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A review by minnaobrien
White Tears by Hari Kunzru
3.0
This is the most conflicting book I've read in a long time.
Based on the synopsis and blurbs on the back of the book, I was expecting a ghost story about race, class, and cultural appropriation. And it was. ... But it also spent a lot of time, especially in the first quarter, on the dysfunctional relationship between Seth (the POV character) and his best friend. It wasn't that it was poorly written, just 1) I find that dynamic of the incredibly rich friend who provides a fantastic life but is also toxic and controlling to be over-represented in fiction and 2) it was not the story I had picked up the book for.
The book definitely gets better as it goes on. The biggest detractor to my reading experience was that I never got invested in Seth, so I didn't really enjoy his parts of the timeline - which make up the largest fraction of the story. But as other characters are introduced and the ghost story starts overtaking the realism, I enjoyed it more and more. The last 75 pages were the upsetting ghost story about black American disenfranchisement I had been looking for, and I loved it.
I can't overall call this a great book, but because the best parts are at the end, it left me with a good final impression.
Based on the synopsis and blurbs on the back of the book, I was expecting a ghost story about race, class, and cultural appropriation. And it was. ... But it also spent a lot of time, especially in the first quarter, on the dysfunctional relationship between Seth (the POV character) and his best friend. It wasn't that it was poorly written, just 1) I find that dynamic of the incredibly rich friend who provides a fantastic life but is also toxic and controlling to be over-represented in fiction and 2) it was not the story I had picked up the book for.
The book definitely gets better as it goes on. The biggest detractor to my reading experience was that I never got invested in Seth, so I didn't really enjoy his parts of the timeline - which make up the largest fraction of the story. But as other characters are introduced and the ghost story starts overtaking the realism, I enjoyed it more and more. The last 75 pages were the upsetting ghost story about black American disenfranchisement I had been looking for, and I loved it.
I can't overall call this a great book, but because the best parts are at the end, it left me with a good final impression.