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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I took a while getting started on this book, because of my inability to connect with the characters in the title story.
I am SO glad that I didn't give up on Thom Jones. This collection grabbed onto me and wouldn't let go from start to finish - easily one of the best collections I've read in the last 5 years. I personally connected so well with Jones' modern and free-flowing style. His fantastic ability to fluidly switch character, protagonist, gender, theme, etc. in the story is only matched by the beautiful incorporation of philosophical ideas and weirdly-relatable characters.
This is a book I will be returning to in the future.
I am SO glad that I didn't give up on Thom Jones. This collection grabbed onto me and wouldn't let go from start to finish - easily one of the best collections I've read in the last 5 years. I personally connected so well with Jones' modern and free-flowing style. His fantastic ability to fluidly switch character, protagonist, gender, theme, etc. in the story is only matched by the beautiful incorporation of philosophical ideas and weirdly-relatable characters.
This is a book I will be returning to in the future.
A very entertaining collection of "time capsule" short stories.
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Did a review of this book here: https://youtu.be/9ic8-gJ2SUQ
This is an amazing collection of short stories in which common themes (boxing, epilepsy, doctors, mental institutions, Vietnam) weave in and out of narratives that are so present and characters that are so vivid that each one seems like a whole novel. So good. Go read this right now.
Trundle through the white hot magic of the opener and you'll find a mixed bag of short stories that range from strikingly good to truly, truly terrible.
At its very best, Jones' work is an elegy to the men most trapped, defined and victimised by their own toxic masculinity: punch drunk boxers and former marines who know no form of expression other than the male bravado that eventually, inevitably, cripples them. Red raw and authentic, there's a heartache, a compassion and a fury to Jones' writing that left me as twisted up as any one of his heroes.
Unfortunately, when he falls flat, he falls hard. Some of these stories are the worst I've ever read. When Jones fails to walk that tightrope between compassion and critique he winds up simply valorising the broken bastard men who people these pages.
At its very best, Jones' work is an elegy to the men most trapped, defined and victimised by their own toxic masculinity: punch drunk boxers and former marines who know no form of expression other than the male bravado that eventually, inevitably, cripples them. Red raw and authentic, there's a heartache, a compassion and a fury to Jones' writing that left me as twisted up as any one of his heroes.
Unfortunately, when he falls flat, he falls hard. Some of these stories are the worst I've ever read. When Jones fails to walk that tightrope between compassion and critique he winds up simply valorising the broken bastard men who people these pages.
One of the best story collections, aside from Tim O'Brien's THE THINGS THEY CARRIED, about the Vietnam war (or war in general) that I've ever read. The title stories from both of these collections are powerful and haunting.
Love/hate. I could have easily given this five stars, or one. Three feels right.
Can't recommend. It's far too depressing for that.
Can't recommend. It's far too depressing for that.
Cool book. Some “story overlap,” where it felt like there were a few drafts of the same concept, but I enjoyed them regardless. Will definitely read some of these stories again
Really enjoyed his writing style - it was weird though in I thought the books had been written in the 70s but was actually published in the 90s.