Reading old books of science experiments for children, it's easy to become nostalgic for the days when you could buy jugs of sulfur and mercury at...
Continue »
The writing is great and elements of the story are compelling but ultimately I was unsatisfied with the book. I wanted more from it, not necessarily more overt explanation of events in the story but just something more. I'll keep the book and possibly revisit it in the future. I'm open to reading more by this author.
--LS
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(10 of 16 readers found this comment helpful)
I came to this novel through through the introduction to Malamud's A New Life. Lethem referenced it and I liked the Malamud book so much I figured I'd check this out. I'm glad I found this book which I think is somewhat of an overlooked work by Roth. I had read a lot of Roth by the time I arrived at it and just really enjoyed it. If you like Malamud, or Yates for that matter, you'll probably enjoy this book. But then again, if you know about them you probably well aware of this book. Check it out.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(9 of 17 readers found this comment helpful)
I read this book a few years ago and intend to read it, and more by this author, later this year. How a book can be so sparse and so complex is beyond me. It's not a pleasant read but it's an amazing piece of literature. I would have loved to have read this in college. I imagine a classroom discussion of this book would be intense.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(7 of 11 readers found this comment helpful)
I purchased the book on a whim. I wasn't sure I'd enjoy it, colonialist that I am, but was very pleasantly surprised. I especially enjoyed the parts of the novel that focused on Oscar. I did not find the footnotes distracting or annoying as I anticipated. And when the novel jumped to a storyline with a new character, while I was initially frustrated, I was sucked in very quickly. It felt a little bit like he jumped the shark at the end but overall I enjoyed the book and would recommend it. I'm still not sure why it won the Pulitzer but what do I know, I'm just some dummy that reads books.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(13 of 26 readers found this comment helpful)
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
Don't Miss
Customer Comments
leaf slayer has commented on (4) products.
Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
leaf slayer, February 17, 2009
The writing is great and elements of the story are compelling but ultimately I was unsatisfied with the book. I wanted more from it, not necessarily more overt explanation of events in the story but just something more. I'll keep the book and possibly revisit it in the future. I'm open to reading more by this author.--LS
(10 of 16 readers found this comment helpful)
Letting Go by Philip Roth
leaf slayer, January 13, 2009
I came to this novel through through the introduction to Malamud's A New Life. Lethem referenced it and I liked the Malamud book so much I figured I'd check this out. I'm glad I found this book which I think is somewhat of an overlooked work by Roth. I had read a lot of Roth by the time I arrived at it and just really enjoyed it. If you like Malamud, or Yates for that matter, you'll probably enjoy this book. But then again, if you know about them you probably well aware of this book. Check it out.(9 of 17 readers found this comment helpful)
Disgrace by J M Coetzee
leaf slayer, January 13, 2009
I read this book a few years ago and intend to read it, and more by this author, later this year. How a book can be so sparse and so complex is beyond me. It's not a pleasant read but it's an amazing piece of literature. I would have loved to have read this in college. I imagine a classroom discussion of this book would be intense.(7 of 11 readers found this comment helpful)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
leaf slayer, January 13, 2009
I purchased the book on a whim. I wasn't sure I'd enjoy it, colonialist that I am, but was very pleasantly surprised. I especially enjoyed the parts of the novel that focused on Oscar. I did not find the footnotes distracting or annoying as I anticipated. And when the novel jumped to a storyline with a new character, while I was initially frustrated, I was sucked in very quickly. It felt a little bit like he jumped the shark at the end but overall I enjoyed the book and would recommend it. I'm still not sure why it won the Pulitzer but what do I know, I'm just some dummy that reads books.(13 of 26 readers found this comment helpful)