shawnwhy's review
3.0
there was this one passage that I found to be very beautiful about autumn, and the characters were interesting to read about, but the post apoalyptic societal structure is kind of boring....
tinamayreads's review
3.0
THE ARREST by Jonathan Lethem is a fun novel about a man in a post apocalyptic world. I really liked how the main character, Journeyman, was like me as the reader who didn’t know what was going on this world or what anyone else was thinking. We were both just going along for the ride and seeing what happens. I also really liked the short chapters and the many clever beginnings of those chapters. Maybe I expected more to happen in the end so I felt the ending was lacking but it was a fun journey to get there.
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Thank you to Ecco Books via NetGalley for my advance reader’s e-proof!
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Thank you to Ecco Books via NetGalley for my advance reader’s e-proof!
annmariereads's review
3.0
Post-apocalyptic, gigantic titanium tank on the cover? Oh I’m definitely going to pick that one up.
When the apocalypse happened, which everyone refers to as “The Arrest,” all electronics, engines, and machines stopped working. Sandy was visiting with his sister Maddy on her organic farm in Maine, which is a pretty ideal spot to hunker down. The nearby towns form a makeshift community where each person has a task. Before the Arrest Sandy worked with slimy-ish Peter Todbaum in Hollywood and they also went to college together. One day everyone is minding their own business and Todbaum rolls into town in the gigantic vehicle on the cover and everything starts to change.
Between this, The Silence, and Leave the World Behind, there have been several dystopian genre books when technology just stops chugging along. If I had to rank them (which literally no one is asking me to), I would put Leave the World Behind as first, The Arrest as second, and The Silence as third.
There are a lot of great flashbacks from before The Arrest that helps to fill in the blanks on the relationships between Peter, Sandy, Maddy. Although, I never felt like I understood the sister. She was a bit of a mystery.
I thought this book was super original and had a Vonnegut sort of vibe to it. Unfortunately, the pacing felt disjointed at times and I felt like I was missing something, which made me re-read chapters now and then, but I think that’s just how it’s written. It gets slow in the middle, but it is so worth it to plow through until the ending, trust me on this. I loved the complete absurdity and ingenuity of the ending.
Thanks to @netgalley for the chance to review this. Pick this one up if you like dystopian lit that isn’t too bleak and books that have huge metal tanks on them.
When the apocalypse happened, which everyone refers to as “The Arrest,” all electronics, engines, and machines stopped working. Sandy was visiting with his sister Maddy on her organic farm in Maine, which is a pretty ideal spot to hunker down. The nearby towns form a makeshift community where each person has a task. Before the Arrest Sandy worked with slimy-ish Peter Todbaum in Hollywood and they also went to college together. One day everyone is minding their own business and Todbaum rolls into town in the gigantic vehicle on the cover and everything starts to change.
Between this, The Silence, and Leave the World Behind, there have been several dystopian genre books when technology just stops chugging along. If I had to rank them (which literally no one is asking me to), I would put Leave the World Behind as first, The Arrest as second, and The Silence as third.
There are a lot of great flashbacks from before The Arrest that helps to fill in the blanks on the relationships between Peter, Sandy, Maddy. Although, I never felt like I understood the sister. She was a bit of a mystery.
I thought this book was super original and had a Vonnegut sort of vibe to it. Unfortunately, the pacing felt disjointed at times and I felt like I was missing something, which made me re-read chapters now and then, but I think that’s just how it’s written. It gets slow in the middle, but it is so worth it to plow through until the ending, trust me on this. I loved the complete absurdity and ingenuity of the ending.
Thanks to @netgalley for the chance to review this. Pick this one up if you like dystopian lit that isn’t too bleak and books that have huge metal tanks on them.
urlphantomhive's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
tklassy's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
hayzeus00's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
a0ri's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is an odd duck. Not in a bad way, but it wasn't necessarily what I was expecting. Lethem seems to like slightly subverting the readers expectations throughout the book, which he does mostly successfully. I'd describe this as a sort of "cozy distopian future" book of that is such a thing. I would say this is worth a look if you're interested in distopias and want to see the subject approached differently
doenja's review
2.0
Still trying to convince myself of my decision to read dystopian/utopian or just any future-oriented story in times that are prompting us to all open our emails with “hope this message finds you well under the circumstances”. As well, studying human computer interaction has completely ruined me for sloppy science fiction and underdeveloped name drops of AI.
However, it was refreshing to read a story as such that really does go about the day to day, rather than being led by the technology or disaster.
“We’re all fucking officially crazy,” said Lucius, who was, it seemed to Journeyman, fucking officially drunk. - page 173. Relatable!
“The moon large enough to hold his thoughts” p 268 - sentence lingered, gave some reason for gazing at the moon’s face.
However, it was refreshing to read a story as such that really does go about the day to day, rather than being led by the technology or disaster.
“We’re all fucking officially crazy,” said Lucius, who was, it seemed to Journeyman, fucking officially drunk. - page 173. Relatable!
“The moon large enough to hold his thoughts” p 268 - sentence lingered, gave some reason for gazing at the moon’s face.