Joseph Mega

Gritty family drama

Revisado: 04-13-25

Anyone who grew up with or adjacent to a family of alcoholics will find this story familiar. It is a reminder that, despite the dysfunction that accompanies this lifestyle, there is tenderness and love to be found hidden amongst the chaos. It highlights the fact that even though parents may be addicts, they love their children and often wage a losing battle between the bottle and this love. Shuggie, like many children in this situation, manages to find joy and hope amongst the chaos of his family life. This book was not as dour or dark as I expected it to be after reading reviews. But, it is also a story that has been told many times and, while Stuart’s prose brings a poetic lens to the tale, I wouldn’t say it was a particularly unique story. I enjoyed the book, I would read it again but would only recommend it to those who would enjoy exploring a well-written, Scottish take on the aforementioned story.

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Dark story of a nation unraveling

Revisado: 02-05-25

Well written and engaging story depicting how quickly a country can turn on itself. This story was too dark for me given the present situation in the US but it is also a reminder of how, in the blink of an eye, a nation can implode amidst paranoia and ultimately, civil war.

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A southern hobo ‘on the road’

Revisado: 02-03-25

This book is a sort of southern hobo ‘on the road’. It’s a story of the main character’s days wandering through the city, encountering various personalities. The story itself is, in my opinion, largely forgettable and not the reason to read this book. The action is punctuated by brilliantly written prose describing the city or the situations in which the characters find themselves. You can clearly see McCarthy’s literary genius blossoming throughout this novel. That being said, I would only recommend this book to die hard McCarthy enthusiasts. It’s a long novel and the action (what little there is) is mostly the backdrop for McCarthy’s poetic musings.

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Beautiful memoir

Revisado: 01-29-25

Highly recommended. I tend not to read much nonfiction but this was a beautiful personal story that I would read again.

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Disappointing

Revisado: 01-24-25

I make an effort to read the Pulitzer winner every year and I pretty much always find the book engaging and enjoyable. So, I was particularly disappointed by the Night Watch. I never felt invested in the characters. The plot jumped around in ways that made the book feel a bit disjointed and, most importantly, I felt like it was less about the action in the asylum and more about the few characters the book focuses on and their journey there. I was envisioning a story focused on the details of the asylum in the historical context, but we never got there in any depth. I suppose if you really enjoy civil war era fiction, this might be engaging for you, but even then the plot is mostly focused on superficial details of the war and, instead on a few characters who are affected by the horrors associated with it. In the end, I finished this novel since it wasn’t particularly long, but it felt like a chore to me and I wouldn’t recommend it to others. There were many other stand out books I read this year that, I feel, were more deserving of the Pulitzer (see James).

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Millennial noir

Revisado: 12-23-24

First off, I feel like a lot of these negative reviews are only about the narrator. While it is true that the narration wasn’t Oscar-worthy, but if you speed it up and focus on the story, this is an engaging and well-written novel. Very worth it.

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A vulgar and violent marathon

Revisado: 10-14-24

Overall this is an impressive story of Jamaica’s violent and turbulent past told through the individual stories of multiple characters. It is impressively violent and vulgar, which keeps it true to the reality of what was happening in Jamaica during the periods described. That said, this book was a slog at times for me. Many very long books are enjoyable journeys, but this one felt like it went on far too long. I don’t regret listening but this is not a book I would re-visit and think it’s worth knowing going in that it is a real marathon.

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Great ingredients put together a bit messily

Revisado: 03-07-24

This story had everything I love in a novel - folklore, magical realism, horror. It started off with a recipe for a fantastic novel but, in the end, ultimately felt a little too disorganized and incomplete. Lots of intriguing stories and plot lines that I felt were never explored as much as I would have liked for a novel of this length. The ending did wrap up the main story in a satisfying way, but I left wishing I understood more about various plot lines that were ultimately left unexplored. Sort of felt like a dream with tendrils of ideas that span out but just dissolve without explanation. And maybe that was the idea, but for a novel with such great ideas and themes, I wanted more.

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Not worth it

Revisado: 02-02-24

Im very surprised how many fantastic critical reviews I read of this book. I’m struggling to understand why after completing it. The writing is good, but not amazing. The story is dour and depressing and, ultimately not very unique or captivating. It is a tragedy, but not one that left me with deeper questions or much interest in the characters. Reads a bit like Irish Jonathan Franzen, but perhaps less unique. I probably would not have finished it if not for the Irish readers, which did a good job with the production and, who I just overall enjoyed listening to. But given the length and lack of redemption of this book, I would recommend skipping it.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Unique story, told over too many pages

Revisado: 09-14-23

I was very excited to listen to this based on the reviews I read. It is well written - at times brilliantly so - and tells a unique story that felt novel and engaging. However, it feels unnecessarily drawn out over the length of this novel. The character development is surely improved as a result of the length, yet I didn’t feel the story was enriched by the many extra hours dedicated to the complex characters. I enjoyed the premise and writing, but was disappointed in the outcome of the novel. I think if you enjoy complex characters and a dash of horror and have a week to sit on a beach or wherever and jam through this, then go for it, but I probably wouldn’t read it again knowing what I know now.

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