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7th out of 32 books
—
12 voters
You Remind Me of Me
by
Dan Chaon (Goodreads Author)
With his critically acclaimed Among the Missing and Fitting Ends, award-winning author Dan Chaon proved himself a master of the short story form. He is a writer, observes the Chicago Tribune, who can “convincingly squeeze whole lives into a mere twenty pages or so.” Now Chaon marshals his notable talents in his much-anticipated debut novel.
You Remind Me of Me begins with a...more
You Remind Me of Me begins with a...more
Hardcover, 368 pages
Published
May 25th 2004
by Ballantine Books
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SPOILERS AHOY HOY!
My thoughts on Dan Chaon's story of two half brothers that find each other in dire circumstances midway through their twenties has a lot to say about the What If's of life. And his conclusion seems to say that regardless of our childhoods we become what we're intended to become - a bad mother, a kidnapper, a good bartender, a commercial artist. Putting it a different way, a good upbringing does not a good life make. Chaon also writes a lot about patterns, especially those found...more
My thoughts on Dan Chaon's story of two half brothers that find each other in dire circumstances midway through their twenties has a lot to say about the What If's of life. And his conclusion seems to say that regardless of our childhoods we become what we're intended to become - a bad mother, a kidnapper, a good bartender, a commercial artist. Putting it a different way, a good upbringing does not a good life make. Chaon also writes a lot about patterns, especially those found...more
I was disappointed with this book, possibly because I had such high expectations. I love the idea of seemingly random strangers being connected together through space and time. I liked the non-linear manner in which the story was told. However, I found myself disliking all of the characters. Their individual situations seemed very real and the comparison of two brothers' backgrounds and the way they turn out was yet another interesting technique. It's also very clear how they turned into their a...more
When I grow up one day as a writer, I want my writing to be like Dan Chaon's. This is his debut novel after many years of writing short stories. The craft of short story writing comes through in every sentence of this novel - rich, evocative imagery punches through some of the most economic sentences and paragraphs; characters are compelling, dynamic and fully explored; drama hits forcefully and emotionally.
I took plenty of time to read this book, treating it as if it were the literary equivalen...more
I took plenty of time to read this book, treating it as if it were the literary equivalen...more
I read this book when it had just come out in hardcover. I'm pretty sure it was during the summer, maybe right after high school, I had nothing to do and was feeling miserable, and I would go for walks to get out of my parents house, usually landing in the barnes & noble nearby, where I'd sit in the cool and read new fiction at random. I picked this book out because i liked the cover art or the title and wound up reading the whole thing in the store over the course of a couple of weeks (my m...more
I have to say, right off the bat, that I have never skimmed bits as much as I did in this book. I usually like to read every single word, but I got so impatient with this that I kinda skipped a sentence here, skimmed a paragraph there, all in the hope of reaching the end faster.
And not because I felt like I was running out of time because I had a bookclub meeting for it. It was simply due to a small amount of boredom and a nagging impatience with the characters.
Jonah lives with his mother, Nora...more
And not because I felt like I was running out of time because I had a bookclub meeting for it. It was simply due to a small amount of boredom and a nagging impatience with the characters.
Jonah lives with his mother, Nora...more
Aug 29, 2007
Patti
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone who likes John Irving
Ok, so now that I've said anyone who likes John Irving should read this, some John Irving fanatic may accost me. He is not John Irving, but Dan Chaon's style and mood are very similar. I picked this book up to get inside the mind of more gritty, lower-middle class characters for a monologue I was working on and was surprised at how engaging it was. A lot of the reviews say they found it depressing, but I'm twisted, so it just leaves me glad I'm not like the people in the book. And I guess I have...more
My picky husband really enjoyed it. He said it would be a good book club read- so I read it too.
This was an interesting read. The book is written from the perspective of 3 people and over 3 different time periods. At first I wished I had been writing out my own timeline to reference when the story hopped along. The book has 2 protagonists who make poor choices. There were sections of the book where I was not rooting for anyone and I felt that loss. At times I wondered, "So why should I care abo...more
This was an interesting read. The book is written from the perspective of 3 people and over 3 different time periods. At first I wished I had been writing out my own timeline to reference when the story hopped along. The book has 2 protagonists who make poor choices. There were sections of the book where I was not rooting for anyone and I felt that loss. At times I wondered, "So why should I care abo...more
This book left a huge impression on me for several reasons. First, the language was crafted beautifully. Chaon could write a novel about someone sitting and picking their nose, and he would make the language so extraordinary that you would be glued to your seat and in tears by the end. Second, this books makes you think. The characters are very real; they are unsure about their goals, and despite their good intentions they mess up a lot. Their mistakes and the consequences they deal with make yo...more
based on a short story published in harper's magazine (how many great books have had similar origins?), dan chaon's first novel is a nuanced and detailed story of three lives in varying stages of redemption. a teenaged mother sent away to wait out her pregnancy, a man deformed in boyhood by a vicious dog, and an out-of-luck loser who continues to fall into the same traps of drugs, alcohol, and irresponsibity-- all whose stories are woven beautifully. the focus of this novel is character, and cha...more
What if?
If his mother had gotten treatment for her mental illness, his life would have been different, he would have made different choices, had different relationships with the people in his life and this would have been a different story...
This is the 'what if?' book. What if the parents had been more careful about their bad habits? What if the teenage mother had kept her first child? What if she had stayed with her stable boyfriend? There were many 'what if's? to ask in this story. I think a...more
If his mother had gotten treatment for her mental illness, his life would have been different, he would have made different choices, had different relationships with the people in his life and this would have been a different story...
This is the 'what if?' book. What if the parents had been more careful about their bad habits? What if the teenage mother had kept her first child? What if she had stayed with her stable boyfriend? There were many 'what if's? to ask in this story. I think a...more
Feb 11, 2009
Jackie
added it
At the beginning, the chapters are quite fragmented from one another and it’s a rather choppy writing style. But that gives this read a unique format. As the book progresses, the characters in the various chapters are weaved together to form a more complete picture, as it seems happens in real life.
In an interview with the author at the end of the book, Dan wonders how much is our development by ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’. He questioned this when he had developed a relationship with his biological...more
In an interview with the author at the end of the book, Dan wonders how much is our development by ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’. He questioned this when he had developed a relationship with his biological...more
A JON AND HIS MA BOOK CLUB SELECTION
My parents tell me that when I was a baby boy, I inflicted my affections on a neighbor's Doberman pinscher. I'd fall headlong on the dog and happily spend the day chewing on his nose. The dog suffered through it all patiently. I was reminded of this in the first chapter of Dan Chaon's "You Remind Me of Me," in which a 6-year-old South Dakota boy named Jonah is rough-housing with the family Doberman, who's not as patient as the dog who tolerated me. When Jonah...more
My parents tell me that when I was a baby boy, I inflicted my affections on a neighbor's Doberman pinscher. I'd fall headlong on the dog and happily spend the day chewing on his nose. The dog suffered through it all patiently. I was reminded of this in the first chapter of Dan Chaon's "You Remind Me of Me," in which a 6-year-old South Dakota boy named Jonah is rough-housing with the family Doberman, who's not as patient as the dog who tolerated me. When Jonah...more
I found this book from a link on the Daily Bastardette blog site and knew from the title that it was about adoption. This is my first exposure to this author and I am so happy to have found him. I was instantly drawn into the bleak existences of these character's lives and could actually feel the futility they experienced from the way Chaon described it in such q rich minutiae of details. As we are taken back and forth through time the interwoven connectedness of the character's lives are slowly...more
Midway through the book, one of the characters imagines writing a letter:
Instead, Chaon starts slowly and realistical...more
Once upon a time there was a woman who had two sons. The first son she gave away when she was a teenager, and she regretted it for the rest of her life. The second son she kept for her own, and she regretted that even more.Now, that's a disturbing but compelling kind of situation to imagine, and if the book had started out there I probably would've devoured it much more eagerly.
Instead, Chaon starts slowly and realistical...more
This is an extraordinary look at the ordinary. And the first thing you can say about this novel is that it could never pass for a "crowd pleaser". Perhaps, that's because this novel hits the raw nerve in all of us had we not found loving partners, or meaningful work, or mothered or fathered wonderful children. This is a strange look at loneliness and the thirst to find real meaning and to bond with whatever we can find that will give us that meaning.
What struck me so deeply about this story is,...more
Jun 26, 2011
Annarosepenny
added it
Several people, across several midwestern states (those that you shudder to think people actually live in - St. Bonaventure, Nebraska, or Little Bow, South Dakota), are linked - by the same birth mom. The characters, and their actions are real, mundane, and sad.
Nora gave birth to a baby at the Mrs. Glass House when she was 16 years old. She didn't even get to see her baby, before it was whisked away and sent through the adoption process. She is forever plagued by this, and hangs a postcard of a...more
Nora gave birth to a baby at the Mrs. Glass House when she was 16 years old. She didn't even get to see her baby, before it was whisked away and sent through the adoption process. She is forever plagued by this, and hangs a postcard of a...more
Yeek. This is one of those books I truly don't know how to rate. If I'm rating the book itself, I think it's a four-star book, no question (beautifully written, intricately woven plot, etc.). But my experience reading it wasn't what I would call fully enjoyable (though for reasons that I'm reluctant to count against it).
Dan Chaon seems to be drawn to gritty, depressing worlds. Think small Nebraskan town where people get into drugs and make decisions that it's hard to watch them make. Somehow, t...more
Dan Chaon seems to be drawn to gritty, depressing worlds. Think small Nebraskan town where people get into drugs and make decisions that it's hard to watch them make. Somehow, t...more
What I need out of a novel is characters I can relate to - care about - and situations that engage me as a reader, caring for the welfare of characters for whom I have an emotional attachment. This story of two brothers separated by an adoption didn't provide that for me. I didn't care about either one of the main characters and I didn't care about their poor choices which put them in life's loser column. It wasn't unfortunate circumstances that made them victims, it was lying, dealing, drugs, a...more
This is a masterpiece! Chaon ranks with the very top of 21st century authors. His phrasing is felieitous and elegant. His plotting brilliant. The way he allows his stories to unfold, riveting.
This book is about choices and if's. If someone had made a different choice, then what? They made a choice and what other choices do they then make and what happens to their lives and someone else's? Oh, this has been argued and reargued in philosophy and even psychology. Is it nature or nurture? Is it by d...more
This book is about choices and if's. If someone had made a different choice, then what? They made a choice and what other choices do they then make and what happens to their lives and someone else's? Oh, this has been argued and reargued in philosophy and even psychology. Is it nature or nurture? Is it by d...more
Wow, what a great book! My thanks to Doreen for lending it to me.
For me, the book got off to a slow start, partly bacause I was travelling while reading it (and couldn't read it for any length of time)and partly becuase of the nature of the book (it moves between characters and times). There was - to begin with - no obvious connection between the characters. However, I was patient as I knew they would all come together eventually, and they did. Once they did, I couldn't put the book down!
This bo...more
For me, the book got off to a slow start, partly bacause I was travelling while reading it (and couldn't read it for any length of time)and partly becuase of the nature of the book (it moves between characters and times). There was - to begin with - no obvious connection between the characters. However, I was patient as I knew they would all come together eventually, and they did. Once they did, I couldn't put the book down!
This bo...more
Credit to Shannon for my review. I copied and pasted her review, deleting the parts that didn't apply to my opinion. Why reinvent the wheel?
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Anti-climactic and meandering...
I have never skimmed bits as much as I did in this book. I usually like to read every single word, but I got so impatient with this that I skipped a sentence here, skimmed a paragraph there, all in the hope of reaching the end faster. It was due to boredo...more
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Anti-climactic and meandering...
I have never skimmed bits as much as I did in this book. I usually like to read every single word, but I got so impatient with this that I skipped a sentence here, skimmed a paragraph there, all in the hope of reaching the end faster. It was due to boredo...more
Jun 19, 2009
Gabby
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Gabby by:
Entertainment Weekly
Shelves:
2009
When I found out that I'd won a copy of the new book Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon I also discovered that I had a copy of his previous book, You Remind Me of Me on my TBR shelf. So, before I received my First-Read selection, I read his earlier work which had some how or other managed to slip between the cracks of my TBR pile.
I enjoy books that tell a story from the different characters' perspectives. That's what Chaon does in You Remind Me Of Me. He's given the reader 3 distinctive main charact...more
I enjoy books that tell a story from the different characters' perspectives. That's what Chaon does in You Remind Me Of Me. He's given the reader 3 distinctive main charact...more
This was a huge disappointment, perhaps because I was so excited about the more recent book, "Await Your Reply", which I thought was superb. I liked it so much that I decided to start reading all of Dan Chaon's books. This one, about 2 brothers, had a lot of intriguing situations to build on, but in the end it was just too sad. The mother, as an unwed teenage mother, is convinced to give up her baby for adoption and later has another child which she keeps. The problem is that the adopted child h...more
I wasn’t a big fan of the way the story was written, but I had to read it for book club so I pushed through it…wasn’t easy. There are 3 different story lines to follow however they interwoven. A boy is raised in the shadows of the son given up for adoption. After his mom dies he goes on a search to find this brother. The brother is a bartender/drug dealer whose world revolves around his son. This little boy is a big part of the relationship between the two men.
Dec 10, 2010
Oceana2602
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2010,
male-writers
This book would have been a hell of a lot better if I hadn't been spoiled for the whole story by description on the cover. Seriously, who puts ALL of the story of a book as a summary on the cover?
As it is, I can only assume that the book would have been better if I hadn't known the story beforehand, thus getting incredibly bored about one third through, when I realised that really, that summary on the cover, that's all there is. And the way leading up to it really isn't all that spectacular. Fai...more
As it is, I can only assume that the book would have been better if I hadn't known the story beforehand, thus getting incredibly bored about one third through, when I realised that really, that summary on the cover, that's all there is. And the way leading up to it really isn't all that spectacular. Fai...more
One of my favorite books to recommend. It's not a difficult read, but the character development is fantastic. It's about trying to find a connection with someone else (and, in some cases, simply anyone else). I ache for some of the characters who try to do the right thing but can't escape the mistakes they nonetheless make. It's much better than I make it sound. Does it help to learn the author is from Ohio?
You Remind Me of Me is simple and sad and honest.
The characters are all so pitiful with really unfortunate lives, yet each story is poetic in its honesty. It sort of has an awareness like: "Life sucks but the sun still shines." Anyway, it was a nice book.
In fact, it is the first book I have loved in a long long time (ever since Middlesex blew all other published materials out of the water).
The characters are all so pitiful with really unfortunate lives, yet each story is poetic in its honesty. It sort of has an awareness like: "Life sucks but the sun still shines." Anyway, it was a nice book.
In fact, it is the first book I have loved in a long long time (ever since Middlesex blew all other published materials out of the water).
I picked up You Remind Me of Me at the library after I had finished Dan Chaon's newest book, Await Your Reply. I wanted to read another book by Chaon because I had enjoyed Await so much while I was reading it yet felt a little disappointed at the end. I really do like the way he writes - I know it's just a matter of time before I find the book that blows me away.
You Remind Me of Me is similar to Await Your Reply in that it deals with the theme of identity. A young man, raised by a single mother...more
You Remind Me of Me is similar to Await Your Reply in that it deals with the theme of identity. A young man, raised by a single mother...more
This book really picked up in the second half. Chaon is an amazing writer, and the book is a lovely, although depressing, read. I suppose I would have liked to know the characters a little better from the beginning. It took a while to figure out their motivations, which is of course because they themselves can't figure out their motivations, but as a reader I would have appreciated more insight given that the story is not a first-person narrative. I should also admit that, in the end, I was not...more
Borrowed this from someone while I was in transit from Spain to Switzerland because my English-language options were limited. I had low expectations -- basically I thought it would be disposable chick lit, I kept thinking I recognized the author's name from something else (I think I was confusing him with Meg Cabot, which makes no sense, but I wasn't working on a lot of sleep here).
But I enjoyed this book. The mood and setting and honest flawed relationships between fucked-up parents and their...more
But I enjoyed this book. The mood and setting and honest flawed relationships between fucked-up parents and their...more
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Dan Chaon is the author of Among the Missing, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and You Remind Me of Me, which was named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, and Entertainment Weekly, among other publications. Chaon’s fiction has appeared in many journals and anthologies, including Best Ame...more
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“Sometimes he thinks that if he could only trace the path of his life carefully enough, everything would become clear. The ways that he screwed up would make sense. He closes his eyes tightly. His life wasn't always a mistake, he thinks, and he breathes uncertainly for awhile, trying to find a pathway into unconsciousness, into sleep. ”
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9 people liked it
“How can you come to understand your life when even the beginning is so complicated: a single cell imprinted with the color of your eyes and the shape of your face the pattern on your palm and the moods that will shadow you through your life. How can you be alive when every choice you make breaks the world into a thousand filaments each careless step branching into long tributaries of alternate lives shuddering outward and outward like sheet lightning.”
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6 people liked it
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Dec 19, 2011 05:10am
Oops. Sorry Lindsey.
Dec 19, 2011 09:35am
Dec 22, 2011 06:42pm