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duanebutcher's review against another edition
3.0
I don't actually recommend reading this. I gave it three stars because it really is uniquely imaginative. The invented language is very plausible, maybe brilliant (though it really, really adds to the effort it takes to get through the book.) The world-building is spectacular, quite a departure from cookie-cutter post-apocalyptic stories. I just have to say this was not a pleasure to read. The resolution was unsatisfying and highly implausible. Warning for people with not too high a tolerance for death and dying: there is a horrifying degree of both in this story.
rekadarnb's review against another edition
1.0
Unlike most people who gave his book a low rating, I did not stop reading because I found the dialect to be confusing. I just found it to be racist as all hell, and I knew that it would only continue to get worse should I proceed. I knew what was up when the "roo" came on the scene. The main characters were black, were speaking some broken form of English (for why though? especially since they were in damn Massachusetts and not the backwoods of Louisiana!), most of the white people had disappeared/died or were snatching lil black kids, and then all a sudden there's this white man that the MC is going to be affectionate towards??? Nope. I refuse to acknowledge that White Savior BS, in fiction or in real life. Them jokers should've killed his ass on sight. End of story. But this is a book about black folk written by a white woman so I expect nothing profound, enlightening, or remotely good will happen.
straylight's review against another edition
4.0
This book took a bit to hook me. The language used is beautiful in its own way, but takes some adjustment. Be patient with yourself as you start to read, and by the end of it, you'll be following along relatively well.
Looking past the language, the storyline is a harsh one. The United States has basically been wiped out by a disease that kills everyone in their teens. The surviving children are doing what they can to live on and continue the species even within their violently short lifespans. They live in individual communities almost like tribes, completely cut off from the rest of the world.
Rape and war play a big role in this book, as does religion in its own weird way. A lot of the harshness is downplayed with the lyricism of the writing, but it exists in the storyline.
The only reason I cannot give this book five stars is that the ending felt very abrupt. I suppose a book must end somewhere, but I also felt like I was left hanging with not quite enough of the story told to satisfy my craving for more. Other than that, it was an excellent read.
Looking past the language, the storyline is a harsh one. The United States has basically been wiped out by a disease that kills everyone in their teens. The surviving children are doing what they can to live on and continue the species even within their violently short lifespans. They live in individual communities almost like tribes, completely cut off from the rest of the world.
Rape and war play a big role in this book, as does religion in its own weird way. A lot of the harshness is downplayed with the lyricism of the writing, but it exists in the storyline.
The only reason I cannot give this book five stars is that the ending felt very abrupt. I suppose a book must end somewhere, but I also felt like I was left hanging with not quite enough of the story told to satisfy my craving for more. Other than that, it was an excellent read.
operatic_owl's review against another edition
3.0
The language is probably my favorite part of this book - and the name "Ice Cream Star" - and there's some interesting world building that I liked. BUT at a certain point I stopped and was like, ok, in straight English what has this story been? When you sweep away the language - and the inherent self- congratulation for just decoding what is going on - the story is pretty flat. And I don't understand the motivations of many of the characters, as in they act like caricatures of people with fairly shallow motivations that sometimes shift unaccountably. And the racial politics are... not great when you look big picture (ultimate mover of all is straight white male "Jesus" and ending hinges on mysterious unseen white civilization that might stoop to save? Really??). At the beginning this felt like a highbrow hunger games, but ultimately, the story and characters don't really stand on their own. It's interesting, but I can't recommend it as being worth the effort of reading.
phallijo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? No
5.0
juniperd's review against another edition
2.0
2.5-stars, really.
i don't have much experience (or success) with speculative fiction, or post-pandemic literature. so i don't know if this is a great book for these areas? to me it felt creative as newman tried to wrestle some huge ideas. ultimately, though, i felt the story was padded and longer than it needed to be. in the acknowledgments, newman thanks one of her editors for wrangling this novel down to 640p. from the more than 900 page original manuscript. now, i love (LOVE!) a great, chunky read. but i think it takes a lot to make these long books not feel padded. i experienced moments of 'ugh! i have to pick this up again.' once i got past the halfway point in the story. so that was a bummer.
there are some fairly grim and graphic moments in the story - a pandemic of 'posies' has wiped out most people over the age of 20. a cure is rumoured to exist, and some characters appear who are 30, or 52... so the quest is to acquire the cure to help an ailing brother, all while negotiating warring factions of children. the time is about 80 years in the future (or 80 years post-pandemic.) because the kids are running things, life happens quite differently. they are smoking and drinking and having sex, and babies, very young (like, from 12+). 'parents' only ever have a few years with their kids, if they are lucky. so children are raising children. they are taught to fight and hunt and scavenge for their existence. it's not an easy life at all, but in some pockets, wealth and electricity and hot water and cars exist and are enjoyed - though they are surrounded by looting, crime, and armed battles.
so, as i experienced with [b:Station Eleven|20170404|Station Eleven|Emily St. John Mandel|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415583784s/20170404.jpg|28098716], i often had trouble suspending my disbelief and was often asking or saying 'yes, but...' even though i feel the story could have been tighter, in some cases much was never explained or addressed. (i don't tend to need to be given the full picture, or have things spelled out for me in literature. but i found it weird to encounter these disparities and not have it noted as to how or why. even tiny acknowledgments would have been cool. though perhaps this is a reflection of my inexperience in reading these types of books?)i also found the ending fairly disappointing.
anyway... i read it and i totally respect what newman's doing here. i just didn't love it. sorry.
* - quote from a.v. club: http://www.avclub.com/review/country-ice-cream-star-audacious-post-apocalyptic--214592
04 april 2015:
reading notes:
while i am only a short way into this book, i have already thought of an amped-up [b:Station Eleven|20170404|Station Eleven|Emily St. John Mandel|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415583784s/20170404.jpg|28098716] several times. (it was a fairly recent read for me, so it's a bit fresh stilll.) it's a bit lord of the flies-ish too.
newman has a great q&a with the WSJ in which she was asked about similarities between her novel and S11: http://www.wsj.com/articles/sandra-newman-on-the-country-of-ice-cream-star-1422989717
if you are interested, excerpt also provided by the WSJ: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/02/03/read-an-excerpt-from-the-country-of-ice-cream-star-by-sandra-newman/
"This is a bleak and brutal book, but when one encounters a vision of this scale and originality, that must be respected." *well.. i don't really know what this book is supposed to be doing... or who it's aimed at? not that that matters, probably. i was entertained, to a point. i was impressed, to a point. the use of language was interesting and inventive, and i didn't find it difficult (i have read many reviews where people couldn't get past the language. i recognize it's different and will not be for all readers. you will know fairly quickly if it's for you, or not as you are dropped right into it from page one, with no assistance from a glossary.)
i don't have much experience (or success) with speculative fiction, or post-pandemic literature. so i don't know if this is a great book for these areas? to me it felt creative as newman tried to wrestle some huge ideas. ultimately, though, i felt the story was padded and longer than it needed to be. in the acknowledgments, newman thanks one of her editors for wrangling this novel down to 640p. from the more than 900 page original manuscript. now, i love (LOVE!) a great, chunky read. but i think it takes a lot to make these long books not feel padded. i experienced moments of 'ugh! i have to pick this up again.' once i got past the halfway point in the story. so that was a bummer.
there are some fairly grim and graphic moments in the story - a pandemic of 'posies' has wiped out most people over the age of 20. a cure is rumoured to exist, and some characters appear who are 30, or 52... so the quest is to acquire the cure to help an ailing brother, all while negotiating warring factions of children. the time is about 80 years in the future (or 80 years post-pandemic.) because the kids are running things, life happens quite differently. they are smoking and drinking and having sex, and babies, very young (like, from 12+). 'parents' only ever have a few years with their kids, if they are lucky. so children are raising children. they are taught to fight and hunt and scavenge for their existence. it's not an easy life at all, but in some pockets, wealth and electricity and hot water and cars exist and are enjoyed - though they are surrounded by looting, crime, and armed battles.
so, as i experienced with [b:Station Eleven|20170404|Station Eleven|Emily St. John Mandel|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415583784s/20170404.jpg|28098716], i often had trouble suspending my disbelief and was often asking or saying 'yes, but...' even though i feel the story could have been tighter, in some cases much was never explained or addressed. (i don't tend to need to be given the full picture, or have things spelled out for me in literature. but i found it weird to encounter these disparities and not have it noted as to how or why. even tiny acknowledgments would have been cool. though perhaps this is a reflection of my inexperience in reading these types of books?)i also found the ending fairly disappointing.
anyway... i read it and i totally respect what newman's doing here. i just didn't love it. sorry.
* - quote from a.v. club: http://www.avclub.com/review/country-ice-cream-star-audacious-post-apocalyptic--214592
04 april 2015:
reading notes:
while i am only a short way into this book, i have already thought of an amped-up [b:Station Eleven|20170404|Station Eleven|Emily St. John Mandel|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415583784s/20170404.jpg|28098716] several times. (it was a fairly recent read for me, so it's a bit fresh stilll.) it's a bit lord of the flies-ish too.
newman has a great q&a with the WSJ in which she was asked about similarities between her novel and S11: http://www.wsj.com/articles/sandra-newman-on-the-country-of-ice-cream-star-1422989717
if you are interested, excerpt also provided by the WSJ: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/02/03/read-an-excerpt-from-the-country-of-ice-cream-star-by-sandra-newman/
dragonflymorning's review against another edition
Couldn’t get past the writing style even though the story line intrigued me. I should have known better since Mark Twain’s southern dialogue drives me nuts.
serinde4books's review against another edition
So I picked up this book because I read the review by Oprah, and it had lots of high rating on Good Reads, it sounded interesting. And I'm sure it is, I'm invested in the story I want to read it and find out what happens. The problem is that it is written in this horrible language, like Ebonics. It is horrid to read and distracts so much from the story that I wouldn't force myself to finish. I got about through chapter 9 (56 pages) and I decided that I have limited reading time and I couldn't justify torturing myself with this, when reading is my one guilty pleasure. The reviews all complimented Newman on her language skills and how poetic and touching the writing was. I couldn't swallow it. It was torture not poetry to me. I want to know what happens, it seems fascinating, but until it is translated into normal English I will have to let it go.
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com
bsmith27's review against another edition
3.0
Story about future America. A world where you don't live past 20. A young girl fights to find a cure. Written in broken english.
ismelllikebooks's review against another edition
1.0
"And I cannot see how any child can be forgiven. I try to think of people who hurt no one, but cannot see them different. Circumstances be, they find the evil that they do."
What I appreciated: The creation of the language of this book is pretty amazing. Ice Cream is headstrong and her strength is (sometimes) admirable.
What I took issue with: This is a 600 page 200 page story. It is unnecessarily long given what actually happens. The language, while very inventive and impressive, hindered the story. Like 3D is to movies, the language of this book was to the story. I was never able to stop trying to read it, never able to just sink into the narrative and engage with the characters. The last half of the book was a slog. Ice Cream was strong but frustrating, her devotions and decisions seemed very random and worked against establishing her character.
The elevator pitch for my clone: Don’t read this. Remember the Glass Bead Game? This is that all over again. You’re just going to be frustrated and, in the end, you’re not going to have enjoyed the story that much and will be pissy about having spent an entire week on reading it.
What I appreciated: The creation of the language of this book is pretty amazing. Ice Cream is headstrong and her strength is (sometimes) admirable.
What I took issue with: This is a 600 page 200 page story. It is unnecessarily long given what actually happens. The language, while very inventive and impressive, hindered the story. Like 3D is to movies, the language of this book was to the story. I was never able to stop trying to read it, never able to just sink into the narrative and engage with the characters. The last half of the book was a slog. Ice Cream was strong but frustrating, her devotions and decisions seemed very random and worked against establishing her character.
The elevator pitch for my clone: Don’t read this. Remember the Glass Bead Game? This is that all over again. You’re just going to be frustrated and, in the end, you’re not going to have enjoyed the story that much and will be pissy about having spent an entire week on reading it.