crosereader's review
challenging
reflective
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? Yes
1.0
soph2962's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
oda9_'s review
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bookishjade's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
3.0
annarella's review
3.0
I loved other books by Edmund White and was excited to read this one.
The premise sounded really interesting and, even if I liked the storytelling, I couldn't care for the characters that I found a bit too self-centered.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
The premise sounded really interesting and, even if I liked the storytelling, I couldn't care for the characters that I found a bit too self-centered.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
inthelunaseas's review
2.0
This book is a bit like a sucker punch. I'm genuinely stuck between rating this two or three stars, and I'm looking forward to talking about this with my queer book club.
The first- what? half? two thirds?- of the book is just smut. Pure smut. Ruggero and Constance, our leads, read verbatim their memoirs about their previous relationships. It's a weird set up, and even more peculiar that most of their discussions are about the sex therein, and it gave me very big Lady Chatterley's Lover vibes (and I was glad to see this book referenced in here).
The sex scenes are so bad. God. I have never read 'meatus' in porn before, and I never want to again. When I reached the second page and Edmund was stroking Ruggero's dick with a twenty dollar bill, I had to put the book down and go for a walk. The second damn page.
It was also written in a rather curious way. It was a combination of pure dialogue and then 'Constance thought: [text]' or 'Ruggero read: [text]'. This chapter- chapter 4- is also the bulk of the book and takes up a good 150 or so pages. And though the characters here are talking about themselves, it's actually difficult to know who they are. Yes, we know what their past was like and the actions they took, but who are they are? What are their personalities, their feelings? They're both narcissists, but what else?
Time also moves in this strange, liquid manner and I can't help but feel White wasn't sure how old Ruggero was meant to be. Ruggero mentions losing people to the AIDS crisis, but he was born in 1979 - yes, it's entirely fathomable he did lose friends to AIDS at some point through his life, but it does feel like a bit of a stretch.
The second 'part' of the book, after Constance and Ruggero have gone their separate ways, actually carried some wait. I still find Edmund's inclusion as a character, both as himself and as a metafiction version of himself, to waver between poignant and an eye roll. He references this book by title, he is very degrading about himself, reference his piss fetish and micro dick, plus his fungal smell, and he's very tongue in cheek about what he's doing... but it also felt very skewed with the first section. If the second section was actually the novel itself and the whole thing played into the metafiction without the graphic descriptions of sex, I might be able to appreciate this book more.
This, ultimately, is my problem with the book. The first portion was just too much. Two very wealthy people, who I personally wouldn't stand if I met them, having a lot of sex and spending copious amounts of money to travel. The second section... I mightn't like it, but it has more feeling. More emotion.
This is a book I want to talk about, but not one I'd recommend for an enjoyable read.
The first- what? half? two thirds?- of the book is just smut. Pure smut. Ruggero and Constance, our leads, read verbatim their memoirs about their previous relationships. It's a weird set up, and even more peculiar that most of their discussions are about the sex therein, and it gave me very big Lady Chatterley's Lover vibes (and I was glad to see this book referenced in here).
The sex scenes are so bad. God. I have never read 'meatus' in porn before, and I never want to again. When I reached the second page and Edmund was stroking Ruggero's dick with a twenty dollar bill, I had to put the book down and go for a walk. The second damn page.
It was also written in a rather curious way. It was a combination of pure dialogue and then 'Constance thought: [text]' or 'Ruggero read: [text]'. This chapter- chapter 4- is also the bulk of the book and takes up a good 150 or so pages. And though the characters here are talking about themselves, it's actually difficult to know who they are. Yes, we know what their past was like and the actions they took, but who are they are? What are their personalities, their feelings? They're both narcissists, but what else?
Time also moves in this strange, liquid manner and I can't help but feel White wasn't sure how old Ruggero was meant to be. Ruggero mentions losing people to the AIDS crisis, but he was born in 1979 - yes, it's entirely fathomable he did lose friends to AIDS at some point through his life, but it does feel like a bit of a stretch.
The second 'part' of the book, after Constance and Ruggero have gone their separate ways, actually carried some wait. I still find Edmund's inclusion as a character, both as himself and as a metafiction version of himself, to waver between poignant and an eye roll. He references this book by title, he is very degrading about himself, reference his piss fetish and micro dick, plus his fungal smell, and he's very tongue in cheek about what he's doing... but it also felt very skewed with the first section. If the second section was actually the novel itself and the whole thing played into the metafiction without the graphic descriptions of sex, I might be able to appreciate this book more.
This, ultimately, is my problem with the book. The first portion was just too much. Two very wealthy people, who I personally wouldn't stand if I met them, having a lot of sex and spending copious amounts of money to travel. The second section... I mightn't like it, but it has more feeling. More emotion.
This is a book I want to talk about, but not one I'd recommend for an enjoyable read.
kenepps's review
2.0
The sporadic, but beautifully perceptive insights on the male and female sexual psyche could not save this horrible novel.
bobthebookerer's review
4.0
This book is at turns both hilarious and deeply sad, charting the relationships between many characters, not least Edmund White himself, who appears as a character, and, at one point, so does this novel.
The self-referential nature of it all seems bizarre when you begin the book, but for me, it soon transformed into something quite profound, almost as if Edmund White is playing out his deepest fears, insecurities and fantasies in these pages.
Fantasy appears heavily throughout, and the book is absolutely unapologetic and unflinching in its discussions of sex and sexuality, often getting incredibly graphic (about 5 pages in there is a detailed discussion of girth that is hilariously written). But again there is something deeper going on beneath its surface- the fantasies borne out in the book at the beginning start to be viewed through new eyes the further through the book you get, with sexuality feeling both liberating and also constraining, particularly when it comes to ageing and trying to assess one's own worth when your looks might place you outside of easy categorisation as 'attractive' or 'sexy'.
As White and his lover, friend and confidant Ruggero reveal more, told through Ruggero and Constance (and occasionally other characters) telling their stories, we piece together what White thinks of it all, told through the eyes of people writing about him after his death.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The self-referential nature of it all seems bizarre when you begin the book, but for me, it soon transformed into something quite profound, almost as if Edmund White is playing out his deepest fears, insecurities and fantasies in these pages.
Fantasy appears heavily throughout, and the book is absolutely unapologetic and unflinching in its discussions of sex and sexuality, often getting incredibly graphic (about 5 pages in there is a detailed discussion of girth that is hilariously written). But again there is something deeper going on beneath its surface- the fantasies borne out in the book at the beginning start to be viewed through new eyes the further through the book you get, with sexuality feeling both liberating and also constraining, particularly when it comes to ageing and trying to assess one's own worth when your looks might place you outside of easy categorisation as 'attractive' or 'sexy'.
As White and his lover, friend and confidant Ruggero reveal more, told through Ruggero and Constance (and occasionally other characters) telling their stories, we piece together what White thinks of it all, told through the eyes of people writing about him after his death.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
ken_bookhermit's review
5.0
I loved it. Every minute and every word of it.
I can't remember how it was that I found out about Edmund White in the first place; just that I read his book of essays ([b:Arts and Letters|109719|Arts and Letters|Edmund White|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328856065l/109719._SX50_.jpg|16186764]) and lost myself in his essay on Nabokov. I really need to make better note of how I find these authors, I swear... But. I do know that Edmund White writes autobiographical fiction—and so it came as no surprise to me that he is a character in his own novel that is about him only in the secondary way (yet is still very much about him). The first half of A Previous Life centers around Constance and Ruggero, a married couple with a vast age difference between them, whereas the latter half of the book mirrors the fallout of Constance and Ruggero's marriage with the exposition of Ruggelo and Edmund's love affair.
The most interesting thing about this novel is how it manages to disrupt one's sense of time. It goes back and forth temporally but above all else, I think what messed me up the most is how the book, A Previous Life, is mentioned in the story itself as if it is a different book altogether. Or at least, that's what I want to think, given how much I'm struggling with the self-referential-ness of it all.
It amazes me how Edmund White (the writer) can talk about Edmund White (the character) in the way that he does in the novel. Self-effacing or self-aggrandizing? Who's to say?
But yes. I love how obscene and pornographic it gets in one page, and insightful and philosophical in another. I want to read everything Edmund White has ever written.
I can't remember how it was that I found out about Edmund White in the first place; just that I read his book of essays ([b:Arts and Letters|109719|Arts and Letters|Edmund White|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328856065l/109719._SX50_.jpg|16186764]) and lost myself in his essay on Nabokov. I really need to make better note of how I find these authors, I swear... But. I do know that Edmund White writes autobiographical fiction—and so it came as no surprise to me that he is a character in his own novel that is about him only in the secondary way (yet is still very much about him). The first half of A Previous Life centers around Constance and Ruggero, a married couple with a vast age difference between them, whereas the latter half of the book mirrors the fallout of Constance and Ruggero's marriage with the exposition of Ruggelo and Edmund's love affair.
The most interesting thing about this novel is how it manages to disrupt one's sense of time. It goes back and forth temporally but above all else, I think what messed me up the most is how the book, A Previous Life, is mentioned in the story itself as if it is a different book altogether. Or at least, that's what I want to think, given how much I'm struggling with the self-referential-ness of it all.
It amazes me how Edmund White (the writer) can talk about Edmund White (the character) in the way that he does in the novel. Self-effacing or self-aggrandizing? Who's to say?
But yes. I love how obscene and pornographic it gets in one page, and insightful and philosophical in another. I want to read everything Edmund White has ever written.
burrowsi1's review
challenging
emotional
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0