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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
Really boring characters, even more boring writing. Utterly non-rewarding.
Overall, a clever book, impressive in its characterization, though thin on plot. Waldman is a skillful writer and I could say without hesitation that I knew all the guests at the various parties, even if these were parties whose invitations I would have declined. Nate's problem is not that he's an asshole, it's that he's so afraid of damaging the supposedly hyperdelicate feelings of the gentler sex that he is incapable of communicating with them at all. Acerbic humor, a satisfying ending and a spot-on portrayal of a particular brand of yuppie just about made up for dragging me through the rather dull middle spent in the head of a bored and rather boring young man.
Read this and other reviews at Ampersand Read
This is what happens in Nathaniel P. : our acerbic narrator, Nate, dates a girl for a few months, and has many quibbling and tiresome "academic" fights with friends he doesn't seem to like very much. That's it. You think maybe you'll go back in time to revisit his past relationships, go over how he met them, what he learned from each girl. But apart from the occasional afternoon musing about an ex, you don't get to really hear about anybody but Nate.
And Nate is jerk (something more than a jerk, but I'm censoring it for goodreads). A really boring jerk.
I literally like every single other character better than Nate. And a lot of the other characters suck.
Let's go back up to that synopsis briefly. Nate is supposedly a "sensitive, modern man." Which is completely untrue. He's not sensitive in the least. He disparages all women in his life, painfully agonizes over mundane, archaic things about dating, women, relationships, none of which is new. Even worse is the thought that this book "reveals one particular (though also alarmingly familiar) young man’s thoughts about women and love." Which is technically true, only because it will be familiar to any woman who has ever dated a womanizing prick. Why is all this lauded as positive?! Without reading the book it might sound promising. After reading Love Affairs , it just points out what a terrible person and character Nate is.
So Nate spends 70% of the book trying to make his whinings about dating and relationships seem valid and worthwhile. The other 30% of the book is Nate interacting with friends at various restaurants or parties, and ALWAYS getting into random arguments about random philosophical/psychological/political topics they may or may not write articles about to sell for freelance gigs. Such as the export of labor as the height of capitalism. Or obesity. Or book reviews.
And seeing as there's no reason for me to care about these arguments: no common ground is struck, no argument is returned to or becomes a major plot point, and no one is ever in any danger of losing a gig or even suffering for money for some reason (probably because they all seem to have written a book for a huge advance - the plots and characters of which are treated as unimportant, inconsequential).
There's nothing for me to care about here. No actively stimulating plot. No stakes. Nate is a sexist, boring jerk who thinks he is Someone Important. Women tend to like him (who knows why), but he's bad at dating, he's selfish, and apart from his jerk-ness, doesn't have anything interesting going for him. I don't care is he gets a happy ending. Or even an unhappy ending. I would not recommend Nate or his boring, boorish story.
This is what happens in Nathaniel P. : our acerbic narrator, Nate, dates a girl for a few months, and has many quibbling and tiresome "academic" fights with friends he doesn't seem to like very much. That's it. You think maybe you'll go back in time to revisit his past relationships, go over how he met them, what he learned from each girl. But apart from the occasional afternoon musing about an ex, you don't get to really hear about anybody but Nate.
And Nate is jerk (something more than a jerk, but I'm censoring it for goodreads). A really boring jerk.
I literally like every single other character better than Nate. And a lot of the other characters suck.
Let's go back up to that synopsis briefly. Nate is supposedly a "sensitive, modern man." Which is completely untrue. He's not sensitive in the least. He disparages all women in his life, painfully agonizes over mundane, archaic things about dating, women, relationships, none of which is new. Even worse is the thought that this book "reveals one particular (though also alarmingly familiar) young man’s thoughts about women and love." Which is technically true, only because it will be familiar to any woman who has ever dated a womanizing prick. Why is all this lauded as positive?! Without reading the book it might sound promising. After reading Love Affairs , it just points out what a terrible person and character Nate is.
So Nate spends 70% of the book trying to make his whinings about dating and relationships seem valid and worthwhile. The other 30% of the book is Nate interacting with friends at various restaurants or parties, and ALWAYS getting into random arguments about random philosophical/psychological/political topics they may or may not write articles about to sell for freelance gigs. Such as the export of labor as the height of capitalism. Or obesity. Or book reviews.
And seeing as there's no reason for me to care about these arguments: no common ground is struck, no argument is returned to or becomes a major plot point, and no one is ever in any danger of losing a gig or even suffering for money for some reason (probably because they all seem to have written a book for a huge advance - the plots and characters of which are treated as unimportant, inconsequential).
There's nothing for me to care about here. No actively stimulating plot. No stakes. Nate is a sexist, boring jerk who thinks he is Someone Important. Women tend to like him (who knows why), but he's bad at dating, he's selfish, and apart from his jerk-ness, doesn't have anything interesting going for him. I don't care is he gets a happy ending. Or even an unhappy ending. I would not recommend Nate or his boring, boorish story.
I hated this character so much. The only reason I finished this book was because I was hoping he would either change or die.
My biggest qualm, at the end of the day, is that the book has a perfunctoriness towards the end. There is a sense that Nate has emerged unscathed and his life goes on nearly unaware of the trouble left in his wake. Of course, that could be said about most of us - but our lives, like Nate's, continue on. It's hard to find a satisfying 'ending' when the story keeps going after the book is over. But if the book finishes not unlike the Hannah/Nate love affair, isn't that also an interesting authorial trick? Plus, you're not reading this book for the ending - you're reading it for the writing, for the incisive social commentary, and for the delightful sense of spending a bit of time inside the head of someone who probably seems not unlike somebody you know.
More at Raging Biblioholism: http://ragingbiblioholism.com/2014/02/09/the-love-affairs-of-nathaniel-p
More at Raging Biblioholism: http://ragingbiblioholism.com/2014/02/09/the-love-affairs-of-nathaniel-p
Read this and other reviews at Ampersand Read
This is what happens in Nathaniel P. : our acerbic narrator, Nate, dates a girl for a few months, and has many quibbling and tiresome "academic" fights with friends he doesn't seem to like very much. That's it. You think maybe you'll go back in time to revisit his past relationships, go over how he met them, what he learned from each girl. But apart from the occasional afternoon musing about an ex, you don't get to really hear about anybody but Nate.
And Nate is jerk (something more than a jerk, but I'm censoring it for goodreads). A really boring jerk.
I literally like every single other character better than Nate. And a lot of the other characters suck.
Let's go back up to that synopsis briefly. Nate is supposedly a "sensitive, modern man." Which is completely untrue. He's not sensitive in the least. He disparages all women in his life, painfully agonizes over mundane, archaic things about dating, women, relationships, none of which is new. Even worse is the thought that this book "reveals one particular (though also alarmingly familiar) young man’s thoughts about women and love." Which is technically true, only because it will be familiar to any woman who has ever dated a womanizing prick. Why is all this lauded as positive?! Without reading the book it might sound promising. After reading Love Affairs , it just points out what a terrible person and character Nate is.
So Nate spends 70% of the book trying to make his whinings about dating and relationships seem valid and worthwhile. The other 30% of the book is Nate interacting with friends at various restaurants or parties, and ALWAYS getting into random arguments about random philosophical/psychological/political topics they may or may not write articles about to sell for freelance gigs. Such as the export of labor as the height of capitalism. Or obesity. Or book reviews.
And seeing as there's no reason for me to care about these arguments: no common ground is struck, no argument is returned to or becomes a major plot point, and no one is ever in any danger of losing a gig or even suffering for money for some reason (probably because they all seem to have written a book for a huge advance - the plots and characters of which are treated as unimportant, inconsequential).
There's nothing for me to care about here. No actively stimulating plot. No stakes. Nate is a sexist, boring jerk who thinks he is Someone Important. Women tend to like him (who knows why), but he's bad at dating, he's selfish, and apart from his jerk-ness, doesn't have anything interesting going for him. I don't care is he gets a happy ending. Or even an unhappy ending. I would not recommend Nate or his boring, boorish story.
This is what happens in Nathaniel P. : our acerbic narrator, Nate, dates a girl for a few months, and has many quibbling and tiresome "academic" fights with friends he doesn't seem to like very much. That's it. You think maybe you'll go back in time to revisit his past relationships, go over how he met them, what he learned from each girl. But apart from the occasional afternoon musing about an ex, you don't get to really hear about anybody but Nate.
And Nate is jerk (something more than a jerk, but I'm censoring it for goodreads). A really boring jerk.
I literally like every single other character better than Nate. And a lot of the other characters suck.
Let's go back up to that synopsis briefly. Nate is supposedly a "sensitive, modern man." Which is completely untrue. He's not sensitive in the least. He disparages all women in his life, painfully agonizes over mundane, archaic things about dating, women, relationships, none of which is new. Even worse is the thought that this book "reveals one particular (though also alarmingly familiar) young man’s thoughts about women and love." Which is technically true, only because it will be familiar to any woman who has ever dated a womanizing prick. Why is all this lauded as positive?! Without reading the book it might sound promising. After reading Love Affairs , it just points out what a terrible person and character Nate is.
So Nate spends 70% of the book trying to make his whinings about dating and relationships seem valid and worthwhile. The other 30% of the book is Nate interacting with friends at various restaurants or parties, and ALWAYS getting into random arguments about random philosophical/psychological/political topics they may or may not write articles about to sell for freelance gigs. Such as the export of labor as the height of capitalism. Or obesity. Or book reviews.
And seeing as there's no reason for me to care about these arguments: no common ground is struck, no argument is returned to or becomes a major plot point, and no one is ever in any danger of losing a gig or even suffering for money for some reason (probably because they all seem to have written a book for a huge advance - the plots and characters of which are treated as unimportant, inconsequential).
There's nothing for me to care about here. No actively stimulating plot. No stakes. Nate is a sexist, boring jerk who thinks he is Someone Important. Women tend to like him (who knows why), but he's bad at dating, he's selfish, and apart from his jerk-ness, doesn't have anything interesting going for him. I don't care is he gets a happy ending. Or even an unhappy ending. I would not recommend Nate or his boring, boorish story.
This book rang so true in its terrible relationshipy moral and emotional ambiguity. It made me extremely grateful for my husband. Dating is extremely confusing and stressful!! I liked how the book was peppered with some intellectual debates as well to step away a bit from the love drama. It's kind of weird to read a story from the perspective of a slightly misogynistic guy written by a woman. It was a little disorienting at first, but I think she nailed a specific kind of man.
Decently written fiction about the accounts of a modern man dating. The main character just leaves a bad taste in your mount due to his complete lack of understanding and care for others. It's supposed to portray the scene of daring that women are coming forward to now but I refuse to believe all men are like this. He is just a certain sort that believe he is entitled to all sexual pleasures and whims of his own accord without considering the hard work that goes into a partnership. When things get rough he just leaves out and doesn't return. As I said I find it hard to believe that all guys are like this - it all depends where you look and the expectations you have.