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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
I'm giving this four stars because I enjoyed the writing and the story so much, but I'm conflicted over that ending. I almost want to rate it 3.5 stars, not like that half a star means much. This was my first Lionel Shriver book, and I will be checking out some more. Still though, that ending, I just don't know how to feel about it.
I have a love/hate relationship with Lionel Shriver’s books. When I read We Need To Talk About Kevin I emailed my friend Michelle and asked, “Am I ever going to LIKE this woman?” Michelle said probably not, but to keep reading because the story was good. And it was. And even though I never particularly liked Eva, I found myself really feeling for her. I liked it enough that when I saw Big Brother I thought chances were good for a compelling story.
Big Brother is the story of family. Pandora, her uber-health conscious husband and their children;and Edison, Pandora’s older and suddenly morbidly obese brother. Family dynamics play a huge role in the story- Pandora and Edison’s relationship; Pandora and Fletcher; Pandora and Edison and their parents. It examine’s society’s treatment of the severely overweight. It’s uncomfortable in a number of places. It brings into question body image and health and how much of our esteem is tied to how we look. It’s almost a really good book.
I say almost because Shriver gave us 353 pages of an interesting, at times compelling, at times uncomfortable, and often thought-provoking story and then throws in a plot twist that made me want to throw the book across the room. I invested time in these characters and I felt slighted by the ending. I’ll spoil it if I say too much, but really, I want those hours back. Had the book ended on page 360, it would have been a disappointing but realistic (as life often is) ending. But when that twist comes, I felt like I had been duped. Perhaps that is a metaphor for Pandora lying to herself, or assuaging her own guilt, but it left me disappointed.
I found Big Brother easier to get into than We Need To Talk About Kevin and others may not be so disenchanted with the ending as I was, but for this one, I have to say I warned you if you don’t like the ending.
- See more at: http://thebookfetishblog.com/2013/07/big-brother/#sthash.D6szZuka.dpuf
Big Brother is the story of family. Pandora, her uber-health conscious husband and their children;and Edison, Pandora’s older and suddenly morbidly obese brother. Family dynamics play a huge role in the story- Pandora and Edison’s relationship; Pandora and Fletcher; Pandora and Edison and their parents. It examine’s society’s treatment of the severely overweight. It’s uncomfortable in a number of places. It brings into question body image and health and how much of our esteem is tied to how we look. It’s almost a really good book.
I say almost because Shriver gave us 353 pages of an interesting, at times compelling, at times uncomfortable, and often thought-provoking story and then throws in a plot twist that made me want to throw the book across the room. I invested time in these characters and I felt slighted by the ending. I’ll spoil it if I say too much, but really, I want those hours back. Had the book ended on page 360, it would have been a disappointing but realistic (as life often is) ending. But when that twist comes, I felt like I had been duped. Perhaps that is a metaphor for Pandora lying to herself, or assuaging her own guilt, but it left me disappointed.
I found Big Brother easier to get into than We Need To Talk About Kevin and others may not be so disenchanted with the ending as I was, but for this one, I have to say I warned you if you don’t like the ending.
- See more at: http://thebookfetishblog.com/2013/07/big-brother/#sthash.D6szZuka.dpuf
Lionel Shriver's greatest gift as a writer is to create characters who aren't particularly likeable and make the reader care about them anyway. This is the third book of hers I've read, and like the others, this one was compelling, entertaining, and thought-provoking.
Big Brother is my first exposure to a Lionel Shriver novel. My first impression, one that hardly changed for most of the book, was that Shriver is a good storyteller who populates her novels with a cast of interesting, well-developed characters. Her characters, flawed human beings that they are, are all the more realistic because making them “likable” is not a goal - rather, Shriver wants the reader to understand and remember them. I had a feeling that I would be exploring Shriver’s earlier work soon.
And then it happened. I reached the book’s final few pages and got a surprise that made me see Lionel Shriver and Big Brother very differently. It was one of those “aha moments” that made me realize there was a lot more going on here than I thought.
Successful businesswoman Pandora Halfdanarson has made a nice life for herself in Iowa where she lives with her husband and his two teen-aged children. Pandora, who spent summers in the area with her grandparents when she was a child, enjoys the relative simplicity of her lifestyle there. Her big brother, however, has taken the opposite approach with his own life. Edison, a talented jazz pianist, enthusiastically adopted his television-actor father’s screen-name, becoming Edison Appaloosa in the process, and moved to New York City to make his name. And, especially to hear him tell it, Edison has done quite well there.
But, as Pandora learns when Edison pays her a long-delayed family visit, all is not as it seems. The handsome brother she expects to collect at the airport is nowhere to be found. Instead, Pandora finds a morbidly obese version of Edison she barely recognizes as her brother. Edison is so big that, strictly for the convenience of complaining passengers, he has been carted to baggage claim in a wheelchair. When she gets him home to her family, Pandora and her husband are dismayed to find that all of Edison’s numerous bad habits have grown in proportion to the rest of him. He is the houseguest from hell.
Big Brother is most obviously about the obese and how they are perceived and treated by others – despite the fact that obesity is so common in this country. Shriver’s portrayal of their self-esteem problems and physical limitations is blunt; she does not shy away from any aspect of their daily lives, including cleanliness issues. She is equally blunt about the callous reaction to the grotesquely overweight that so many of us do not even try to hide from “big” people when we see them. But that is just the beginning of what Lionel Shriver wants to say. Big Brother is also about family loyalty, bad parenting, personal courage, blind love, depression, dieting, and chasing fame for fame’s sake.
And then there’s that surprise that I can’t tell you about.
Bottom Line: This one, particularly because of one or two memorable scenes, might not be for everyone, but those who stay with it will most likely consider themselves to have been well rewarded for the effort.
And then it happened. I reached the book’s final few pages and got a surprise that made me see Lionel Shriver and Big Brother very differently. It was one of those “aha moments” that made me realize there was a lot more going on here than I thought.
Successful businesswoman Pandora Halfdanarson has made a nice life for herself in Iowa where she lives with her husband and his two teen-aged children. Pandora, who spent summers in the area with her grandparents when she was a child, enjoys the relative simplicity of her lifestyle there. Her big brother, however, has taken the opposite approach with his own life. Edison, a talented jazz pianist, enthusiastically adopted his television-actor father’s screen-name, becoming Edison Appaloosa in the process, and moved to New York City to make his name. And, especially to hear him tell it, Edison has done quite well there.
But, as Pandora learns when Edison pays her a long-delayed family visit, all is not as it seems. The handsome brother she expects to collect at the airport is nowhere to be found. Instead, Pandora finds a morbidly obese version of Edison she barely recognizes as her brother. Edison is so big that, strictly for the convenience of complaining passengers, he has been carted to baggage claim in a wheelchair. When she gets him home to her family, Pandora and her husband are dismayed to find that all of Edison’s numerous bad habits have grown in proportion to the rest of him. He is the houseguest from hell.
Big Brother is most obviously about the obese and how they are perceived and treated by others – despite the fact that obesity is so common in this country. Shriver’s portrayal of their self-esteem problems and physical limitations is blunt; she does not shy away from any aspect of their daily lives, including cleanliness issues. She is equally blunt about the callous reaction to the grotesquely overweight that so many of us do not even try to hide from “big” people when we see them. But that is just the beginning of what Lionel Shriver wants to say. Big Brother is also about family loyalty, bad parenting, personal courage, blind love, depression, dieting, and chasing fame for fame’s sake.
And then there’s that surprise that I can’t tell you about.
Bottom Line: This one, particularly because of one or two memorable scenes, might not be for everyone, but those who stay with it will most likely consider themselves to have been well rewarded for the effort.
Classic Shriver. Detailed character studies. Occasionally polemic, but maybe relevant to the main character. Interesting ending.
I found it hard to get into but then became completely enthralled leaving me quite surprised at the end!
a book with lots of hype, 100s of holds at the library, sold out in bookstore and it's awful!
the characters are despicable shells of human beings - ignorant, short-sighted, and astonishingly selfish.
as if the people werent bad enough, the author sprinkled in disdain for gay people and some racism.
the overall tone is obnoxious and preachy.
the narration from pandora's perspective was arrogant instead of accessible.
the pretentious names for the characters are annoying and distracting.
the pseudo psychology got tired fast.
the parts that went over the symbolism of the tv show ad nauseum put me to sleep.
i almost gave 2 stars because there are about three good passages in the book about culture, the way we view ourselves, and the way others see us but the ending that told me reading the book was a waste of time knocked off a star.
takeaways from the story:
-people gain weight because of depression, defiance, revenge, boredom, a tough childhood, or because thin people make them feel bad about themselves (never a reason that includes personal accountability or can be helped)
-exercise is a waste of time
-eating is meaningless
-dont bother showing a genuine interest in leading a healthy lifestyle
-carrying about exercise and nutrition makes one hostile and mean; most thin people are bad people
-being overweight can actually be good because then you always hate your body and can think about other things. skinny people hate their bodies too so nothing even matters!
-family isnt that important
-always begrudge other people's success
-dont respect the choices of family members
-never defend or stick for your spouse
-allow house guests to make everyone miserable/cowardice is a good characteristic and not your fault
-blame your discourteous behavior on other people
-friendly gestures are suspicious and should not be reciprocated
-you can get through life fine enough never being honest with yourself or anyone else
-dont do or say anything unless you can benefit
the characters are despicable shells of human beings - ignorant, short-sighted, and astonishingly selfish.
as if the people werent bad enough, the author sprinkled in disdain for gay people and some racism.
the overall tone is obnoxious and preachy.
the narration from pandora's perspective was arrogant instead of accessible.
the pretentious names for the characters are annoying and distracting.
the pseudo psychology got tired fast.
the parts that went over the symbolism of the tv show ad nauseum put me to sleep.
i almost gave 2 stars because there are about three good passages in the book about culture, the way we view ourselves, and the way others see us but the ending that told me reading the book was a waste of time knocked off a star.
takeaways from the story:
-people gain weight because of depression, defiance, revenge, boredom, a tough childhood, or because thin people make them feel bad about themselves (never a reason that includes personal accountability or can be helped)
-exercise is a waste of time
-eating is meaningless
-dont bother showing a genuine interest in leading a healthy lifestyle
-carrying about exercise and nutrition makes one hostile and mean; most thin people are bad people
-being overweight can actually be good because then you always hate your body and can think about other things. skinny people hate their bodies too so nothing even matters!
-family isnt that important
-always begrudge other people's success
-dont respect the choices of family members
-never defend or stick for your spouse
-allow house guests to make everyone miserable/cowardice is a good characteristic and not your fault
-blame your discourteous behavior on other people
-friendly gestures are suspicious and should not be reciprocated
-you can get through life fine enough never being honest with yourself or anyone else
-dont do or say anything unless you can benefit
I have very mixed feelings about this one. Obesity helps drive the plot of the book, but it's also about sacrifices, loyalty, and family. Stylistically, the book is written in the same way as We Need to Talk About Kevin, with some complex sentence structures and vocabulary stylings (which was a little disappointing because I'd hoped the style was unique to the main character in ...Kevin). I enjoyed her style, as well as the early development of the characters and story, but a couple of characters stalled. Sometimes they felt like fleshed out humans but other times they were underdeveloped or cartoonish. This got frustrating in some places when their personalities didn't support their actions very well. The end of the book either solves this problem or is a let down, depending on your perspective. I found it a bit of a let down. Nonetheless, I'm glad I read it for the parts that I did enjoy. I would recommend it with caveats and reservations. And despite my complaints here, I like her work well enough to read the rest of it.
A novel about obesity written by someone who has clearly never been fat. The overweight character is a glutton, of course. The narrator's husband is a dick, and never gets called on it. Annoying.