serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
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
3.0
The Emperor’s Children is a New York novel set in the early twenty-first century. The plot revolves around the Thwaites family, especially intellectual journalist Murray and 30 year old daughter Marina, as well as two of her close friends from college. The characters were far from relatable, likeable or admirable - the title is telling if you know your fairytales - but were definitely well-drawn. I would have loved to have seen more of Annabel and the valuable work she was doing.
lola425's review against another edition
4.0
Kind of surprised by all the hate on this book. It's no better or worse than anything Franzen or Eugenides or Harbach or Wolitzer has written. I thought that Messud got the story just about right. I actually liked her privileged, whiny thirty-somethings more than in some other books about the same generation that I've read. Murray was spot-on, I could picture him (and his type) quite clearly. The Julius character could easily have been cut, I think, and the themes would have remained intact. Is it overwritten? It didn't strike me that way. To me, it wasn't glaring, and I usually pick up on an author who is trying to be overly clever. Not the impression I got here. I did feel like the use of 9/11 as a way to bring the story to a head was a little easy. I liked both Messud's book of novellas and The Woman Upstairs so I'm not surprised I liked this.
eileen_critchley's review against another edition
3.0
This one was a little long, and did drag in some parts, but it grew on me. I wasn't sure at first if I was even going to finish it, but I did and it was ok. Some parts were quite good, some parts just ok. The sentence structure did annoy me at times, and made this book hard to read when one is half asleep (as I often am when I am reading). In the end, probably worth reading, but could have been maybe 100 pages shorter.
cforss's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
guerrillabooks's review against another edition
3.0
I struggle with giving books stars... I might actually hate it just a little. One of these days, I should come up with a matrix of objective and subjective reasons for deciding that a book warrants 3 stars or 4 stars and so on, but until then, it remains a matter of impulse; I like this more or less than something else I rated as 4 stars recently.
I didn’t love this book. But I fully respect the task of it. Satire, I’ve come to realize is not my preference, but sometimes it feels necessary, rather like sarcasm or cynicism, they aren’t always the best, but they is what they is.
I didn’t love this book. But I fully respect the task of it. Satire, I’ve come to realize is not my preference, but sometimes it feels necessary, rather like sarcasm or cynicism, they aren’t always the best, but they is what they is.
bettyvd's review against another edition
3.0
Niet slecht, maar begin en einde vond ik geforceerd. Vlot geschreven.
juliaem's review against another edition
2.0
I felt compelled to finish this because I always feel compelled to finish books, but doubly so when I've borrowed it from a friend. In fairness, there was a point in the middle when I cared about what happened to the characters. But that point was a long time coming. Chalk it up to the economic climate, my general disdain for unhappy people who don't DO anything about being unhappy, or the barometric pressure, but I was bored and uninterested in the beginning. Things did get better, but that had more to do with twists of plot than character development, and by the end, the several characters I did feel invested in were mostly dropped from the arc of the story. Yes, work, life, and love can be complicated when you're a thirtysomething in New York, but I feel like that story has been told before. Better.
supernumeraryemily's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I was intrigued by the details in the book, the little moments of humanity that Messud captures well in words. I was compelled by the initially separate but intertwining storylines, and reading the events of the book from multiple perspectives. The themes of disillusionment and idealism resonated with me. As I was reading this book that takes place in NYC through 2001, I had a growing sense of unease, expecting that the intricate and self-centered characters Messud created would have to deal with real tragedy, have it unravel the stories they had painstakingly constructed about themselves.
I found it disappointing that the tragedy ultimately did not meaningfully or fully disrupt any of the self-deceiving patterns of the characters.
I found it disappointing how Murray was let off the hook--how the scathing takedown of him by Bootie was forever unpublished, how his illicit affair was never found out, how a funeral for a family member served as a reflection point for him in his self-centeredness--and how other characters instead (Danielle and Annabel) took on immense pain and/or work. How Bootie was let off the hook, allowed a second chance to follow his self-centered ambitions of grandeur (what a rugged American individual! Clearly meant to be the hero of the book) in a way that left his mother mourning and broken. How Ludo was allowed to slink off when things got inconvenient. Then--how Julius was allowed to be battered behind the scenes and then fade back into a sidekick role for Marina in the book. How DeVaughn's poor mother was killed off (the only character who actually dies?) and we never see the boy's perspective on any of this. How Aurora was relegated to the background and forgotten by the end of the story.
Perhaps the novel was not written to challenge the status quo in a meaningful way--just to expose how particular and broken the world is, along with those who are admired within it. How entitled people exist on a different plane. In that case, bravo. But the four hundred plus pages of this book set me up to hope for something different, something more shattering, which I never got.
I found it disappointing that the tragedy ultimately did not meaningfully or fully disrupt any of the self-deceiving patterns of the characters.
I found it disappointing how Murray was let off the hook--how the scathing takedown of him by Bootie was forever unpublished, how his illicit affair was never found out, how a funeral for a family member served as a reflection point for him in his self-centeredness--and how other characters instead (Danielle and Annabel) took on immense pain and/or work. How Bootie was let off the hook, allowed a second chance to follow his self-centered ambitions of grandeur (what a rugged American individual! Clearly meant to be the hero of the book) in a way that left his mother mourning and broken. How Ludo was allowed to slink off when things got inconvenient. Then--how Julius was allowed to be battered behind the scenes and then fade back into a sidekick role for Marina in the book. How DeVaughn's poor mother was killed off (the only character who actually dies?) and we never see the boy's perspective on any of this. How Aurora was relegated to the background and forgotten by the end of the story.
Perhaps the novel was not written to challenge the status quo in a meaningful way--just to expose how particular and broken the world is, along with those who are admired within it. How entitled people exist on a different plane. In that case, bravo. But the four hundred plus pages of this book set me up to hope for something different, something more shattering, which I never got.
ancillary_reader's review against another edition
2.0
A dull, eventless book about annoying unsuccessful 30 year olds who sit around complaining about their shallow lives. I can see this appealing to fans of the "literary fiction" genre, but I just found it irritating.