Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
This was a sharp, uncomfortable read and a great book about the ambitions and relationships of young, creative and self-obsessed 20-somethings. My reaction to this came in waves; first, I was in awe of how piercing and insightful the writing was into the insecurities and more negative aspects of the male psyche (also felt some despair that Adelle Waldman, and by extension, women in general, are likely so much better at writing men than I am/would be at writing women in this style). Still, Nate's neuroticism, pretentiousness and generally one-dimensional shittiness started to wear on me in the middle of the story and it was harder to identify with him like I had in the beginning. By the end, though, things mostly came back around and the insights started to hit home again (without spoiling anything).
Overall I loved the psychological depth of Nate and his various lovers throughout the story, though some of the side characters were not as engaging or fully-drawn as they could've been. Still, those are really minor complaints and I would gladly read more books like this and more from Adelle Waldman as well.
Overall I loved the psychological depth of Nate and his various lovers throughout the story, though some of the side characters were not as engaging or fully-drawn as they could've been. Still, those are really minor complaints and I would gladly read more books like this and more from Adelle Waldman as well.
Really The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P is a good companion to Alain De Botton's Essays in Love, as both do explore the topic of relationships in a humorous and philosophical manner. Also both focus on the male psyche when in a relationship.
Nate is a a scholar with a new book coming out, other than that his social life is not really going that well. He has gone through a stream of bad relationships. At an ex's dinner party he meets Hannah and things go pretty well and serious. The question is whether Nate is willing to take this relationship seriously as well.
On the surface, this novel may seem like some type of soap opera, and in a certain way it is but Waldman does create Nate as a complicated character who's worldview and upbringing affect the way he treats Hannah. True there are quite a few generalistions (I for one don't see relationships as a way of filling up my time) but there were some brief insights which I could relate to.
More than anything it's a pleasant read if you're on a plane or waiting for one. It's light but not enough to go into fluffy territory.
I would say this book is more of a 3.5 stars. I didn't like it at first but after about 90 pages it got more interesting. The main character, Nate, is incredibly unlikeable but I think that he is meant to be. I probably wouldn't recommend this book to many people I know but it is wasn't a bad book.
This is a hard book to rate. The lead character is simultaneously infuriating and insightful, but it's like a slow motion train wreck in that you can't look away. Thank goodness it was written in close third person; first person POV would have made him even more insufferable.
This book is one where the gender of the author really matters. If this had been written by a man, I would have thought "oh great, another boring wanker of a main character". Because it was written by a woman, it's a wanker of a main character, but with a clear wink and a smirk from the author. Many straight women will recognise this guy because they have dated him.
Ladies, this is the smart guy, who overthinks everything, and insists he wants an honest, intelligent, chill woman, when in fact he really wants the opposite. Thank god I'm out of the dating scene.
I'm almost afraid to read the other reviews for this book, because I'm sure there will be a lot of hurt man-feels from guys who identify with this character.
This book is one where the gender of the author really matters. If this had been written by a man, I would have thought "oh great, another boring wanker of a main character". Because it was written by a woman, it's a wanker of a main character, but with a clear wink and a smirk from the author. Many straight women will recognise this guy because they have dated him.
Ladies, this is the smart guy, who overthinks everything, and insists he wants an honest, intelligent, chill woman, when in fact he really wants the opposite. Thank god I'm out of the dating scene.
I'm almost afraid to read the other reviews for this book, because I'm sure there will be a lot of hurt man-feels from guys who identify with this character.
This book was a test for me personally to put aside how I think the characters should act and instead think about how the characters truly perceived each other and themselves.
It is always interesting as humans the gulf that lies between how we perceive ourselves and how others view; the gulf between what we think and what we say, the gulf between what we say we want and what we really go after.
Honest and delusional in turns, Nathaniel P is a terrible person, a truly nice person, overly sensitive, cold, loving, mean, passionate - in short, Nathaniel P is a man. A person who think he knows who he is and what he wants, but the difference lies in what we read and who is revealed as he himself tells the story.
If you ever wondered if someone loved you or not, read this book. If you get frustrated by love and sex, read this book. Get mad, get angry, just first read it to the end. See if you can see where the truth in the characters lie.
It is always interesting as humans the gulf that lies between how we perceive ourselves and how others view; the gulf between what we think and what we say, the gulf between what we say we want and what we really go after.
Honest and delusional in turns, Nathaniel P is a terrible person, a truly nice person, overly sensitive, cold, loving, mean, passionate - in short, Nathaniel P is a man. A person who think he knows who he is and what he wants, but the difference lies in what we read and who is revealed as he himself tells the story.
If you ever wondered if someone loved you or not, read this book. If you get frustrated by love and sex, read this book. Get mad, get angry, just first read it to the end. See if you can see where the truth in the characters lie.
An amusing yet also terrifying trip into the psyche of that ineffable beast, the late 20-something liberal male proto-intellectual. Not gonna lie, this made me a little worried about my dating life and intensely self-aware (am I one of these girls?) but it was such a biting and incisive satire that never quite made you hate Nate; instead you feel exasperatedly fond of him. Waldman manages to be both annoyed by and intensely empathetic to all her characters and their foibles. It makes me want to get a bunch of girls together to read this book and then drink some wine and discuss how realistically mapped these characters are to our real-life experiences.
It's been a while since I took so strongly against a book I'd chosen to read. This was deeply irritating. Nate is not just a dull douche, he's also a dick. And yet I couldn't shake the feeling that the author found him redeemable if only because she built the narrative around his dickishness. And while I may be unqualified to judge I found the whole enterprise weirdly misogynist and definitely unpleasant.
Ugh.
Ugh.
I liked it. That's all I can say about this book. The protagonist was certainly hateful in most places, intensely dislikable in the rest, but the author's phrasing, and the voice she created for Nate made the book far better than it would be have been if someone else had written.
What do we learn here about the nasty inner thoughts of middle class, inner city 'arty' narcissistic men when they date women that we haven't learnt from countless women's magazines over the decades? Not a lot. What is alarming is how frequently this archetype is pushed around, surely in a disproportionate way. Combined with the New York-ness of this upper middle class elitist literati, my experience of reading this book felt a bit like the encounter between Nate and Amy Perlman towards the end of the book - a disconnect between lives, resulting in a failure to recognise the important components. Obviously this is not a criteria of a novel, but it appears many are having visceral reactions connected with their dating universe.
This book also has a lot to say about the behaviour of women in relationships, especially when things head south. The strong, smart, educated girl who gets 'sapped' by her relationship, become anxious and needy, her neediness in turn further repelling her partner. Hannah's strong stand in the park (you're trying to be deep, but you're really not) is then completely obliterated by the email afterwards which you just wish you could suck back in on her behalf. And then the second email. Oh dear.
While the characters are all largely unlikable, it's an entertaining read written by a very smart author who is trying to say something significant, and humorous, about dating and the Brooklyn literary scene.
This book also has a lot to say about the behaviour of women in relationships, especially when things head south. The strong, smart, educated girl who gets 'sapped' by her relationship, become anxious and needy, her neediness in turn further repelling her partner. Hannah's strong stand in the park (you're trying to be deep, but you're really not) is then completely obliterated by the email afterwards which you just wish you could suck back in on her behalf. And then the second email. Oh dear.
While the characters are all largely unlikable, it's an entertaining read written by a very smart author who is trying to say something significant, and humorous, about dating and the Brooklyn literary scene.