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ameliasbooks's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
After Louis had already described growing up in a poor and uneducated family in previous books, I was initially skeptical about what new things there could be to tell about. But this seemed to be an honest look back not only at what happened, but also at his own behavior. How he managed to escape his class, at what cost and how he feels about having somehow betrayed his origins.
At first I was very enthusiastic about the book, about the self-critical view, but as the book progressed, I stumbled more and more over things that left me feeling a bit uncomfortable.
When he recounted some of the events, I began to doubt whether he was really as self-reflective as he seemed to be. I don't want to be misunderstood here, I would never say that if you criticize people from higher classes and their lives, you can only do so, if you stay in your class and simply quietly accept your own suffering. I can also understand that such a transition cannot take place in the form of someone mutating into a kind of saint. And I also found it understandable that parts of his behavior could be explained by his upbringing and also who has ever heard about that rich people do not exploit others? Don't most of them already do that through their lifestyle, which they live at the expense of others in society?
As far as the writing style is concerned, I sometimes had problems with the fact that the author decided to switch between the first, third and second person, and especially with the latter it was not always immediatley clear, who he was addressing in that moment (the mother, the father, Elena...).
But the biggest problem for me was the obsession with his own appearance. Here too, of course, it is Louis' right to do whatever he wants with his body, but when you write about things such as an eating disorder, I would like to see a reflection on that in a book like this, as well as on the ideals of beauty to which he feels committed to for whatever reasons (perhaps especially in becoming a part of high society?).
I still liked all the insights on class and the elitist society structure in France, because although I have already read so many French books in which this is a theme (on purpose or not), I am constantly appalled by how little these structures differ from aristocracy, which officially doesn't exist anymore.
This is an interesting book and the writing is apart from my little quibbles still strong (the middle part lost steam a bit though), which I would recommend, but maybe not as the first book by this author to read.
At first I was very enthusiastic about the book, about the self-critical view, but as the book progressed, I stumbled more and more over things that left me feeling a bit uncomfortable.
When he recounted some of the events, I began to doubt whether he was really as self-reflective as he seemed to be. I don't want to be misunderstood here, I would never say that if you criticize people from higher classes and their lives, you can only do so, if you stay in your class and simply quietly accept your own suffering. I can also understand that such a transition cannot take place in the form of someone mutating into a kind of saint. And I also found it understandable that parts of his behavior could be explained by his upbringing and also who has ever heard about that rich people do not exploit others? Don't most of them already do that through their lifestyle, which they live at the expense of others in society?
As far as the writing style is concerned, I sometimes had problems with the fact that the author decided to switch between the first, third and second person, and especially with the latter it was not always immediatley clear, who he was addressing in that moment (the mother, the father, Elena...).
But the biggest problem for me was the obsession with his own appearance. Here too, of course, it is Louis' right to do whatever he wants with his body, but when you write about things such as an eating disorder, I would like to see a reflection on that in a book like this, as well as on the ideals of beauty to which he feels committed to for whatever reasons (perhaps especially in becoming a part of high society?).
I still liked all the insights on class and the elitist society structure in France, because although I have already read so many French books in which this is a theme (on purpose or not), I am constantly appalled by how little these structures differ from aristocracy, which officially doesn't exist anymore.
This is an interesting book and the writing is apart from my little quibbles still strong (the middle part lost steam a bit though), which I would recommend, but maybe not as the first book by this author to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, and Alcohol
Minor: Racism and Xenophobia
After Louis had already described growing up in a poor and uneducated family in previous books, I was initially skeptical about what new things there could be to tell about. But this is an honest look back not only on at what happened, but it is also a critical look at his own behavior. How he managed to escape his class, at what cost and how he feels about having somehow betrayed his origins. At first I was very enthusiastic about the book, about the self-critical view, but as the book progressed, I stumbled more and more over things that made me feeling a bit uncomfortable. While he recounted some of the events that were particularly formative to him, I began to doubt whether he was really as self-reflective as he seemed to be. I don't want to be misunderstood, I would never say that if you criticize people from higher classes and their lives, you can only do so honestly, if you stay in your class and simply quietly accept your own suffering. I can also understand that such a transition cannot take place in the form of someone mutating into a kind of saint in comparison. And I also found it understandable that parts of his behavior could be explained by his origins and on addition to that, who has ever heard about that rich people do not exploit others? Don't most of them already do that through their lifestyle, which they live at the expense of others in society? As far as the writing style is concerned, I sometimes had problems with the fact that the author decided to switch between the first, third and second person, and especially with the latter it was not always clear immediatley who he was addressing atm (the mother, the father, Elena...?). But the biggest problem for me was the obsession with his own appearance. Here too, of course, it is Louis' right to do whatever he wants with his body, but when I write about things such as an obvious eating disorder, I would also expect to see a reflection on that especially in a text like this one. As well as a refelction on the ideals of beauty to which he feels committed to for whatever reasons (perhaps especially in high society?). I found the lack of that not only disapponting, but also falling into the existing prejudices some heterosexuals have about the superficiality of gay men.