Helpful Score: 2
Excellent reviews from "masterful" to "elegant" with 12 superlatives in between!
Helpful Score: 1
well-written and thoughtful
Helpful Score: 1
The book, even though realistic fiction, is spellbinding . . . I find myself completely lost if Chang-Rae Lee's style of writing
Helpful Score: 1
Beautifully written book, with excellent character development. This is not a page-turner regarding fast-paced plot developments, but the craft of writing is superb. Allow yourself to slow down and think about what Lee is writing, and you will be richly rewarded. This novel says much about families, the "American Dream", immigrants and assimilation into American society, and much more. It is a book you will find yourself thinking about long after you have finished.
Excellent read.
THis is a highly esteemed novel of recent vintage. It's very good, not your usual. I really enjoyed reading it.
This was a good book for the most part, well-written with decent character development. There are a few things that made me crazy, one being the "narrator". What a self-consumed person, wow! I found myself shaking my head and saying "I can't believe he said that to her!" Also, given that the book was sort of about his love for flying and the book covered I'm guessing close to a year of time, I think he was only actually up in the air 2 or 3 times during the book. That seemed odd, although not a show-stopper for sure. I thought the ending seemed "tidy" to everyone but me, the characters all seemed just fine with it.
FROM THE BACK COVER:
"Jerry Battle, the ruminative narrator of Chang-rae Lee's affecting new novel, is a spiritual relative of both John Updike's Harry Angstoom and Walker Percy's Binx Bolling...In mapping Jerry's world, a small patch of Long Island somewhere between Cheever country and Gatsby's vanished green Eden, Lee gives us telling snapshots of the middle class and how one man comes to terms with "the plain stupid luck of your draw in a macrocosm rigged with absolutely nothing particular about you in mind." A wise, keeenly observed and even more keenly felt picture of the endlessly curious circumstance and befuddlement" that attens its hero's life."
"Jerry Battle, the ruminative narrator of Chang-rae Lee's affecting new novel, is a spiritual relative of both John Updike's Harry Angstoom and Walker Percy's Binx Bolling...In mapping Jerry's world, a small patch of Long Island somewhere between Cheever country and Gatsby's vanished green Eden, Lee gives us telling snapshots of the middle class and how one man comes to terms with "the plain stupid luck of your draw in a macrocosm rigged with absolutely nothing particular about you in mind." A wise, keeenly observed and even more keenly felt picture of the endlessly curious circumstance and befuddlement" that attens its hero's life."
Haven't read; received by mistake from book club. *sigh*
