Scan barcode
A review by thesinginglights
Real Life by Brandon Taylor
4.0
Oblique is the best way to describe this for me. This book is strongest in the quiet moments. There is a tension between all the characters, lots of subtext and indirectness with intentions and emotions. It's about racism in some of its most insidious form "I'm really concerned for your future" kind, the "This is good for your people kind". Seemingly innocuous, seemingly well-meaning.
Wallace is a gay grad student trying to find his place. His own troubled past leads him to unconsciously distance himself from others. His development to faith isn't straight, but oblique, very gradual. The hurt in him only properly showing until the book's second half. At the beginning I was getting along with it, but the second half picked up. It has an understated, unassuming style, the prose and dialogue hiding the deeper emotions. But this is a very delicate exploration of alienation.
Wallace is a gay grad student trying to find his place. His own troubled past leads him to unconsciously distance himself from others. His development to faith isn't straight, but oblique, very gradual. The hurt in him only properly showing until the book's second half. At the beginning I was getting along with it, but the second half picked up. It has an understated, unassuming style, the prose and dialogue hiding the deeper emotions. But this is a very delicate exploration of alienation.