Reviews

Whites by Norman Rush

hongjoongie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny informative reflective sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

edgeworthstan2000's review against another edition

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5.0

This book is the best best best. His writing is so incredible. These short stories are Alice Munro quality.

drdreuh's review

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4.0

Norman Rush's first book, but the last of his that I read. I decidedly enjoy his novels more than his short stories; 'Whites' reads a bit like an exercise in character development. I kept trying to make the connection between the characters in each story, where mostly there is none. But with 'Whites', Rush successfully hones in on and exposes several paragons of the ugly underbelly of foreign development and the expat milieu. He doesn't so much condemn it as just lays it bare. Such detachment itself being characteristic, I think, of people who have walked this path.
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