Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
"Life is too short to read bad books."
I follow this advice gladly.
I made it about 100 pages in before I couldn't stand it any longer. [b:The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.|16045140|The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.|Adelle Waldman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361026301s/16045140.jpg|21823357] reminded me of a grown up version of a John Green novel. Change the setting from high school to New York, from teenagers to thirty-somethings (well, the maincharacter at least) and keep the superior geeks and their writing aspirations.
The novel follows Nate, who is your average entitled man who likes to lecture every woman he meets. When he incidentally meets a girl who stands up to him, he is baffled and intruiged. Interestingly, he claims to be raised by a feminist mother and says he knows his way around feminism. Well, that's something you can't tell by reading the novel. To me, it was offensive, in it's way if implying how girls should be, should look, should behave. Misogynistic in tone, writing style, thought and theme. It was a sickening reading experience.
Turned out I'm not the only Goodreads reviewer with the same thoughts regarding this novel.
Please fellow feminist book lovers, do NOT read this. (And in the mean time give me a feminist recommendation. In need of one.)
I follow this advice gladly.
I made it about 100 pages in before I couldn't stand it any longer. [b:The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.|16045140|The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.|Adelle Waldman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1361026301s/16045140.jpg|21823357] reminded me of a grown up version of a John Green novel. Change the setting from high school to New York, from teenagers to thirty-somethings (well, the maincharacter at least) and keep the superior geeks and their writing aspirations.
The novel follows Nate, who is your average entitled man who likes to lecture every woman he meets. When he incidentally meets a girl who stands up to him, he is baffled and intruiged. Interestingly, he claims to be raised by a feminist mother and says he knows his way around feminism. Well, that's something you can't tell by reading the novel. To me, it was offensive, in it's way if implying how girls should be, should look, should behave. Misogynistic in tone, writing style, thought and theme. It was a sickening reading experience.
Turned out I'm not the only Goodreads reviewer with the same thoughts regarding this novel.
Please fellow feminist book lovers, do NOT read this. (And in the mean time give me a feminist recommendation. In need of one.)
I would find a few pages that were relatable. Then I would go back to the overwhelming feeling that I wanted to punch the main character in the face.
The person who recommended this book to me sold me with one line; 'reading this will feel like reading one long beam_me_up_softboi post"' They were absolutely spot on. Through following the "love" life of Nate, Waldman crafts a stunningly realistic portrayal of modern dating and plunges you into the psyche of a modern man. After finishing, I am simultaneously disgusted and curious. "Surely men don't ~really~ think this way about every woman they meet" I tell myself as I think back to every past encounter I've had with a man. Waldman weaves an intricate web of complex modern relationships and friendships, built up of characters I both recognise and am repulsed by. Incredible. I would recommend to anyone who's had the (mis) fortune of dating or coming into contact with a man.
It was interesting to read a female writer's take on guy's trials through relationships. But, often Nate irritated me as a character, too self-involved and condescending. I didn't enjoy his voice and the ending left me feeling unsatisfied.
The author has a preternaturally mature insight into human psychology which normally comes from authors much older. But older authors then have trouble writing about a different generation. This is an indepth insight into a certain generation in a certain social milieu (the publishing world of NYC) and it feels very, very real. I'm sure I've met Nate in a different permutation.
There was a casual reference to Aspergers which was wholly unnecessary and slightly ableist. I don't feel comfortable giving this five stars without that one tiny caveat.
There was a casual reference to Aspergers which was wholly unnecessary and slightly ableist. I don't feel comfortable giving this five stars without that one tiny caveat.
this book was terrible. i gave up on it about half-way through. poorly written. terrible characters. too much talk about gentrification.
this book was so bad i couldn’t even finish it. i don’t even wanna waste my time writing a review it was so bad
Nathan is an infuriating character and unfortunately a solid representative of men.
Entitled, pretentious, not well-paced, and anticlimactic.