Reviews

Blue Skies by T.C. Boyle

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lucyhope's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

uisge_beatha's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I don't think Boyle's writing style has aged particularly well. Or maybe it's just that his anger and despair has gotten the better of him. I recall reading "A Friend of the Earth," which I thought was a superior, prescient effort around a similar climate change context. By my recollection, while that book also had many satiric elements, it also had a real heart when it came to the development and expression of characters.

By contrast, I found the characters in Blue Skies to be incredibly flat and cartoonish - the controlling and performative mother, the saccharine-sincere and self-pitying son, and the vacuous, egoistic daughter. There's nothing to give them depth, subtlety, or any true humanity. They're just objects for us to judge and pity. (Do we really need a novel to facilitate those impulses these days?) And woe to the secondary characters, who get even less attention.

Maybe it's just that Boyle's sensibilities played better at a different time for me. Today, I'm more interested in getting beyond the surface and the snark.

For anybody looking for a much more engrossing and engaging book about people living through our climate disaster, I suggest "I Cheerfully Refuse," by Leif Enger.