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Reward System
For fans of Patricia Lockwood and Ben Lerner, audacious fictions of a generation what now?** Chosen as a Guardian, White Review and NPR Book of the Year 2022 **'Reward System is an exhilarating and beautiful book by an extraordinarily gifted writer. Reading these stories, I found myself thinking newly and differently about contemporary life.' SALLY ROONEYJulia has landed a fresh start - at a 'pan-European' restaurant.'Imagine that,' says her mother.'I'm imagining.'Nick is flirting with sobriety and nobody else. Did you adults his age are now more likely to live with their parents than a romantic partner?Life should have started to take shape by now - but instead we're trying on new versions of ourselves, swiping left and right, searching for a convincing answer to that 'What do you do?'Reward System is a set of ultra-contemporary and electrifyingly fresh fictions about a generation of the cusp; the story of two people enmeshed in Zooms and lockdowns, loneliness and love.
Hardcover
First published July 19, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 168 reviews
May 16, 2022
chronically online sally rooney
June 25, 2022
This is an entertaining if perhaps lightweight (*) series of interlocking short stories (one almost a novella) – with the stories differing in their main focus and style, but featuring a core of the same two characters – which look primarily at the lives of a group of 20 somethings who live in an unspecified large City (**) and work in the restaurant or advertising industries and whose lives are dopamine-dominated via the media of their smartphones and browsers, as well as by the financial tyranny of the intersection of high rent and low pay/long hour jobs and the pressure to resist the failure of being bailed out by the bank (and moving back to the home) of Mum (and Dad – although mainly Mum in this book).
(*) The author has said that the book is deliberately set in a blurred every place global city – but the characters are noticeably English, London the only such English town and the author lived and worked in London – so its easier just to assume its London
(**) It is very possible this is just the country living, City-working early Generation X in me coming out judgmentally when reading a book about Urban non-financial services Millennials – as I think there is actually a real depth to the writing in:
The themes it explores (the way in which the book explores privacy and its invasion – not just via the internet or work surveillance but say by a landlord who does not respect boundaries);
The inner lives it portrays (an extended side story has a – in her own view – plain looking woman musing on a humiliation she faced in a spin the bottle party when her schoolchild crush refused to kiss her);
And in some of its original descriptive writing (a sky “the colour of the financial times” is a highlight).
The two main characters are Julia – who works as a chef at a trendy restaurant and who suffers from self-doubt and indecision/passivity; and her one time college boyfriend Nick – now in rather a funk with an alcohol/self respect problem and working in a dead end job as a copywriter for an advertising/media agency where he tries to write stories when no one is looking (this last part is clearly autobiographical and of great interest to the writer as this Grant piece makes clear - https://granta.com/jem-calder-notes-o...).
The first and longest story written in a series of short, snappily titled third party vignettes, tells of Julia’s move to her latest job and the relationship she allows herself to be drawn into with her older boss against her and our better judgement – the style is I think Rooney-esque (and Saint Sally blurbs the book) but of course whereas Rooney’s characters are famously non-techy (other than email) Julia conducts much of her self online.
Better Off Alone was perhaps the weaker story for me – narrated in the first person a rather down on his luck Nick crashes a house party to little effect (other than we do go back to when he and Julia met).
Distraction from Sadness is Not The Same as Happiness (a brilliant title from an anonymous internet course many years before) is I think likely to be the love it or hate it part of the collection – effectively narrated at first from the point of view of a dating site algorithm it sets out the relationship arc of a male user and female user (I think probably the female user is Julia) – and in doing so dissects 212t century dating both from the IT and “user” experience
Excuse Me Don’t I Now You – has Julia and Nick briefly meeting at a Farmers' Market and then going for a walk together as we are privy (privacy invasion of course being the prerogative of a traditional novel) to their thoughts on each other
Search Engine Optimisation is the third big part of the book – a multicharacter exploration of Nick’s workplace on a Friday when one of their fellow workers is leaving and effectively an examination of office protocols and politics in a timesheet’d, creative agency as the characters project, interact and typically fail to understand each other, all of it partly moderated by an IT worker who has used the keystroke and browser surveillance systems to track what each of the colleagues do for the large part of the time when they are now working. If I had a criticism of this part it is that it feels already very dated due to the pandemic
The Forseeable then addresses this – set in early lockdown with Nick (the first party narrator) and Julia now both furloughed, both living back with their Mums and Face Timing each other and with Nick admitting that his last few stories “read like irrelevant period pieces, set in a frivolous, pre-contagion reality”.
Overall a fresh and talented voice and a read which is while not a dopamine hit certainly rewarding.
(*) The author has said that the book is deliberately set in a blurred every place global city – but the characters are noticeably English, London the only such English town and the author lived and worked in London – so its easier just to assume its London
(**) It is very possible this is just the country living, City-working early Generation X in me coming out judgmentally when reading a book about Urban non-financial services Millennials – as I think there is actually a real depth to the writing in:
The themes it explores (the way in which the book explores privacy and its invasion – not just via the internet or work surveillance but say by a landlord who does not respect boundaries);
The inner lives it portrays (an extended side story has a – in her own view – plain looking woman musing on a humiliation she faced in a spin the bottle party when her schoolchild crush refused to kiss her);
And in some of its original descriptive writing (a sky “the colour of the financial times” is a highlight).
The two main characters are Julia – who works as a chef at a trendy restaurant and who suffers from self-doubt and indecision/passivity; and her one time college boyfriend Nick – now in rather a funk with an alcohol/self respect problem and working in a dead end job as a copywriter for an advertising/media agency where he tries to write stories when no one is looking (this last part is clearly autobiographical and of great interest to the writer as this Grant piece makes clear - https://granta.com/jem-calder-notes-o...).
The first and longest story written in a series of short, snappily titled third party vignettes, tells of Julia’s move to her latest job and the relationship she allows herself to be drawn into with her older boss against her and our better judgement – the style is I think Rooney-esque (and Saint Sally blurbs the book) but of course whereas Rooney’s characters are famously non-techy (other than email) Julia conducts much of her self online.
Better Off Alone was perhaps the weaker story for me – narrated in the first person a rather down on his luck Nick crashes a house party to little effect (other than we do go back to when he and Julia met).
Distraction from Sadness is Not The Same as Happiness (a brilliant title from an anonymous internet course many years before) is I think likely to be the love it or hate it part of the collection – effectively narrated at first from the point of view of a dating site algorithm it sets out the relationship arc of a male user and female user (I think probably the female user is Julia) – and in doing so dissects 212t century dating both from the IT and “user” experience
Excuse Me Don’t I Now You – has Julia and Nick briefly meeting at a Farmers' Market and then going for a walk together as we are privy (privacy invasion of course being the prerogative of a traditional novel) to their thoughts on each other
Search Engine Optimisation is the third big part of the book – a multicharacter exploration of Nick’s workplace on a Friday when one of their fellow workers is leaving and effectively an examination of office protocols and politics in a timesheet’d, creative agency as the characters project, interact and typically fail to understand each other, all of it partly moderated by an IT worker who has used the keystroke and browser surveillance systems to track what each of the colleagues do for the large part of the time when they are now working. If I had a criticism of this part it is that it feels already very dated due to the pandemic
The Forseeable then addresses this – set in early lockdown with Nick (the first party narrator) and Julia now both furloughed, both living back with their Mums and Face Timing each other and with Nick admitting that his last few stories “read like irrelevant period pieces, set in a frivolous, pre-contagion reality”.
Overall a fresh and talented voice and a read which is while not a dopamine hit certainly rewarding.
December 15, 2021
Super-enjoyable and precisely written stories about being…millennial and aimless in a city. Also, a lot of dating. I loved the intelligence of the writing and how it conveyed so much through style, while telling quite simple moving stories. The third person was great (I love the third person again)!
Just really well done and a little bit different (the note at the back acknowledges Vollmann and Gass!) Infinitely relatable without any of the familiar emotional flexes. Actually reminded me of early 2000s British writing, like if all the Tao Lin imitators got injected with a bit of updated sexual politics and more internet and were also way smarter. Also early Dan Rhodes (who I adored), for some reason.
Just really well done and a little bit different (the note at the back acknowledges Vollmann and Gass!) Infinitely relatable without any of the familiar emotional flexes. Actually reminded me of early 2000s British writing, like if all the Tao Lin imitators got injected with a bit of updated sexual politics and more internet and were also way smarter. Also early Dan Rhodes (who I adored), for some reason.
November 14, 2022
did not enjoy this one at all - the writing was not my cup of tea {it reminded me of someone who usually writes in academia and tried their hand in fiction}, i didn't care about any of the characters and the ending(s) was/were so unsatisfactory...
March 2, 2023
incredible. i admire the deft and smooth navigation of the different plots and narrative voices, its virtuosity at tying them together, its confidence in the intelligence of the reader. the most realistic fictional depiction of how unprecedentedly omnipresent technology is in our lives, in our minds. this is truly what the inside of my brain looks like.
devoured this during a long ferry ride. i recommend this to fans of sally rooney and emily st. john mandel.
devoured this during a long ferry ride. i recommend this to fans of sally rooney and emily st. john mandel.
June 7, 2023
Sinceramente si me lo he terminado es porque me lo he comprado en físico, pero 😴
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November 27, 2022I have to say I actually really liked the first story in this, and I thought the second and third were enjoyable as well, but then it all got a bit exhausting to read.
I think some reflections on our relationship with technology were quite interesting, like how things happening in your phone feel like the present and the 'real world' increasingly like the past. But when the narrator of a short story stops to say something like 'when was the last time you've read a short story in one go without looking at your phone', you'll forgive me for rolling my eyes a bit.
There is one story seemingly narrated from/ emulating the perspective of a algorithm, and generally considering this collection's focus on modern technology and social media, the narration sometimes took on an impersonal, slightly stilted, and almost unnatural style - a bit of an obvious choice but at the same time nothing I have read in this way before.
The stories following male characters were getting more and more exhausting to read. There was something in the voice and perspective that made the writing feel a bit pretentious and event patronising (especially those recurring descriptions of women being worried about how they look).
Also not completely sure how I feel about the inclusion of Covid towards the end. It reminded me of Beautiful World Where Are You, where it similarly took me out of the fictitious lives of the characters and consequently annoyed me a bit.
I think some reflections on our relationship with technology were quite interesting, like how things happening in your phone feel like the present and the 'real world' increasingly like the past. But when the narrator of a short story stops to say something like 'when was the last time you've read a short story in one go without looking at your phone', you'll forgive me for rolling my eyes a bit.
There is one story seemingly narrated from/ emulating the perspective of a algorithm, and generally considering this collection's focus on modern technology and social media, the narration sometimes took on an impersonal, slightly stilted, and almost unnatural style - a bit of an obvious choice but at the same time nothing I have read in this way before.
The stories following male characters were getting more and more exhausting to read. There was something in the voice and perspective that made the writing feel a bit pretentious and event patronising (especially those recurring descriptions of women being worried about how they look).
Also not completely sure how I feel about the inclusion of Covid towards the end. It reminded me of Beautiful World Where Are You, where it similarly took me out of the fictitious lives of the characters and consequently annoyed me a bit.
July 18, 2022
great cover, even better book.
June 5, 2024
love reading about chronically online loners sooo true, this is sooo good - I love when books write about technology & social media in a way that isn’t forced, (quite rare I find) but it feels so natural here whilst also drawing attention to the artificiality of it at all as well plus it itches such a scratch in my brain when short stories have interconnecting characters
June 18, 2023
Me ha recordado perquè me gusta leer ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
December 13, 2022
This was a book about dopamine, all the things we do in order to achieve it, from swiping to eating to being in touch with each other, if only via screens.
Oh damn you, digital age!
Just wonderful, wonderful thoughts about the nature of time, hidden across the book! That's something that I've been working on, too, so I was very intrigued.
Great structure and length, great dialogue and a good satiric view on the way people exist in our world nowadays, being there yet not being there. The parts about the pandemic seemed already dated but I have a feeling they will hold up surprisingly well in the years to come as it revealed multiple things about our time.
Oh damn you, digital age!
Just wonderful, wonderful thoughts about the nature of time, hidden across the book! That's something that I've been working on, too, so I was very intrigued.
Great structure and length, great dialogue and a good satiric view on the way people exist in our world nowadays, being there yet not being there. The parts about the pandemic seemed already dated but I have a feeling they will hold up surprisingly well in the years to come as it revealed multiple things about our time.
November 30, 2022
1.5 stars
January 8, 2024
No es ningún secreto que me encantan los libros de relatos, es más cada vez los disfruto más. Por eso cuando vi esta novedad supe que llevaba mi nombre.
En este caso el autor está amadrinado por Sally Rooney y que promete ser un fiel reflejo de la generación millennial. Consta de cinco relatos interconectados en los que es imposible no sentirse identificados aunque sea por el contexto y no por el fondo.
Relaciones a través de una pantalla, incertidumbre laboral, una salud mental algo debilitadla… claros signos de nuestra generación. Pero si que es verdad que creo que el libro ha ido de más a menos, sin duda el primer relato me parece maravilloso en cuanto a su estructura como en su mensaje.
He disfrutado principalmente de tres de ellos, los otros dos me han resultado un poco pesados e incluso un poco difícil seguir el hilo en algunos momentos.
Pero si miramos el conjunto del libro creo que es interesante, con un mensaje muy claro y una pluma bastante mordaz del autor queda una relato demasiado veraz de nuestra generación.
Por mi parte seguiré de cerca al autor porque a pesar de los peros me ha resultado interesante su obra debut.
En este caso el autor está amadrinado por Sally Rooney y que promete ser un fiel reflejo de la generación millennial. Consta de cinco relatos interconectados en los que es imposible no sentirse identificados aunque sea por el contexto y no por el fondo.
Relaciones a través de una pantalla, incertidumbre laboral, una salud mental algo debilitadla… claros signos de nuestra generación. Pero si que es verdad que creo que el libro ha ido de más a menos, sin duda el primer relato me parece maravilloso en cuanto a su estructura como en su mensaje.
He disfrutado principalmente de tres de ellos, los otros dos me han resultado un poco pesados e incluso un poco difícil seguir el hilo en algunos momentos.
Pero si miramos el conjunto del libro creo que es interesante, con un mensaje muy claro y una pluma bastante mordaz del autor queda una relato demasiado veraz de nuestra generación.
Por mi parte seguiré de cerca al autor porque a pesar de los peros me ha resultado interesante su obra debut.
September 7, 2022
Very Sally Rooney vibes - stories about mundane, everyday friendships and relationships, work in the build-up to the pandemic. It's very readable, and some of the observational writing is great. The weaving together of the stories into one overall narrative with a lot of the same characters didn't quite work for me - it felt like it hadn't decided whether to be short stories or a novella. The stories about Nick's office environment, annoying men, and meaningless work felt well-observed but just not very enjoyable to read. The highlight was "Distraction from Sadness is Not the Same as Happiness", a touching and sensitive piece of storytelling. I would be interested to read more by Jem Calder, because I don't think we see his full potential realised here.
March 15, 2023
"she had to be careful, now she was here, not to fall back into old-Julia behaviours: not to reveal her true nature as a crier, pleaser, and worrier; not to do or say the kinds of things the person she was pretending to be wouldn't say or do."
May 10, 2023
4.75/5
I’m not really sure how to describe the way I feel after having read this except for “increasingly aware of my own existence”
I’m not really sure how to describe the way I feel after having read this except for “increasingly aware of my own existence”
May 30, 2023
Some parts I liked, some parts I didn’t.
August 13, 2023
i appreciate this book for existing and i would love to have a convo with the author on his thoughts because i think we would agree a lot. really can’t decide whether to give it a 4 or a 5 bc there were so many points in the book where i felt like Jem calder so effortlessly and with purpose was able to sum up and describe a totally look over able human action/feeling/thought process/way of interacting and i love that. it was perfect for encapsulating little moments i feel a lot of authors overlook, and i liked the way it made you think about certain aspects of technology in our culture, which i think can be beneficial for a lot of people, or mainly everyone.
also if ur reading this jem calder, i think you are an infp
also if ur reading this jem calder, i think you are an infp
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March 8, 2024Wanted to read this book ever since the publisher rep handed me this book in the bookstore I used to work and asked me to email her my thoughts. I really enjoyed the dating app story and how you can see it’s trace throughout the book and re-read that part afterwards.
I think Jem Celder had no interest in character development and just wanted to connect their life stories through multiple short stories which I think is a very bold and novel move.
I think Jem Celder had no interest in character development and just wanted to connect their life stories through multiple short stories which I think is a very bold and novel move.
July 19, 2024
Parece querer emular a Sally Rooney, aunque bajo mi punto de vista es más desesperanzador. Se limita a describir, sin ningún tipo de sentimiento, una sociedad y un tipo de relaciones interpersonales bastante tóxicas. Cada personaje se da demasiada importancia a sí mismo, lo que resulta agotador y frustrante. No parece haber desenlace optimista en ninguna de las historias; la primera comienza bien pero acaba súbitamente y, desde ahí, el libro es una catástrofe. No lo recomiendo.
October 24, 2023
This was such a letdown. Julie's personality was like uncooked tofu throughout the book and I wish I could say that other characters made up for it, but they just didn't get enough "screen time" for me to even form an opinion about them. The rest of the POVs seemed forced to me, not because they didn't affect the MC at all, but because it seemed like the book lost its direction shortly after Julie's POV. Please stop marketing your books as a somewhat feminist breakthrough for instagram/booktok clout, the female daily struggle can surely be addressed more profoundly and entertaining than this unseasoned pasta water of a plot.
July 20, 2024
chica, vaya racha. ninguno de los relatos me ha robado el corazón y además, estoy harta de leer que nuestra generación solo crea relaciones líquidas cuando a mi alrededor hay una constante atmósfera de cariño profundo que se alarga en el tiempo. tinder ya no me parece una cosa novedosa sobre la que escribir, ni facetime, ni que estamos hartos de ir al curro, pedir pasta a nuestros padres y compartir piso pf pf pf pf es que leo “retrato generacional” y me dan escalofríos sinceramente.. creo que prefiero volver a leer cumbres borrascosas, fíjate
le amadrina sally rooney y eso me tenía convencida, pero vaya.. a ver si tengo más suerte con el siguiente que coja 😵💫
le amadrina sally rooney y eso me tenía convencida, pero vaya.. a ver si tengo más suerte con el siguiente que coja 😵💫
April 26, 2023
read because sally rooney blurb .. and yeah, it's definitely a hot girl booktok / gen z dysphoria pick. first story (the longest one) was the best, and then the rest of them felt like they were trying to be as good as the first one. much of the "dating apps are bad, social media is bad, capitalism is bad" etc train.
September 4, 2022
Don't recommend at all, felt like a waste of time all the way through. Interconnected stories that don't amount to or culminate in anything. Is this apathetic output what readers like now? Can't figure why else this was recommended to me.
Reminds me of the tongue-in-cheek quote, "If you're bored, then you're boring." This book certainly is both.
Reminds me of the tongue-in-cheek quote, "If you're bored, then you're boring." This book certainly is both.
August 27, 2022
An accurate, wandering and episodic depiction of life in the lead up to the pandemic in London. Sometimes jarring in its narration. Didn’t like any of the characters. But the narratorial observations were very astute.
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December 22, 2022DNF @40%
August 27, 2024
Voy a darme el gusto de puntuar muy bajo esta vez. Es posible que entrara con reparos al ver autor en lugar de autora, pero es que mis prejuicios siempre se acaban confirmando... En este caso no es que la novela sea misógina o ni nada así ético; más bien es una cuestión de compatibilidad y decisiones estilísticas.
La primera parte se divide en párrafos cortos y todos llevan título (pensé que todo el libro sería así y casi me da algo). Aunque veo un intento por ilustrar la fugacidad de la vida contemporánea, hoy en día más que nunca afectada por las pantallas, me produce rechazo porque me acelera el ritmo y los saltitos no me ayudan a entrar del todo en la vida de la protagonista—cuya situación es, por otro lado, la misma que nos cuentan a menudo: un trabajo que no le acaba de llenar, que difiere de sus estudios universitarios, amigos que van dejando de serlo, compañeros de trabajo que no llegan a ser amigos… Y pese a lo manido del tema, no me parece que aporte una perspectiva novedosa.
Después cambia a la primera persona para introducir al otro protagonista. Que es sencillamente insoportable, al estilo conjura de los necios y ese tipo de escritura masculina que no soporto.
La siguiente parte es una especie de ensayo ficcionado sobre una pareja que se conoce por tinder y él acaba haciéndole ghosting a ella. El tono es rimbombante y demasiado técnico y ¿por qué no integrar la crítica en una historia, en lugar de insertarla de esa forma si tanto necesitas soltar tu opinión?
La penúltima parte la fui hojeando porque describe el ambiente de oficina del chico, pero a él solo lo menciona un puñado de veces, porque introduce también a no sé, unos diez personajes con nombre y apellido que hacen cosas. Imagino que también era una crítica a algo, pero al final salté al último capítulo.
Que es un intento de final parecido a Gente normal. Y es difícil por no decir imposible conseguir eso cuando no has trabajado apenas en la empatía del lector hacia los personajes ni en siquiera cultivar la relación entre ellos. Así que me quedo con la sensación de que una vez más, un señor pensó que tuvo una idea rompedora y edgy y le salió una caca de whatsapp.
La primera parte se divide en párrafos cortos y todos llevan título (pensé que todo el libro sería así y casi me da algo). Aunque veo un intento por ilustrar la fugacidad de la vida contemporánea, hoy en día más que nunca afectada por las pantallas, me produce rechazo porque me acelera el ritmo y los saltitos no me ayudan a entrar del todo en la vida de la protagonista—cuya situación es, por otro lado, la misma que nos cuentan a menudo: un trabajo que no le acaba de llenar, que difiere de sus estudios universitarios, amigos que van dejando de serlo, compañeros de trabajo que no llegan a ser amigos… Y pese a lo manido del tema, no me parece que aporte una perspectiva novedosa.
Después cambia a la primera persona para introducir al otro protagonista. Que es sencillamente insoportable, al estilo conjura de los necios y ese tipo de escritura masculina que no soporto.
La siguiente parte es una especie de ensayo ficcionado sobre una pareja que se conoce por tinder y él acaba haciéndole ghosting a ella. El tono es rimbombante y demasiado técnico y ¿por qué no integrar la crítica en una historia, en lugar de insertarla de esa forma si tanto necesitas soltar tu opinión?
La penúltima parte la fui hojeando porque describe el ambiente de oficina del chico, pero a él solo lo menciona un puñado de veces, porque introduce también a no sé, unos diez personajes con nombre y apellido que hacen cosas. Imagino que también era una crítica a algo, pero al final salté al último capítulo.
Que es un intento de final parecido a Gente normal. Y es difícil por no decir imposible conseguir eso cuando no has trabajado apenas en la empatía del lector hacia los personajes ni en siquiera cultivar la relación entre ellos. Así que me quedo con la sensación de que una vez más, un señor pensó que tuvo una idea rompedora y edgy y le salió una caca de whatsapp.
June 4, 2023
If Sally Rooney wrote short stories, they might be something like Reward System.
A set of stories about millennials growing up in today's world. Calder's main focus is how social media and technology are changing the ways we relate to one another, how we derive happiness, and our quest to find meaning in life. Without our really knowing it, the stories suggest, all of these most vital parts of the human experience are being influenced (if not determined) by forces beyond our understanding and control. And yes, the pandemic features towards the end as well.
If I make this sound technical or didactic, it's really not. Calder's stories are humane and character-driven. Like Rooney, he's interested in the parts of relationships that remain below the surface, power dynamics, unspoken desires, hypochondrias, neuroses etc.
I found the writing a touch overwrought. There were too many adverbs and way too many hyphenated words (it seemed like every sentence had at least one gratuitous modifier, and usually several). Specificity of description doesn't always make the reader resonate with the text in the way I think Calder was after (is this a worthy goal in the first place?), and this got on my nerves after a while.
The book was remarkable for its lack of humour or fun. A quite depressive mood settled over this book that should have been stirred with moments of lightness.
Worth a try for sure, but this won't be for everyone.
A set of stories about millennials growing up in today's world. Calder's main focus is how social media and technology are changing the ways we relate to one another, how we derive happiness, and our quest to find meaning in life. Without our really knowing it, the stories suggest, all of these most vital parts of the human experience are being influenced (if not determined) by forces beyond our understanding and control. And yes, the pandemic features towards the end as well.
If I make this sound technical or didactic, it's really not. Calder's stories are humane and character-driven. Like Rooney, he's interested in the parts of relationships that remain below the surface, power dynamics, unspoken desires, hypochondrias, neuroses etc.
I found the writing a touch overwrought. There were too many adverbs and way too many hyphenated words (it seemed like every sentence had at least one gratuitous modifier, and usually several). Specificity of description doesn't always make the reader resonate with the text in the way I think Calder was after (is this a worthy goal in the first place?), and this got on my nerves after a while.
The book was remarkable for its lack of humour or fun. A quite depressive mood settled over this book that should have been stirred with moments of lightness.
Worth a try for sure, but this won't be for everyone.
November 25, 2022
Booooah. Ich bin wirklich so froh, dass ich das hinter mich gebracht habe. What a Ride. So eine weirde Mischung aus Langeweile, belanglosigkeit, Rage, Empörung. Vielleicht ist das Genre einfach nicht mein Ding, aber ganz ehrlich, wäre es nicht für eine gruppen-buchbesprechung gewesen hätte ich das Buch schon nach dem ersten Satz wieder weggelegt und die nächsten 216 Seiten haben mir leider kein ekstatisches Gefühl eines besseren belehrt worden zu sein geliefert. Ab und zu gab es schöne Sätze, die mich gefreut haben. Ich mag die Art und Weise wie der Autor Menschen beschreibt die sich unbeobachtet glauben. Aber meine Güte. Ein paar schöne Sätze haben es für mich nicht rausgeholt. Die eindimensionalität mit der die characters beschrieben werden - Männer obsessed mit Sex, Frauen mit ihren Körpern -, eine komplette Kurzgeschichte musste ich mir einfach nur durchlesen wie sich ein depremierter möchtegern-schriftsteller auf einer Party besäuft und an seine College ex denkt. Bitte? Und ja, wahrscheinlich ist das der whole ass point vom Autoren, aber nee. Es gibt so viele interessantere Dinge über die man lesen kann, die ähnlich ziellose, desorientierte und unperfekte Charaktere beinhalten ...
January 10, 2024
2 días y 217 páginas después. El primer libro que leo del autor y libro que pedí como regalo de un intercambio lector la sinopsis sonaba bastante relevante y me dejé llevar...mi error.
En esta novela (me confunde que todos digan que son relatos, pero yo entiendo que es la misma historia contada con estructuras narrativas diferentes, porque los nombres son exactamente los mismos, o acaso no fui suficientemente inteligente para darme cuenta de esto?) es un reflejo millennial, toca temas importantísimos para nosotros como la soledad, la pertenencia, las relaciones en pareja, la estabilidad financiera, y eso me encanta, pocos libros millennials que entran tan directo... El problema es después del final, todo se vuelve soso y súper difícil de leer.
Casi leí el libro entero el primer día, pero después de esa tercer sección, fue imposible seguir. Me esforcé muchísimo. Tiene sus pros y sus contras, pero creo que es una sinopsis demasiado truculenta, quería que me gustara... Simplemente no paso, y bueno leyendo las reseñas, entiendo que lo amas o lo odias. No hay punto medio.
No habrá reseña.
En esta novela (me confunde que todos digan que son relatos, pero yo entiendo que es la misma historia contada con estructuras narrativas diferentes, porque los nombres son exactamente los mismos, o acaso no fui suficientemente inteligente para darme cuenta de esto?) es un reflejo millennial, toca temas importantísimos para nosotros como la soledad, la pertenencia, las relaciones en pareja, la estabilidad financiera, y eso me encanta, pocos libros millennials que entran tan directo... El problema es después del final, todo se vuelve soso y súper difícil de leer.
Casi leí el libro entero el primer día, pero después de esa tercer sección, fue imposible seguir. Me esforcé muchísimo. Tiene sus pros y sus contras, pero creo que es una sinopsis demasiado truculenta, quería que me gustara... Simplemente no paso, y bueno leyendo las reseñas, entiendo que lo amas o lo odias. No hay punto medio.
No habrá reseña.
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