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horsley123's review against another edition
5.0
Have you reached that age yet when all of the men around you take up running, cycling or even worse triathlons? Men, who up til this point, have been interesting, a laugh and good for a glass of wine suddenly become lycra clad bores. They stop drinking, they disappear for hours on end and absolve themselves of familial responsibility. Marriages are discarded at the wayside along with gel energy wrappers.
I love Lionel Shriver's dry observations on society. The wife's desperate attempts to not completely talk down her husband's new enthusiasm, the daughter's fervent religious beliefs and the awful personal trainer are all perfect. I adored this book; it made me laugh, think and almost feel sad for all those triathletes who are just looking for meaning in their lives.
I love Lionel Shriver's dry observations on society. The wife's desperate attempts to not completely talk down her husband's new enthusiasm, the daughter's fervent religious beliefs and the awful personal trainer are all perfect. I adored this book; it made me laugh, think and almost feel sad for all those triathletes who are just looking for meaning in their lives.
deschatjes's review against another edition
4.0
Shriver always delivers - this time in the cult of exercise, aging & regretful parenting
molliesampson's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
zoeaclay's review against another edition
2.0
i read this while training for a 10 miler because it's centered around running a marathon/endurance sports but it's just a horribly bitter look into marriage. gross attitudes towards bodies/food.
iwnbh's review against another edition
3.0
A short list of things I've noticed about Lionel Shriver's stories (and this one in particular), since I've been on a spree... (nothing really groundbreaking)
- The trope of a handsome, prodigal, and malicious son, who invariably has a complex, almost romantic relationship with his mother (I can't think of a better word than romantic, but there's undoubtedly a tension there).
- She can't help but let her very colorful and intense opinions about "wokeness", cancel culture, and identity politics bleed into her characters and their dialogue. I gotta say at times it feels like I'm listening to a vaguely reactionary podcast. I get Gamergate flashbacks. I should find it obnoxious enough to put the book down and never pick it up again, but I find myself morbidly, inexplicably curious, despite the fact I've heard this kind of rhetoric hundreds of times before.
- There's been a consistent fixation on food, eating, fitness, etc. Past it being an object ripe for satire, I wonder if Shriver herself has struggled with an eating disorder, or something similar.
- She doesn't care about realism in her dialogue at all. All her main characters talk in this stilted, overly detailed manner - which I strangely find myself liking. The style reminds me of Don Delillo in its robotic cadence, the weird choices of words, and in the fact that you'd never find anyone talking like this in real life ever. I know it's a pet peeve with a lot of her readers but I don't mind and I've kind of gotten fond of it.
- It's very, very easy to read through most of her stories. So easy to read that I regard her books as a guilty pleasure. There are definitely moments of secondhand embarrassment, or emotional pain. For the entire last chapter, my palms were clammy with sweat, and my anxiety was through the roof. Like others have pointed out, some of her sentences are very clumsy and roundabout. However, she's supernaturally good at immersing you in the world and mind of the narrator. After I finish each of her books, I'm hit with a pang of loss.
- The trope of a handsome, prodigal, and malicious son, who invariably has a complex, almost romantic relationship with his mother (I can't think of a better word than romantic, but there's undoubtedly a tension there).
- She can't help but let her very colorful and intense opinions about "wokeness", cancel culture, and identity politics bleed into her characters and their dialogue. I gotta say at times it feels like I'm listening to a vaguely reactionary podcast. I get Gamergate flashbacks. I should find it obnoxious enough to put the book down and never pick it up again, but I find myself morbidly, inexplicably curious, despite the fact I've heard this kind of rhetoric hundreds of times before.
- There's been a consistent fixation on food, eating, fitness, etc. Past it being an object ripe for satire, I wonder if Shriver herself has struggled with an eating disorder, or something similar.
- She doesn't care about realism in her dialogue at all. All her main characters talk in this stilted, overly detailed manner - which I strangely find myself liking. The style reminds me of Don Delillo in its robotic cadence, the weird choices of words, and in the fact that you'd never find anyone talking like this in real life ever. I know it's a pet peeve with a lot of her readers but I don't mind and I've kind of gotten fond of it.
- It's very, very easy to read through most of her stories. So easy to read that I regard her books as a guilty pleasure. There are definitely moments of secondhand embarrassment, or emotional pain. For the entire last chapter, my palms were clammy with sweat, and my anxiety was through the roof. Like others have pointed out, some of her sentences are very clumsy and roundabout. However, she's supernaturally good at immersing you in the world and mind of the narrator. After I finish each of her books, I'm hit with a pang of loss.
jentidders's review against another edition
1.0
I was looking forward to reading a new novel from Lionel Shriver, having enjoyed We Need To Talk About Kevin and The Post Birthday World, but unfortunately, I clearly hadn't been paying attention to the controversy surrounding her, as otherwise, I wouldn't have picked it up.
Straight off the bat, something seemed off. The main protagonist, Serenata really came across as ‘author as character’, and so some of the views she had, made me feel pretty uncomfortable. As well as being infuriatingly too-cool-for-school and stopping liking things as soon as they become popular, she has problems with people disapproving of cultural appropriation, racism, misogyny and gender issues, or caring about climate change.
OK.
So, I DNFed the book and decided to do a bit of investigation online.
In 2016, Shriver gave a controversial speech about cultural appropriation. Having been criticized for her depiction of Latino and African-American characters in The Mandibles, she responded that accusations of racism and cultural appropriation were tantamount to censorship.
Then in 2018, she had a whine about diversity in publishing suggesting that a manuscript "written by a gay transgender Caribbean who dropped out of school at seven" would be published "whether or not said manuscript is an incoherent, tedious, meandering and insensible pile of mixed-paper recycling".
Yeah.
As you can hopefully tell by my feed, I would rather read a million books by diverse LGBTQ/POC authors, than another word of what is genuinely tedious and meandering self-indulgent drivel by this or any other white, middle-aged, right-wing boomer.
Basically, do not buy this, do not read this - support one of the many, many diverse and own voices authors out who are writing inclusive, incisive, and interesting fiction that actually reflects the world around us.
Thanks to Harper Collins for the digital copy - I hope they can appreciate me giving an honest review!
Straight off the bat, something seemed off. The main protagonist, Serenata really came across as ‘author as character’, and so some of the views she had, made me feel pretty uncomfortable. As well as being infuriatingly too-cool-for-school and stopping liking things as soon as they become popular, she has problems with people disapproving of cultural appropriation, racism, misogyny and gender issues, or caring about climate change.
OK.
So, I DNFed the book and decided to do a bit of investigation online.
In 2016, Shriver gave a controversial speech about cultural appropriation. Having been criticized for her depiction of Latino and African-American characters in The Mandibles, she responded that accusations of racism and cultural appropriation were tantamount to censorship.
Then in 2018, she had a whine about diversity in publishing suggesting that a manuscript "written by a gay transgender Caribbean who dropped out of school at seven" would be published "whether or not said manuscript is an incoherent, tedious, meandering and insensible pile of mixed-paper recycling".
Yeah.
As you can hopefully tell by my feed, I would rather read a million books by diverse LGBTQ/POC authors, than another word of what is genuinely tedious and meandering self-indulgent drivel by this or any other white, middle-aged, right-wing boomer.
Basically, do not buy this, do not read this - support one of the many, many diverse and own voices authors out who are writing inclusive, incisive, and interesting fiction that actually reflects the world around us.
Thanks to Harper Collins for the digital copy - I hope they can appreciate me giving an honest review!
_myliteraryobsession's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
lakehouse's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-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
4.25
lachlanfinlayson's review against another edition
4.0
An enjoyable and engaging book, providing an interesting , closely observed view on the modern fitness and endurance Industry. Also touching on many contentious aspect of modern life and societal, political and generational changes. Being a distance runner of a certain age, the authors views and observations on aging and decline have made me more thoughtful about these topics. It is always great when a book encourages more thought long after the reading has finished. Ultimately uplifting and optimistic; another great book from an author I alway enjoy.