Monique

Farfetched with disturbing spousal abuse

Revisado: 05-24-21

This book was occasionally entertaining, but on the whole, the story was unbelievable. The story revolves around two sociopaths and a woman who is victimized by both. I found Part 2 difficult to get through because of the disturbing scenes of emotional and sexual abuse.

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Plodding tale of a middle aged academic

Revisado: 09-18-18

This book required some discipline to get through. I considered abandoning it a few times, but kept going back in the hope that it would pick up. It did pick up somewhat about two thirds of the way through when the largely unsympathetic protagonist began experiencing some health and personal challenges greater than navigating the difficult personalities of his caricatured colleagues in the English department of a Pennsylvania state university. The protagonist is a leery, seemingly self-satisfied, smarmy chairman of an English department. His main focus in life seems to be alternately tolerating and antagonizing his equally unsympathetic cast of academic colleagues. I read Empire Falls years ago and loved it, but this book falls short in terms of the richness of the characters and in creating something that the reader cares about.

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Depressing but brilliantly written

Revisado: 06-23-18

I soldiered through all 27 hours of the five Patrick Melrose novels, though I thought about giving up several times. While I frequently marveled at St. Aubyn's wordcraft, all in all I found listening to the text to be hard going. These books are an attachment theory case study to illustrate the lifelong damage that is wrought when young children don't have a strong attachment to a primary caregiver. The dysfunction and casual cruelty that pervades the book is tough to take. There's not a single truly sympathetic character in the books, and most are downright dislikeable. The portrait of the British upper class is also profoundly damning. Parts of the books are engaging and even darkly humorous, while others drag endlessly, conveying effectively what a bore time spent among hard-drinking, backbiting, philandering English aristocrats can be. While I didn't find the books pleasant to listen to, I suspect that the story will stay with me for quite some time, perhaps as an example of human dysfunction and people I hope never to meet.

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Phenomenal

Revisado: 07-07-15

This is an incredibly powerful help to achieving equanimity and happiness at work. I listened to it a second time immediately upon finishing the first.

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Tartt is a master of dialogue!

Revisado: 06-28-15

Amazing book to listen to. Well deserving of the Pulitzer it received. I was spellbound throughout the thirty hours of this recording.

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