Reviews

Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner

ser427's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

zaaaraaah's review

adventurous mysterious reflective tense 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

2.75

gadicohen93's review

5.0

A book I loved and felt connected with on a deep level. The way the main character described his interactions with people carried a sense of real alienation, and a consciousness of that alienation, that I completely identified with. Lerner writes his character's social life so convincingly, so piercingly.

It was not an irreverent book, but there were moments of extreme whimsy, or perhaps just sharp randomness, that felt faithful to the amorphous condition of humans' personalities and their interactions. And I very much identified with how lost, purposeless and dependent the main character was. He handled philosophical questions in an intensely interesting way, provoking thoughts that I have about my own life constantly and about art and literature and poetry that I have also played with.

The writing was precise but moved in waves, like a real thought process -- propelled forward, idea after idea, by a "sheer directionality". The setting -- Madrid -- was only icing on the cake. A great book.

alyssag26's review

dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

blakeshapiro01's review

funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

pranaysomayajula's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

knuckledown's review

2.0

I can recognize the achievement of this novel. It follows in the footsteps of [b:The Sun Also Rises|3876|The Sun Also Rises|Ernest Hemingway|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1331828228s/3876.jpg|589497]: a young American male living in Europe, more than a little lost. If I was someone who could fully enjoy Hemingway, I'm sure I would have enjoyed this novel as well. Instead I was able to appreciate the project from an intellectual distance. Although considering the detachment of the narrator, maybe that's what I was supposed to be doing all along.

genevievefarrell_'s review against another edition

dark funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

There was a moment early in the book I found it almost impossible to go on reading - trapped inside the mind of a self-absorbed, manipulative American man with almost no real attention paid to anyone on anything else other than thoughts of his outward appearance - there are exciting scenes as the book goes on, lots of nice words I had to look up, and I found myself enjoying or at least engaged enough to continue reading to the end, even embarrassingly relating to some of the scenes where the character half understands the Spanish language conversations going on around him but faking facial expressions to imply otherwise.   

flordelmal's review

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

aligrint's review

5.0

After reading quite a few that didn't quite hit the mark, I loved Leaving the Atocha Station. It's the right mix of pace, detail, sensitivity, and variation for me.