 pages of #notallmen.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Nate is the child of immigrants and a Harvard graduate with a promising book deal and regular freelance reviewing gigs. Perhaps in the manner of many twenty-something Brooklynite men, he is simultaneously (or alternately) extremely confident and extremely insecure. Nate has recently broken up with his girlfriend of a year or so, Elisa, and he reflects on her mostly disparagingly, with occasional fleeting images of her beauty and his appreciation for her. When he meets one of Elisa’s friends at a dinner party she hosts, Nate is surprised to find her both attractive and appealing, and they begin a relationship that lasts about five months. Nate wrestles with his confusion about the fact that she is the kind of woman he believes he wants, and he genuinely likes her, but he finds that he isn’t attracted to her anymore. With that frustration, he begins to find everything Hannah does irritating. While he’s able to reflect on the vicious cycle of insecurity this creates, eventually the relationship fails.
This is a novel of manners, slowly following our protagonist from bar to bar, book event to book event, interacting with the people of the town and industry with the occasional plot point thrown in there beyond the personal reflections. I enjoyed this book, though it was one I could just set aside and forget about for days until I finally decided it was time to just pick it up and finish it.
This is a novel of manners, slowly following our protagonist from bar to bar, book event to book event, interacting with the people of the town and industry with the occasional plot point thrown in there beyond the personal reflections. I enjoyed this book, though it was one I could just set aside and forget about for days until I finally decided it was time to just pick it up and finish it.
I have never disliked a main character more than I have the main character in this book. It made me hate the entire story immensely.