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A review by sarahetc
The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
3.0
Boo.
That was undeserved, but I'm sticking with it. This is described as, "A Gex X Big Chill." I thought, "Hell yeah!" It kind of actually was-- if The Big Chill had been both still while in college and then continually for 20 years. The Celebrants is the story of five friends from college, in this case Berkley, who are best friends for life, a pact cemented with the untimely death of their six mere weeks before graduation. They make a pact to have funerals for each other, while they're still living, should they ever need them. And they need them. So they do. And they're a little funny. Mostly weird. Extremely... boring.
A novel like this turns on the characters and how well they're drawn, described, and whether or not they're relatable. None of these characters were relatable. Marielle the hippie; Naomi the Asian bitch; Craig the... other one; Jordan, a gay guy in PR and his husband Jordy (b/c also Jordan) a gay guy in PR. That's it. That's what you start out knowing and that's what you end knowing. One of the Jordan PR guys is from Colombia but I stopped tryna remember the difference between Whole Name and Nick Name because it didn't matter. They functioned as unit, which is some lame novel shorthand for a married couple functioning as the plot fulcrum. So when each of the characters have their various crises and the rest swoop in for a Love Fest with Living Eulogy, it's like... okay, super, thanks. I started skimming about 15 pages from the end and then just shut it with a few left to go. Off goes the light and I'll start a new book tomorrow.
I'm going to read more Rowley, but damn, The Guncle was outstanding and he seems to be worth his salt. This is hopefully the nadir.
That was undeserved, but I'm sticking with it. This is described as, "A Gex X Big Chill." I thought, "Hell yeah!" It kind of actually was-- if The Big Chill had been both still while in college and then continually for 20 years. The Celebrants is the story of five friends from college, in this case Berkley, who are best friends for life, a pact cemented with the untimely death of their six mere weeks before graduation. They make a pact to have funerals for each other, while they're still living, should they ever need them. And they need them. So they do. And they're a little funny. Mostly weird. Extremely... boring.
A novel like this turns on the characters and how well they're drawn, described, and whether or not they're relatable. None of these characters were relatable. Marielle the hippie; Naomi the Asian bitch; Craig the... other one; Jordan, a gay guy in PR and his husband Jordy (b/c also Jordan) a gay guy in PR. That's it. That's what you start out knowing and that's what you end knowing. One of the Jordan PR guys is from Colombia but I stopped tryna remember the difference between Whole Name and Nick Name because it didn't matter. They functioned as unit, which is some lame novel shorthand for a married couple functioning as the plot fulcrum. So when each of the characters have their various crises and the rest swoop in for a Love Fest with Living Eulogy, it's like... okay, super, thanks. I started skimming about 15 pages from the end and then just shut it with a few left to go. Off goes the light and I'll start a new book tomorrow.
I'm going to read more Rowley, but damn, The Guncle was outstanding and he seems to be worth his salt. This is hopefully the nadir.