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A review by chandranolynne
The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“Only when I was young did I believe that it was important to remember what happened in every novel I read. Now I know the truth: what matters is what you experience while reading, the states of feeling that the story evokes, the questions that rise to your mind, rather than the fictional events described. They should teach you this in school, but they don’t.”
I went into this book, as I generally try to do, knowing nothing, and I mean nothing about it. I actually listened to the first ten minutes and had to Google it to figure out it was fiction because it reads like a memoir. And it was easy to forget the whole way through that it's a novel. This is aided by the fact that Nunez writes using stream of consciousness and spends most of the book philosophizing about social constructs rather than telling a story. Don't get me wrong, there is a story. It's simply littered with tangential ramblings which are, for better or worse, only sometimes poignant.
I personally loved it. I found it humorous and insightful and delightfully on point. I look forward to reading more of this author!
I went into this book, as I generally try to do, knowing nothing, and I mean nothing about it. I actually listened to the first ten minutes and had to Google it to figure out it was fiction because it reads like a memoir. And it was easy to forget the whole way through that it's a novel. This is aided by the fact that Nunez writes using stream of consciousness and spends most of the book philosophizing about social constructs rather than telling a story. Don't get me wrong, there is a story. It's simply littered with tangential ramblings which are, for better or worse, only sometimes poignant.
I personally loved it. I found it humorous and insightful and delightfully on point. I look forward to reading more of this author!