Reviews

Vertrek van station Atocha by Ben Lerner

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ncteisen's review against another edition

5.0

The main character is anxious, drugged out, a little pretentious, and kind of an asshole... And I still identified with him and enjoyed reading his neurotic thoughts throughout this book.

Not as good as 10:04, but if you liked that you would probably like this.

longcommutelit's review against another edition

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5.0

UGH. Gutted to be finishing the last of Lerner’s novels for now, but what a great one to end on. Was reading the reviews and the criticisms are mostly centered on how insufferable Adam Gordon is as a character (aka Ben Lerner lol). It helps to have read Topeka School first with a younger Adam, but despite how terrible he could be, there was something so unmistakably human in his flaws. The story is less about a character as a fraud and more so about an artist reconciling with the importance of the story he puts forth in the face of every other human’s experience.

marymerrick's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

3.0

I am not sure why the protagonist was such a miserable person. I guess being in a new place gave him the idea that he could be anybody and say anything. Which is one thing, but being a truly mean, despicable person is another. Not much action or storyline. Unclear character development. Since Adam’s poetry was completely fraudulent, for me, no valid point could be made about anything. Some of the writing was quite good, but much of the poetic writing was incomprehensible. I am not fond of Lerner and find his writing pretentious and pointless. That said, I was able to finish it, and was propelled forward by some of the small action and decent writing.

eliserey's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

profoundlymisunderstoodartist's review against another edition

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Narrator wants to be my username sooo badddd

iwnbh's review against another edition

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3.0

i don't hate lerner's writing style, but i guess it is a very modern-day american MFA type of deal. some sentences are brilliant (this is from the topeka school, but i especially like the line:

“He touched a wrestling state-championship banner hanging in the foyer with the distance of an anthropologist or ghost.”)

the way lerner portrayed the experience of learning a language - of knowing all the basics, all the fundamentals, but still lacking the fluency and confidence that is required in real-life situations - was one of the best parts of this book. the way he described it really stuck with me. i think he said something like hearing another character's sentences and not really understanding it fully, but understanding it like notes of a chord, disparate ideas without real syntax. a picture so big as to be meaningless. i'm learning spanish in school and that's really what it feels like.

the main character was insufferable but i (very unhappily) found myself relating to him at times. i think unlikable/critically flawed characters can still successfully lead stories though. the experience was very grating but since the book wasn't that long i was able to get through it. and despite there being so many cringe-worthy scenes, there was enough appealing writing that it made it almost worth it (like the second language stuff).

i can't say in good faith that i enjoyed reading this. however, i would recommend it over the topeka school, for those who want to read lerner's work but aren't sure where to start.