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A review by johnreadsthings
Real Life by Brandon Taylor
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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
5.0
“Is this all his life is meant to be, the accumulation of other people's pain? Their assorted tragedies?”
Wallace was angry and depressed and his father just died, but being the only Black graduate student in his group of friends and being only one of the few people of color in their mostly white Midwestern university, he learned, unfortunately, to adapt and not say anything. But over the weekend, that started when he decided to meet his friends after all—with an opening line so memorable—Wallace began to examine his place in this university, his wants and his needs, and his life—his potential real life that was not grad school. Brandon Taylor's confined and potent story of what happened in that one weekend is exquisitely written. His prose lacerated and cut to the bone and exposed one another's inert and covert cruelty. And his characters were all incredibly well-written, with backgrounds and personalities so exposed and comprehensive, even when they were only briefly there.
This was not an easy book to read because the thrumming tension underlying every page, crackling upon contact. Wallace was a damaged person, with a past he'd rather leave behind, but somehow, like they always do, caught up with him. With a present so unrewarding and a future so uncertain. But the pages flew from my fingers, for Taylor's stream of consciousness for Wallace, who was the focus of his third-person writing, was, in a word, sublime. If not the story itself, I enjoyed Taylor's writing so much. At times, it was uncomfortable; but every time, his writing is breathtakingly good and precise.
A lot of things left to say, but this book has honestly left me mostly speechless. This has become one of my favorites and is already due for a reread.
Wallace was angry and depressed and his father just died, but being the only Black graduate student in his group of friends and being only one of the few people of color in their mostly white Midwestern university, he learned, unfortunately, to adapt and not say anything. But over the weekend, that started when he decided to meet his friends after all—with an opening line so memorable—Wallace began to examine his place in this university, his wants and his needs, and his life—his potential real life that was not grad school. Brandon Taylor's confined and potent story of what happened in that one weekend is exquisitely written. His prose lacerated and cut to the bone and exposed one another's inert and covert cruelty. And his characters were all incredibly well-written, with backgrounds and personalities so exposed and comprehensive, even when they were only briefly there.
This was not an easy book to read because the thrumming tension underlying every page, crackling upon contact. Wallace was a damaged person, with a past he'd rather leave behind, but somehow, like they always do, caught up with him. With a present so unrewarding and a future so uncertain. But the pages flew from my fingers, for Taylor's stream of consciousness for Wallace, who was the focus of his third-person writing, was, in a word, sublime. If not the story itself, I enjoyed Taylor's writing so much. At times, it was uncomfortable; but every time, his writing is breathtakingly good and precise.
A lot of things left to say, but this book has honestly left me mostly speechless. This has become one of my favorites and is already due for a reread.