A review by obscuredbyclouds
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
2.0
When I read Jennifer Egan's "A Visit from the Goon Squad" two years ago, I was disappointed because the postmodern fragmented writing style and the many POVs left me really confused and irritated. It had moments of brilliance that made me wish the whole novel was this way. Great writing, in a way, that made it impossible to emotionally connect to. "Manhattan Beach" couldn't be more different as a novel if it tried, and yet my reading experience was equally disappointing.
Instead of the music industry, we're in 2nd world war New York and instead of postmodern, the writing style is so straightforward and traditionally "historical novel" that it veers into clichéd on a regular basis. But: I loved the first 50 pages. I found myself immediately in the main character's world. I liked her, her family, I liked the atmosphere and the story line about working as in the war industry as a woman. Both the diving aspect and the family intrigued me.
And then... it just kind of went off the rails. The writing became irritatingly cloy and amateurish, and the story became convoluted. The whole mafia thing just didn't feel realistic or true to life at all, and didn't add anything. The ending was disappointing, too. But by that point I just wanted to be over with it - what a nosedive of a novel!
Instead of the music industry, we're in 2nd world war New York and instead of postmodern, the writing style is so straightforward and traditionally "historical novel" that it veers into clichéd on a regular basis. But: I loved the first 50 pages. I found myself immediately in the main character's world. I liked her, her family, I liked the atmosphere and the story line about working as in the war industry as a woman. Both the diving aspect and the family intrigued me.
And then... it just kind of went off the rails. The writing became irritatingly cloy and amateurish, and the story became convoluted. The whole mafia thing just didn't feel realistic or true to life at all, and didn't add anything. The ending was disappointing, too. But by that point I just wanted to be over with it - what a nosedive of a novel!