Carlin
Reading this book was inspired by two things: A desire to read challenging literature and wanting to get ahead of the discourse tsunami that will be emerald fennel's wuthering heights in January 2026
One the former front this definitely is a challenging read. Not only is the vast majority of the book narrated 👵 to the main character👨🦱, but also the narrator 👵 relates stories told to her and letters that she's read so there's a lot of nested framing. Also there is a pretty decent chunk of this in northen dialect which is less comprehensibly scribed than in Trainspotting. Finally we also have the naming conventions of the era (mister vs master) and a strong reliance on pronouns where keeping track is demanding in itself.
On the latter front, the movie looks like it will be bad. However it also is easy for this story to come across as racist, narratively, so I think it was doomed from the get go.
I thought the writing was of a high quailty, but mostly enjoyed it the less baggage there was about the framing (i.e. before the narration starts at the beginning and the monologues that the characters fall into throughout).
In terms of the story, I eventually realised that its mostly just an exercise in elaborating on the crazy family tree that develops by the end of the story. We know already the births and deaths, but how they manifest is interesting enough to keep you reading
I think overall it was a decent read, but I think there's other classics you should get to first before this one
PS every summer solstice, since 2021, I have devoted the day to reading and I finished this book as part of my tradition this year :)
--- spoilers ---
There is a non-racist reading of this story — particularly in it being a ghost story — but as it stands, the story is a morality tale about how you shouldn't let foreigners into your family as they will seize it from you. (in this case it's also anti-adoption)
Finally, this must've been huge for the enemies-to-lovers girlies
finished reading this today so that I didn't have to bring an almost finished book on holiday. Probably not the correct choice, I should've just bought a book if I needed to on holiday ahah
Absolutely love her writing style, everyone I've recommended this to I've described it as a weird person in a weird world. Now I've read it I wish I was a bit more tentative about my recommendation ahaha
definitely literary fiction and definitely a comedy. Lots of this will stick in my mind and can see myself re-reading eventually
I don't think the epilogue was needed. Half off for the ending and its pacing, but also maybe it was how I ended up reading it today
insufferable
usually I don't give up on a book, but after the first two chapters I could tell exactly where it was going and it didn't seem like I would enjoy any of it. I skipped a hundred pages to see if maybe that changed further through the book but then gave up when the film exec said "herro" to imitate an asian accent.
Unfortunately I was interested how this book ends and so read the final 50 pages yesterday, which to me is enough to say I finished the book rather than DNFing
This book is so shallow and unsubtle, set in exactly the present day (with references that'll age like milk) but the characters attitudes feel so out of touch with current day discourses.
I'm really surprised that RF Kuang's publishers agreed to publish this. It is literally her making up a strawman of her critics and spending the whole book making sure you know they are stupid. I'm even more surprise how this swept every popular book award last year
I joined this site as I was reading goodreads reviews of this book this morning and someone mentioned the Authors Note of Babel which I found to be both indulgent and petulant. It's really embarrassing for her how much she needs to control how people interact with her work and understand that she knows what she's doing. Her and JKR need to log off if they ever want to write a good book again.
I feel so outraged after reading this, how can you create such beautiful characters and still make the book about yourself?
This is probably the most conflicting book I've ever read. On one hand the first 4 or so chapters are some of the most beautiful and interesting character depictions I have ever read. However, everything after we are introduced to the narrator just leaves such an awful taste in my mouth.
When I first started reading the book the tone of the author was revolutionary. It was as if I was sitting in a bar and I was being told a story with more detail than they could tell. The first couple chapters are so full of information that it comes across as fact, like everything is genuine. Using footnotes to continue the story too, was very interesting and I was surprisingly yearning for more.
The use of Spanish was also well done, but I did feel left out at parts where a whole sentence or so was in it with no explanation.
Additionally the deft that cancer is talked about is amazing and it made me truly believe in the Pullitzer win.
However. When we are introduced to the narrator character he brags about how “[Oscar] loved writing the way that I loved cheating” and that he had “three fine-ass bitches at the same time”. Like jesus christ that's not cool, why is your personality based on the fact you are a nymphomaniac.
Just before reading this chapter I learned about the allegations against Diaz during this time and allowed me to realise that the narrator is probably a Mary Sue. Disgusting.
Where the book really lost me was when the narrator starts just straight up insulting Oscar. I was very sympathetic to Oscar and wanted to see him realise that his worth was not defined by his virginity (more on that later). However the narrator cannot stop bringing up how disgusting his weight is, how is passions are stupid and how he should realise getting pussy is the only motivator in life.
After this we are introduced to the mother, Beli, and he c a n n o t stop talking about how she has massive boobs. We get it. You want to fuck your girlfriends mum. Ace.
Okay and the ending. What the literal fuck. Why does Oscar think sacrificing himself is worth it. Why doesn't Beli step in and say “yo, I literally did this and almost died. learn.” Oscar and this ‘puta' aren't even friends ???? like they have 0 common interests. Why do they actually kill Oscar? like if I was the capitan I'd take pity on him bc he is obviously nuts. Why is denouement of the book the fact that oscar actually lost his virginity?? Is that supposed to make us feel like his death was worth it?
Even if the ending was respectful to Oscar, why does he think that anyone cares about how his life is going? lol like Oscar dies and he's like “on a side note I might be a teacher and I write a lot nowadays” okay?? cool?? I'm reading this book bc I want to know about Oscar and his family not this self insert narrator who projects his massive libido onto his race.
If that wasn't bad enough, why does Diaz suggest that every Dominican just wants to fuck? Like I don't know much about the place or people but it just sounds kinda racist... like I know he's dominican but he's really playing into the “negros are animals” type thing. Idk it just made me uneasy the whole time that he was making his people two dimensional stereotypes.
Finally I'm not really clued in on race relations in DR but do they use the N word that much?? like he just couldn't stop.
If I ever had faith in the Pullitzer Prize I've completely lost it now.
An amazing eulogy, a stunning portrait that doesn't portray anyone as pure white. Presents the atrocities of the Holocaust was without being in your face about it. Amazingly suitable for teens and everyone older. Art like this is so important, lest we forget the impact of being on the fence about human rights.
It seems to me that Keller's autobiography is written as if I'm deaf-blind too. It focuses on her education and what books she likes reading and the people she meets, but not what life is like to be deaf-blind. Another reviewer mentions this and I concur, this book is about how normal Keller is and how she does all these normal people things, but as a reader we are interested in how Keller is different! I really wanted to know about her memories of things before language and the difficulties she faces in everyday life. Also it would've been nice if there was an explanation of manual alphabet and why the ideas of death and religion were kept from her?
Also I would've liked more of the personal opinions and thoughts that we get in the last few pages of Part III. It was really interesting hearing her talk about how people only like to make small talk and her dreams. Besides from her achievements I hardly know much about her!
Because of this the book is much more interesting from Sullivan's (her mentor) perspective. She sheds light on her personality, beliefs, education and her teaching style, which is very commendable. She downplays that she really has no clue and she's not that special but her approach to language is radical and very very effective.
It would've liked more psychological speculation about how the “frost king” story could've happened. That seemed extraordinarily interesting and it was explained in full but it would be interesting to know how she could store the whole story with imagery. It's a shame she wasn't studied more because she's so “normal”. She may fit into society but that doesn't make her uniform.
Keller's language is overly flowery for the context of an autobiography, it fits in the last few passages where she's talking about her thoughts and other prose - but is impressive her mastery of it. I was going to complain about the confusing sensory writing but it's explained later in the book that it is more convinient to say saw than perceived etc.
Overall the autobiography is an amazing feat and overcame extraordinary amount of difficulty, but in terms of enjoyment, there's a lot to be asked of.
