Scan barcode
ddeevvviinn's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
readingwmiles's review against another edition
1.0
this was literally so boring and so hard to follow the beginning was rly spooky but the rest was not it
finedanddandy's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
anredman's review against another edition
2.0
Not really sure what I just read.
When I started reading this novel I was on the verge of illness and my recovery has been slow. Not the best time to indulge in this book.
So much trouble following the story. The shifting plot lines and sets of characters kept me confused. The interesting bit of the novel - old bits of disquieting film being spliced into tapes at Video Hut - wasn't addressed or resolved enough for me. Dialogue was great. It felt more midwestern than most other midwestern books I've read before. This author writes women very well, very thoughtfully.
It's one of those books imma have to read again in a year. Next time I read it I'll probably get it and re-rate it a four star. Who knows.
When I started reading this novel I was on the verge of illness and my recovery has been slow. Not the best time to indulge in this book.
So much trouble following the story. The shifting plot lines and sets of characters kept me confused. The interesting bit of the novel - old bits of disquieting film being spliced into tapes at Video Hut - wasn't addressed or resolved enough for me. Dialogue was great. It felt more midwestern than most other midwestern books I've read before. This author writes women very well, very thoughtfully.
It's one of those books imma have to read again in a year. Next time I read it I'll probably get it and re-rate it a four star. Who knows.
sophieguillas's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the concept and ambiance of this one but I wish more happened. I found it hard to find a thread to follow here.
mcloonejack's review
5.0
“That’s what pictures are for, after all: to stand in place of things that weren’t left behind, to bear witness to people and places and things that might otherwise go unnoticed.”
Before going any further, the usual complain for John Darnielle: it’s not fair that he’s this good of an author considering how good he is as a songwriter and musician. Anyway…
This is a tight book that manages to be about a lot of things all at once, despite clocking in at only just over 200 pages. Darnielle specifically cites it being about mothers (and who am I to argue), but it’s also about the way we use visual media and to what end, the way a family grieves, the way small disruptions to your daily life can feel inordinately huge, how we deal with gaps in our knowledge, and the paradox of the claustrophobia and freedom of small town middle America. Like I said, he covers a lot of ground, and I’m not even touching on another major point due to spoilers.
Darnielle writes relationships with the best of them, particularly between parents and their children, and Jeremy and Steven is maybe his best so far. But the other parents relationships all feel distinct and real, maturing in clear ways and with a deft hand weaving both perceived and actual interaction.
This balance of external action and internal reflection is handled deftly throughout Universal Harvester in way that again emphasizes Darnielle as truly one of the more gifted fiction writers doing it right now.
It’s truly hard to write a review of this book. I’d put it alongside Piranesi by Susanna Clarke in the sense that the lees you know about it going in the better the experience is. And like Piranesi, accept that this will be confusing and just to keep reading. The ending is surprising and rewarding and while not neat and tidy, it’s fitting and great.
Before going any further, the usual complain for John Darnielle: it’s not fair that he’s this good of an author considering how good he is as a songwriter and musician. Anyway…
This is a tight book that manages to be about a lot of things all at once, despite clocking in at only just over 200 pages. Darnielle specifically cites it being about mothers (and who am I to argue), but it’s also about the way we use visual media and to what end, the way a family grieves, the way small disruptions to your daily life can feel inordinately huge, how we deal with gaps in our knowledge, and the paradox of the claustrophobia and freedom of small town middle America. Like I said, he covers a lot of ground, and I’m not even touching on another major point due to spoilers.
Darnielle writes relationships with the best of them, particularly between parents and their children, and Jeremy and Steven is maybe his best so far. But the other parents relationships all feel distinct and real, maturing in clear ways and with a deft hand weaving both perceived and actual interaction.
This balance of external action and internal reflection is handled deftly throughout Universal Harvester in way that again emphasizes Darnielle as truly one of the more gifted fiction writers doing it right now.
It’s truly hard to write a review of this book. I’d put it alongside Piranesi by Susanna Clarke in the sense that the lees you know about it going in the better the experience is. And like Piranesi, accept that this will be confusing and just to keep reading. The ending is surprising and rewarding and while not neat and tidy, it’s fitting and great.
alren99's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
todallyanika's review against another edition
4.0
Make no mistake, this is not a horror novel. It’s an unsettling novel, but it keeps you on the edge the entire time, never facing a jump scare or real climax of fear. It is, however, an incredibly lyrical novel that kept my attention the entire time. For a certain section of the population, Mountain Goats fans and Iowegians mostly, this is enough to make the novel well worth the read. As a member of one and a half of these groups (Iowegian-adjacent), I found this novel depressingly relatable and enjoyed little tMG easter eggs (West Covina anyone?) throughout. If you go in expecting an unsettling story set in the Midwest involving a video rental store and a cult, you’ll be pleased. Perhaps, if you go in expecting nothing at all (or you’re just a fan of anything John Darnielle puts out) you may enjoy it as well. Just don’t go in expecting horror in the traditional sense, you’ll be sorely disappointed.