erinray82's review against another edition
3.0
Likes:
The ambiance and mood of this book. It's grungy and dirty, full of problems. The people have depth, they're depressed, they're flawed. I could envision New Jersey and the people it breeds. Moody can sure set a stage. The language was wonderfully descriptive. It was ugly in the ways it needed to be in order to offset the beauty. In the end, it's the chemical beauty of polluted sunsets.
Dislikes:
No connection. The people are interesting enough, but it grows old when they can't connect to one another. Their relationships are shallow, and in the end, sometimes so are they. When all is said and done, I think this is part of the point. This constructs our notion of The Garden State, this disconnect, the ever present void. This lack of the connection feeds the plot and builds character... but characters that don't bond are hollow, vacant beings. It becomes disheartening after a while. One feels less and less invested, because the characters are less invested in their world, and with living.
The ambiance and mood of this book. It's grungy and dirty, full of problems. The people have depth, they're depressed, they're flawed. I could envision New Jersey and the people it breeds. Moody can sure set a stage. The language was wonderfully descriptive. It was ugly in the ways it needed to be in order to offset the beauty. In the end, it's the chemical beauty of polluted sunsets.
Dislikes:
No connection. The people are interesting enough, but it grows old when they can't connect to one another. Their relationships are shallow, and in the end, sometimes so are they. When all is said and done, I think this is part of the point. This constructs our notion of The Garden State, this disconnect, the ever present void. This lack of the connection feeds the plot and builds character... but characters that don't bond are hollow, vacant beings. It becomes disheartening after a while. One feels less and less invested, because the characters are less invested in their world, and with living.
jesszak's review
2.0
Couldn't get into this. Maybe I am past the age of appeal for a book like this, but I found it to be too full of adolescent ennui and angst. I had enough of that in my teens and early 20s, no need to relive it now.
djasson's review
1.0
Weak, no commitment to characters. Nice ending, before last few paragraphs, but author waited too long. First novel problems? Here's hoping The Ice Storm us better
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