criticalgayze's reviews
191 reviews

The reason for the official DNF was that the formatting in the fourth of the book’s sections (Book Three) was unbearably bad, probably due to issues in formatting with alternating timelines; however, I was finding myself fairly mixed on my enjoyment of the book prior to that, which I think is due to a lack of energy in overlong sections and convoluted nesting.

I will admire that I didn’t make it to the actual “On Writing” section; however, for a book I feel is often touted as “the book on writing,” I have been largely underinvested and put off by the tone, similar to my feelings on Writing as a Vocation by Murakami earlier this year 

While I don’t necessarily mind the acerbic tone, I expected more joy for the subtitle. Also, I found myself more interested in the sources Rothfeld mentioned than in the work itself, and it was a bit irritating that, in a book about excess, she provides no notes or bibliography section.

Most of this is my fault cuz I didn’t read the description well enough I guess and thought this was gonna be more of a literary/cultural excavation; however, even for what it is, I think this book reads more for academics interested in the concepts Robertson is addressing and does little to draw in unaware audiences (like myself).

Like if Eleanor Oliphant was the protagonist in Writers & Lovers if Writers & Lovers was written by Miranda July. These are all things I like or love independently, but, blended together, they feel like quirk for the sake of quirk

I hope Naomi Klein is in all the rooms where post-2024 Democratic strategy discussions are being held. While I was less compelled by her personal narrative, Klein uncovers last year (and I’m sure others have said before and alongside her) all the things operatives are just now getting to with the sweeping loss of Democratic candidates. In a society ever more fractured, the need for folks who’ve been in the increasing number of spaces creating modern society is more heightened than ever.

Notes was a critical reminder that very little of what we’re experiencing in Trump’s America is new. Disaffection, especially masculine disaffection, is a result of imperial decline in what seems to be the whole of global history. Just as in Huck Finn, the concept of “real” masculinity is explored that makes it clear that “bro culture” and “alpha and beta mentality” did not start with Joe Rogan or even his Gordon Gecko/Tony Robbins predecessors. This made it all the more clear to me that boys need help and coaching in a way that is productive and community-centered instead of self-centered.

As much as I liked the energy and voice of the book, I could not get any sense of grounding. While I appreciate all the reviews on the grand statements of the novel, that ultimately means nought to me when there is so little firm ground to plant the novel in.

In “Six Memos for the Next Millennium,” a series of five planned speeches are laid out on the qualities of literature that Italian writer and literary scholar Italo Calvino thought could be most impactful for a 21st century literature. The five speeches completed before his unexpected passing were on Lightness, Quickness, Exactitude, Visibility, and Multiplicity. After visiting this collection for the second time since May, I think these have a lot to say about what may be important next, even outside of literature.

Much like with The Quick and the Dead, I found this to be a bit overstuffed with ideas, and I also found the ending to be a little too neat and end credits-y. Unlike TQ&tD, I found this to be much more narratively streamlined, and I continue to appreciate van den Berg’s voice.