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A review by danapr
Groundskeeping by Lee Cole
3.0
Owen is an aspiring writer recently returned to his native Kentucky and takes a job as a groundskeeper on a university campus in order to take a creative writing class at no cost. He meets and falls in love with Alma who is from a family of Muslin Bosnian immigrants and is the university’s writer in residence. Odds are stacked against the couple for several reasons including career competition but most importantly, for differences in family backgrounds.
As literary fiction, I have to say that this book checks all the boxes. The characters are well-developed and the issues are more important than plot which I expect from literary fiction. Some readers may find the lack of punctuation especially no quotation marks around dialogue to be distracting but I liked that aspect of the writing. As literary fiction,this book is expertly written and I think the author is very talented. That being said, I have to give my rating based on my enjoyment level which brings my assessment down considerably. It wasn’t so bad that I DNF and I certainly didn’t read the entire book out of obligation so I don’t think I wasted my time. I just REALLY disliked the main characters. If they had been teenagers, I would consider their self-centeredness to be part of a “coming of age” story but they are 25-30 years old. It’s hard to imagine that the only likable characters in my opinion were Rando and Pop who are somewhat backward Trump supporters (never would have imagined saying that). I also realize that this discrepancy could have been one of the author’s goals - make the reader question our stereotypes. Anyway, I DID NOT enjoy the story or the characters and hated the ending. No spoilers.
Thanks to Knopf Books for the Goodreads giveaway.
As literary fiction, I have to say that this book checks all the boxes. The characters are well-developed and the issues are more important than plot which I expect from literary fiction. Some readers may find the lack of punctuation especially no quotation marks around dialogue to be distracting but I liked that aspect of the writing. As literary fiction,this book is expertly written and I think the author is very talented. That being said, I have to give my rating based on my enjoyment level which brings my assessment down considerably. It wasn’t so bad that I DNF and I certainly didn’t read the entire book out of obligation so I don’t think I wasted my time. I just REALLY disliked the main characters. If they had been teenagers, I would consider their self-centeredness to be part of a “coming of age” story but they are 25-30 years old. It’s hard to imagine that the only likable characters in my opinion were Rando and Pop who are somewhat backward Trump supporters (never would have imagined saying that). I also realize that this discrepancy could have been one of the author’s goals - make the reader question our stereotypes. Anyway, I DID NOT enjoy the story or the characters and hated the ending. No spoilers.
Thanks to Knopf Books for the Goodreads giveaway.