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cwalsh's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars, possibly even 5?
A beautiful book about empathy, influence, and inventiveness... one that has me thinking long after I turned the last page.
A beautiful book about empathy, influence, and inventiveness... one that has me thinking long after I turned the last page.
liolucia's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
jaimeturek1981's review against another edition
slow-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? No
2.5
carivinci's review against another edition
This book made absolutely no sense to me. I felt like it was a novel that had bits and pieces from miscellaneous news articles cut, and paste into it.. National best seller? I must like things that the rest of the nation doesn’t
eli3823's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
julianananana's review against another edition
I just! Hated this book. It felt like reading Fifty Shades of Gray. It's about a dom/sub relationship of a young woman and a much older, richer man. They have sex. It's mega trope-y, nothing interesting to me. I got maybe 1/3 of the way through and didn't care to find out if anything even vaguely interesting happens later on.
georgobgabgalab's review against another edition
3.0
This book offered me a unique experience, but I had to push myself to pursuing its read several times. Nothing made me particularly drawn to devouring the novel, but I have to admit that I found the theme to be an interesting topic to explore, and executed in a very compelling way.
The first part, "Folly", was my encounter with a more absurd style of writing. It was confusing at times, and satisfactory when I would be able to discern a meaning or a pattern. "Madness", the second part, was narrated in a more serious tone, with a deeper and clearer study with the general theme at hand, asymmetry. I have no better way of describing the relationship between both parts, as the back cover does:
I noticed some readers mentioning how this novel is 'meta', how we end up confirming one of the messages suggested by the author, about how as humans, we are drawn to make patterns out of occurrences that could have been just mere coincidences. I believe that, while some of our personal interpretations of the book might be correct, some ideas were actually given significance to them by ourselves, and are purely drawn out of our nature of making meaning out of things.
Nevertheless, the second part definitely discusses the discordance in...
...gender (the boy's worries covering his basic needs - to be fed- vs. the girl worrying about her father wanting her to be a boy, p.198-200);
...race, ethnicity (only ethnic minorities were detained at the airport for further inspection, the questions leading up to Amar's detention demonstrated unquestionable bias);
...nation (language, security, political ideology - p.219-221);
...opportunities (not taking the wonders of the country for granted, p.153; what can be expected for the future, depending on where you live p.222; certain tragedies being fiction for some people, and realities for others, p.231-233);
...philosophy, theology (faith, p.178; science vs. religion, God and free will, p.189);
...etc.
And some inequities are best debated with the overlap of both parts...
....religious affiliation & expectations (according to profession, atheist writer vs. religious economist, p.122 vs. p.215);
...fame (as a protection from times of war, p.60);
...age (pediatric vs. geriatric care, Ezra vs. p.184);
...nonconformity (daring,"gameness" vs. devalued or dangerous, p.66);
...wealth (Ezra, seems to overcome his complications easier with the aid of his fortune, pays Alice's remaining tuition, offers money to the hot-dog man without a second thought);
..."[Baghdad] was a place in which you could not forget about politics for one minute, never mind the time it takes to eat a meal or read a poem or make love", p.229, meaningful contrast between both parts;
...etc.
Certain symbols and motifs that are recurrent, and might have a meaning to them, or demonstrate my humane need of giving them meaning:
... how time is running out, p.64;
...the perpetual mention of baseball, perhaps something to do with gameness, "[Alice's] gameness and devotion were qualities the world needed more, not less", p.71; circling back to the ending, "Are you game?", p.271;
...mirrors, and writing:
This book had many things to dissect, sometimes interesting, sometimes exasperating. It would sometimes feel like a fun game, challenge to complete. Other times, I would fall into the trap of making a pattern out of nothing.
The first part, "Folly", was my encounter with a more absurd style of writing. It was confusing at times, and satisfactory when I would be able to discern a meaning or a pattern. "Madness", the second part, was narrated in a more serious tone, with a deeper and clearer study with the general theme at hand, asymmetry. I have no better way of describing the relationship between both parts, as the back cover does:
"These two seemingly disparate stories gain resonance as their perspectives interact and overlap..."The last part was advertised as 'revealing new implications for their relationship in an unexpected coda' (paraphrased). I am still unsure about what those implications might be.
I noticed some readers mentioning how this novel is 'meta', how we end up confirming one of the messages suggested by the author, about how as humans, we are drawn to make patterns out of occurrences that could have been just mere coincidences. I believe that, while some of our personal interpretations of the book might be correct, some ideas were actually given significance to them by ourselves, and are purely drawn out of our nature of making meaning out of things.
Nevertheless, the second part definitely discusses the discordance in...
Spoiler
...gender (the boy's worries covering his basic needs - to be fed- vs. the girl worrying about her father wanting her to be a boy, p.198-200);
...race, ethnicity (only ethnic minorities were detained at the airport for further inspection, the questions leading up to Amar's detention demonstrated unquestionable bias);
...nation (language, security, political ideology - p.219-221);
...opportunities (not taking the wonders of the country for granted, p.153; what can be expected for the future, depending on where you live p.222; certain tragedies being fiction for some people, and realities for others, p.231-233);
...philosophy, theology (faith, p.178; science vs. religion, God and free will, p.189);
...etc.
And some inequities are best debated with the overlap of both parts...
Spoiler
....religious affiliation & expectations (according to profession, atheist writer vs. religious economist, p.122 vs. p.215);
...fame (as a protection from times of war, p.60);
...age (pediatric vs. geriatric care, Ezra vs. p.184);
...nonconformity (daring,"gameness" vs. devalued or dangerous, p.66);
...wealth (Ezra, seems to overcome his complications easier with the aid of his fortune, pays Alice's remaining tuition, offers money to the hot-dog man without a second thought);
..."[Baghdad] was a place in which you could not forget about politics for one minute, never mind the time it takes to eat a meal or read a poem or make love", p.229, meaningful contrast between both parts;
...etc.
Certain symbols and motifs that are recurrent, and might have a meaning to them, or demonstrate my humane need of giving them meaning:
Spoiler
... how time is running out, p.64;
...the perpetual mention of baseball, perhaps something to do with gameness, "[Alice's] gameness and devotion were qualities the world needed more, not less", p.71; circling back to the ending, "Are you game?", p.271;
...mirrors, and writing:
"...in the mirror on the other side of Sami's new piano... I looked more like the embodiment of a line I would later read... A problem, I suppose, that it is entirely up to our imaginations to solve. But then even someone who imagines for a living is forever bound by the ultimate constraint: she can hold her mirror up to whatever subject she chooses,, at whatever angle she likes - she can even hold it such that she herself remains outside its frame... but there's no getting around the fact that she's always holding the mirror. And just because you can't see yourself in the reflection it doesn't mean that no one can." (p.225)
This book had many things to dissect, sometimes interesting, sometimes exasperating. It would sometimes feel like a fun game, challenge to complete. Other times, I would fall into the trap of making a pattern out of nothing.
It's nothing new, disunity. Disparity. Terminological conflict. There have always been dissenters, always for those for whom the world is due a revolution and spilling a little blood is the only way. The problem with the idea that history repeats itself is that when it isn't making us wiser it's making us complacent...They use violence when words don't work, but sometimes the reason words don't work is because the ones holding all the cards don't appear to be listening." (p.237-238)
rlshnhn's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
meaghandesigns's review against another edition
4.0
this book was wild. Two different stories and which are sorta connected by a third. The writing and stories I enjoyed but not sure how I feel about them as one complete novel