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A review by tracy_c
Big Brother by Lionel Shriver
5.0
Big Brother is a unique book. I liked the subject matter. It is a relevant topic to today's society that I have not seen much fiction written about. It made me do a lot of research afterward to find out what link the author had to the story because it was obvious it was written with a lot of passion.
The story is about a female entrepreneur living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (the city I have lived in or around for the last 24 years) whose older brother comes to visit. She has not seen him in person for five years and is aghast to learn that he has gained 200 lbs and is no longer recognizable.
He is planning to stay with her family for the next month, which makes her husband furious. Throughout the book, she is faced with numerous conflicts. She knows her brother will eat himself into a grave if he continues like this, but her husband wants her to put him on a plane and forget about him.
She has a decision to make, is she loyal to her husband, or does she take drastic steps to try to save her brother's life, and what will her decision cost her in the the end?
I was interested in the reason the book was set in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The author obviously knew a great deal about the city, as she referenced several businesses and set one of the scenes of her book during the great flood of 2008. It was an accurate portrayal of all of it. I looked online, but did not find any obvious link between her and the city.
The book had a twist at the end, and while I might not have liked the way it ended, it doesn't take away from what a great book it was.
The story is about a female entrepreneur living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (the city I have lived in or around for the last 24 years) whose older brother comes to visit. She has not seen him in person for five years and is aghast to learn that he has gained 200 lbs and is no longer recognizable.
He is planning to stay with her family for the next month, which makes her husband furious. Throughout the book, she is faced with numerous conflicts. She knows her brother will eat himself into a grave if he continues like this, but her husband wants her to put him on a plane and forget about him.
She has a decision to make, is she loyal to her husband, or does she take drastic steps to try to save her brother's life, and what will her decision cost her in the the end?
I was interested in the reason the book was set in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The author obviously knew a great deal about the city, as she referenced several businesses and set one of the scenes of her book during the great flood of 2008. It was an accurate portrayal of all of it. I looked online, but did not find any obvious link between her and the city.
The book had a twist at the end, and while I might not have liked the way it ended, it doesn't take away from what a great book it was.