A review by lergoo
Caribou Island by David Vann
4.0
3.5 Stars*
My rating throughout went from 2 stars to maybe 5 stars, down to a 3, and then after consideration back to a 4, or a 3.5 to be exact.
I just picked this book up secondhand because i liked the cover. Never judge a book by its cover yada yada i get it. This cover was gold and white though, pretty dope. Anyhow, it started off and i thought this really wasn't going to be my thing. Then as i kept reading it became more and more interesting. The story is really down to earth and human in one of the worst ways really. It show what people can do in a relationship, and sometimes it hurt to read.
I can't say i really liked any of the characters. The only really likeable person here was Rhoda, and that's saying something. Only one person that wasn't being a pile of feces in one way or another. Also there's Carl, who was just neutral really.
The story slowly built up for me to around the halfway point. Then it kept being less and less interesting to me. Then at the end it spiked back up but at the very end it was dissapointing to me. One of those unfinished endings where the writer leaves it up to the reader to think about what would happen next. I hate that, because to me it feels like the writer didn't know how to end their story, so they left it up to my imagination. Sure, i'm pretty sure what happened, but i want to read what actually did occur. 5 extra pages and it might have even been 5 stars... maybe.
If you like human stories about what can happen in a marriage, what can go wrong in a relationship or about a family that slowly falls apart, give it a read. I know it pleasantly surprised me in general and i'm glad that i've read it. It wasn't really my cup of tea, but it was quite enjoyable nontheless.
My rating throughout went from 2 stars to maybe 5 stars, down to a 3, and then after consideration back to a 4, or a 3.5 to be exact.
I just picked this book up secondhand because i liked the cover. Never judge a book by its cover yada yada i get it. This cover was gold and white though, pretty dope. Anyhow, it started off and i thought this really wasn't going to be my thing. Then as i kept reading it became more and more interesting. The story is really down to earth and human in one of the worst ways really. It show what people can do in a relationship, and sometimes it hurt to read.
I can't say i really liked any of the characters. The only really likeable person here was Rhoda, and that's saying something. Only one person that wasn't being a pile of feces in one way or another. Also there's Carl, who was just neutral really.
The story slowly built up for me to around the halfway point. Then it kept being less and less interesting to me. Then at the end it spiked back up but at the very end it was dissapointing to me. One of those unfinished endings where the writer leaves it up to the reader to think about what would happen next. I hate that, because to me it feels like the writer didn't know how to end their story, so they left it up to my imagination. Sure, i'm pretty sure what happened, but i want to read what actually did occur. 5 extra pages and it might have even been 5 stars... maybe.
If you like human stories about what can happen in a marriage, what can go wrong in a relationship or about a family that slowly falls apart, give it a read. I know it pleasantly surprised me in general and i'm glad that i've read it. It wasn't really my cup of tea, but it was quite enjoyable nontheless.