As much as I have enjoyed the rest of Michael Chabon's novels (evidenced by the glowing reviews on this very blog), this one did absolutely nothing for me. MYSTERIES is Chabon's first novel, and although there are moments of lovely writing here and there, the fact is that I didn't care about the story, or any of the characters, or anything at all about this book. It felt strained, like he was striving to make the book bigger, to make it more than it is, and as a result everything comes out feeling terribly flat and somewhat dishonest. Believability is crucial to any piece of writing, and there was almost nothing in this book that rang true. (The exception to this is the climactic scene in the novel, which was poetic and vivid and graceful, and which I can't relay to you now for obvious reasons.) Taken as a whole, the book left me feeling unfulfilled, and slightly cheated.I'm glad I read most of his other works first, because if I had started with this one I might not have bothered with the rest.
2 comments:
movie adaptation felt the same way. I found a lot of parallels to Great Gatsby- was that intentional from anything you read in the book?
I will confess that I have never read The Great Gatsby, but as soon as I do I will let you know.
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