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We the Animals
In this award-winning, groundbreaking debut, Justin Torres plunges us into the chaotic heart of one family, the intense bonds of three brothers, and the mythic effects of this fierce love on the people we must become.
Three brothers tear their way through childhood— smashing tomatoes all over each other, building kites from trash, hiding out when their parents do battle, tiptoeing around the house as their mother sleeps off her graveyard shift. Paps and Ma are from Brooklyn—he’s Puerto Rican, she’s white—and their love is a serious, dangerous thing that makes and unmakes a family many times. Life in this family is fierce and absorbing, full of chaos and heartbreak and the euphoria of belonging completely to one another. From the intense familial unity felt by a child to the profound alienation he endures as he begins to see the world, this beautiful novel reinvents the coming-of-age story in a way that is sly and punch-in-the-stomach powerful.
Three brothers tear their way through childhood— smashing tomatoes all over each other, building kites from trash, hiding out when their parents do battle, tiptoeing around the house as their mother sleeps off her graveyard shift. Paps and Ma are from Brooklyn—he’s Puerto Rican, she’s white—and their love is a serious, dangerous thing that makes and unmakes a family many times. Life in this family is fierce and absorbing, full of chaos and heartbreak and the euphoria of belonging completely to one another. From the intense familial unity felt by a child to the profound alienation he endures as he begins to see the world, this beautiful novel reinvents the coming-of-age story in a way that is sly and punch-in-the-stomach powerful.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published September 2, 2011
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40194 people want to read
About the author
Justin Torres
15 books1,094 followersJUSTIN TORRES grew up in upstate New York. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Tin House, Glimmer Train, and other publications. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he is a recipient of the Rolón United States Artist Fellowship in Literature, and is now a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford. He has worked as a farmhand, a dog-walker, a creative writing teacher, and a bookseller.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,719 reviews
September 12, 2024
Harsh, raw, powerful, uplifting, depressing, disappointing, brilliant. This tale of three brothers and their parents is told in the form of 19 chapters or short stories and it will generate a response.
Justin Torres - image from WPSU at Penn State
There are times when the writing seems forced, clumsy or uninformed. In one story, The Lake, the boys' mother, from Brooklyn, claims that no one swims in Brooklyn. May I direct your attention to the southern edge of the borough, home to Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, and with ready access to Rockaway, Far Rockaway, and more should one care to venture eastward, not to mention more than one or two public pools for those with an aversion to salt. Those massive moving clumps that blot the sand from view every summer are not walruses. And there are some of us NYC natives who have ventured into one or more of the rivers that entwine the city, although not all having dropped into the questionable waters after swinging out over them on a rope. While it is theoretically possible for someone from Brooklyn to claim that no one swims there, one might be tempted to check that person's cranium for recent damage. Another tale has a father physically bathe a nearly grown son who has engaged in particularly troubling behavior. While we may appreciate the significance of the character's need to cleanse his child of the stains on his soul, and maybe even for that youth to be reborn in some way, that this young man would sit still for such a thing is so inconceivable that spotlights glare onto the author's manipulation of his characters and loudspeakers practically bark “Stop that metaphor.” Clearly this bit was workshopped to death, or maybe not workshopepd enough. Don’t get me wrong. I am a huge fan of imagery, literary reference and all the toys and trickery good writing can employ. But don’t force characters to behave in ways that are not credible to make a literary point. Peg, square, circle, round.
These examples sit cheek by jewel with others that sparkle, stories, and ideas that struck me as clever, insightful, sometimes brilliant. The boys, in their playing, act out imagined conversations between their parents, clearly informed by what they had overheard. In another, the boys are bad little rabbits, stealing from a local farmer's garden, and being nabbed by the equivalent of Mister McGregor. Torres uses the boys play with kites to introduce their contemplation of fate and god. That their attempts to rise above their dreary existence were constructed of trash adds to the poignance.
Torres offers a harsh look at life at the economic and social periphery. There is much breakage in this coming of age tale, food, belongings, people. Their parents are often absent, whether it is dad who takes off for extended periods, or mom who vanishes down a well of depression. The boys are nearly feral at times, animals indeed. There is violence and sex aplenty, some of it tough to read. More importantly there is a picture of what surviving looks like at the lower end, and feeling, a lot of feeling. This is more than a demonstration of writing technique. These stories are alive with emotion.
I was reminded at times of David Vann in how harsh, how bleak an image we are offered of this piece of our world, and also of Vann's brilliance in using a challenging environment and dark behavior to illustrate the human condition. Also Stephen Graham jones's look at life at the fringes, in Mongrels, for example. Torres is a gifted writer who needs to hone his creative edges somewhat, maybe engage a more demanding editor, or maybe listen to the one he has. But the raw material is there. Much of his talent shows through in We the Animals. I expect that there is masterpiece work ahead for Mister Torres.
Review first posted in 2012
Links to Torres' personal site and an interview at The Odyssey Bookshop
Justin Torres - image from WPSU at Penn State
There are times when the writing seems forced, clumsy or uninformed. In one story, The Lake, the boys' mother, from Brooklyn, claims that no one swims in Brooklyn. May I direct your attention to the southern edge of the borough, home to Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, and with ready access to Rockaway, Far Rockaway, and more should one care to venture eastward, not to mention more than one or two public pools for those with an aversion to salt. Those massive moving clumps that blot the sand from view every summer are not walruses. And there are some of us NYC natives who have ventured into one or more of the rivers that entwine the city, although not all having dropped into the questionable waters after swinging out over them on a rope. While it is theoretically possible for someone from Brooklyn to claim that no one swims there, one might be tempted to check that person's cranium for recent damage. Another tale has a father physically bathe a nearly grown son who has engaged in particularly troubling behavior. While we may appreciate the significance of the character's need to cleanse his child of the stains on his soul, and maybe even for that youth to be reborn in some way, that this young man would sit still for such a thing is so inconceivable that spotlights glare onto the author's manipulation of his characters and loudspeakers practically bark “Stop that metaphor.” Clearly this bit was workshopped to death, or maybe not workshopepd enough. Don’t get me wrong. I am a huge fan of imagery, literary reference and all the toys and trickery good writing can employ. But don’t force characters to behave in ways that are not credible to make a literary point. Peg, square, circle, round.
These examples sit cheek by jewel with others that sparkle, stories, and ideas that struck me as clever, insightful, sometimes brilliant. The boys, in their playing, act out imagined conversations between their parents, clearly informed by what they had overheard. In another, the boys are bad little rabbits, stealing from a local farmer's garden, and being nabbed by the equivalent of Mister McGregor. Torres uses the boys play with kites to introduce their contemplation of fate and god. That their attempts to rise above their dreary existence were constructed of trash adds to the poignance.
Torres offers a harsh look at life at the economic and social periphery. There is much breakage in this coming of age tale, food, belongings, people. Their parents are often absent, whether it is dad who takes off for extended periods, or mom who vanishes down a well of depression. The boys are nearly feral at times, animals indeed. There is violence and sex aplenty, some of it tough to read. More importantly there is a picture of what surviving looks like at the lower end, and feeling, a lot of feeling. This is more than a demonstration of writing technique. These stories are alive with emotion.
I was reminded at times of David Vann in how harsh, how bleak an image we are offered of this piece of our world, and also of Vann's brilliance in using a challenging environment and dark behavior to illustrate the human condition. Also Stephen Graham jones's look at life at the fringes, in Mongrels, for example. Torres is a gifted writer who needs to hone his creative edges somewhat, maybe engage a more demanding editor, or maybe listen to the one he has. But the raw material is there. Much of his talent shows through in We the Animals. I expect that there is masterpiece work ahead for Mister Torres.
Review first posted in 2012
Links to Torres' personal site and an interview at The Odyssey Bookshop
October 19, 2023
I usually find something to commend on most every book I read, some aspect that strikes the right note. Sadly, this is one of two books I’ve read (to completion) in the past five years(that was hailed and cooed by the titans of publishing)that I thought was good on social justice but poor on story/writing. This unimpressive debut generated out-of-the-gate praise because of politics, a pretense of social importance. As stereotypical as it is, it is surprisingly anointed. I have to wonder who is praising? Caucasians?
The voice of the “wide-eyed” narrator is twee and over-precious, self-conscious to a point where it distracts, and beseeches the audience to sympathize. I kept hearing, “Don’t you just want to hug me? Look at how casually I present the facts!” There is little nuance to the text; the narrator abrades with ongoing exposition, telegraphing characteristics, disallowing the reader to form any conclusions through the spaces between words, the place where readers reside. As pin thin as the characters are, Torres uses an insistency to grind in the message, “Look at this poverty. Look how these kids persist despite their circumstances. How utterly they play.”
The prose, paradoxically, is workshopped to death, overbaked, yet undercooked, flat and borrowed. Every phrase, sentence, passage is filled with clichés and shopworn images. The prose, like the characters and voice, is derivative, a copy-and-paste fulfillment that cloyingly coated my tongue with artificial grime. This comes across as a YA book, but rated R. The graphic parts are sure to elicit oohs and ahs, but are gratuitous, attempting the pretense of natural. The text was dull, and droned like a metronome, without the peaks and valleys that subtle prose provides.
A weak story is not strengthened by exaggeration and melodrama. It is difficult to specifically point out these problems and yet circumnavigate spoilers. But, Torres fabricated medical law as a story contrivance. I know the law and procedures, and the laws at the time of this story. (The fact that VCRs were around, even in poverty-stricken sectors, allows a rough time estimate.) He presented it as if it were the Draconian laws of the 50’s. That was irresponsible.
I hope Torres refines his writing skills. Each chapter, or vignette, was repetitive. I learned nothing new between page 29 and page 99, other than graphic, shock-value facts, told without subtlety. (The denouement was simply UN-shocking and flaccid).
It felt like he was saying, “I’m edgy and unconventional, and that makes it literature.” He was coy and gimmicky, leaving out facts (like dates and ages) without purpose. His disjointed integration was to synthetically sway, rather than convey, another artifice that undermined the work. The finale read as if someone in the bookbinding department accidentally left out some pages, and then the editors embraced its “edginess.” Reductive, pointless, not even emotionally evocative, because he didn’t create any atmosphere, tone, or texture that moved me.
The voice of the “wide-eyed” narrator is twee and over-precious, self-conscious to a point where it distracts, and beseeches the audience to sympathize. I kept hearing, “Don’t you just want to hug me? Look at how casually I present the facts!” There is little nuance to the text; the narrator abrades with ongoing exposition, telegraphing characteristics, disallowing the reader to form any conclusions through the spaces between words, the place where readers reside. As pin thin as the characters are, Torres uses an insistency to grind in the message, “Look at this poverty. Look how these kids persist despite their circumstances. How utterly they play.”
The prose, paradoxically, is workshopped to death, overbaked, yet undercooked, flat and borrowed. Every phrase, sentence, passage is filled with clichés and shopworn images. The prose, like the characters and voice, is derivative, a copy-and-paste fulfillment that cloyingly coated my tongue with artificial grime. This comes across as a YA book, but rated R. The graphic parts are sure to elicit oohs and ahs, but are gratuitous, attempting the pretense of natural. The text was dull, and droned like a metronome, without the peaks and valleys that subtle prose provides.
A weak story is not strengthened by exaggeration and melodrama. It is difficult to specifically point out these problems and yet circumnavigate spoilers. But, Torres fabricated medical law as a story contrivance. I know the law and procedures, and the laws at the time of this story. (The fact that VCRs were around, even in poverty-stricken sectors, allows a rough time estimate.) He presented it as if it were the Draconian laws of the 50’s. That was irresponsible.
I hope Torres refines his writing skills. Each chapter, or vignette, was repetitive. I learned nothing new between page 29 and page 99, other than graphic, shock-value facts, told without subtlety. (The denouement was simply UN-shocking and flaccid).
It felt like he was saying, “I’m edgy and unconventional, and that makes it literature.” He was coy and gimmicky, leaving out facts (like dates and ages) without purpose. His disjointed integration was to synthetically sway, rather than convey, another artifice that undermined the work. The finale read as if someone in the bookbinding department accidentally left out some pages, and then the editors embraced its “edginess.” Reductive, pointless, not even emotionally evocative, because he didn’t create any atmosphere, tone, or texture that moved me.
April 20, 2013
This is a gorgeous book with fierce ideas. The family is exceptionally rendered and race and sexuality are approached in new ways here. Torres does a fine job of capturing the rambunctious energy of young boys being raised rough by parents who don't quite get it right with their children or each other.
Where this book falters is in that it is meager. It is not as fleshed out as it needs to be and there's a bit of a twist at the end of the book that is rushed and out of place when it doesn't need to be that way. I highly recommend this book, but I wish I could have read the book that was twice as long, and twice as well considered.
Where this book falters is in that it is meager. It is not as fleshed out as it needs to be and there's a bit of a twist at the end of the book that is rushed and out of place when it doesn't need to be that way. I highly recommend this book, but I wish I could have read the book that was twice as long, and twice as well considered.
October 26, 2020
Ok. I get it. I get why three people TOTAL have recommended this one to me. It is the shortest type of experience, the most meaningful for its inherent scarcity-- a novella. It can be read during one dull hour, perhaps two. This way, the author is assured at least ONE TRUE reading of his work, which is powerful to say the least. But isn't there-- very much like the wave of Latin music in the late 90's--a new wave of Puerto Rican authors given a voice? Junot won the Pulitzer during the last decade... there is definitely a niche in the industry for new voices which give to the masses the P.R. flavor most contemporary readers seem to crave. Therefore we have "We the Animals", a novel which does not erase from the public mindset the image of the all-Macho, ultra libidinous Latin Man (just as all the Irish novels about impoverished families contain one or multiple boozing dads). When will we get the heart-wrenching portrayal of a Mexican-American kid with professionals as parents and a liberal education? We can even attach the coming-out tableau (another one of these & I may have to start reading straight romance!) at the end of it!!
February 16, 2025
This is a very raw and powerful novella, about three mixed race brothers in an impoverished household in Upstate New York.
The narrator is the youngest brother and is unnamed throughout the story
They are wild, hungry boys who are often left untended ..
the dad can’t hold a job and goes out messing around and the mom is depressed and unstable ..she works at night… the parents where young teens when they had the first child and they just seem to not be able to rise up from their condition.
This was really good ….
I need to look for the movie as I’ve read one was made of this story.
The narrator is the youngest brother and is unnamed throughout the story
They are wild, hungry boys who are often left untended ..
the dad can’t hold a job and goes out messing around and the mom is depressed and unstable ..she works at night… the parents where young teens when they had the first child and they just seem to not be able to rise up from their condition.
This was really good ….
I need to look for the movie as I’ve read one was made of this story.
December 10, 2011
Pretty damn tremendous.
A lyrical evocation of a strange, violent, impoverished childhood, with the rough edges sanded off by language so that the whole book has the feel of a fever dream. The chapters are each self-contained short stories, more or less, each like a stiff shot of whiskey, each a glimpse of some event in the lives of a poor family growing up in Northern New York a few decades past.
Some readers complain about the language being "over workshopped," but I think that's a bunk bit of whining. The language here is strong and powerful and, sure, consistently keeps the reader off-balance. But so what? A more straightforward, transparent style would have made this story unbearable and like a crappy Wally Lamb book. Instead, the relentless intensity of the writing creates a quality of distant events recalled and transformed by memory, given a mythic sheen by the brain to make the events safer and less toxic.
A few other readers complain that the book indulges in stereotypes—poor Puerto Rican family! domestic violence! etc. etc.—but that's a bit of an empty accusation. Stereotypes are the shorthand lazy writers use to manipulate readers, and nowhere does this book feel lazy or manipulative. It's not a social expose, no, but it's not trucking in easy stereotypes, either. The troubling things in this story just are. They're not deployed to curry reader sympathy or explain character actions or any such thing; they are just part of the world this narrator survives.
The one weakness may be the ending, which does feel a bit unforeshadowed. So: a flawed masterpiece.
A lyrical evocation of a strange, violent, impoverished childhood, with the rough edges sanded off by language so that the whole book has the feel of a fever dream. The chapters are each self-contained short stories, more or less, each like a stiff shot of whiskey, each a glimpse of some event in the lives of a poor family growing up in Northern New York a few decades past.
Some readers complain about the language being "over workshopped," but I think that's a bunk bit of whining. The language here is strong and powerful and, sure, consistently keeps the reader off-balance. But so what? A more straightforward, transparent style would have made this story unbearable and like a crappy Wally Lamb book. Instead, the relentless intensity of the writing creates a quality of distant events recalled and transformed by memory, given a mythic sheen by the brain to make the events safer and less toxic.
A few other readers complain that the book indulges in stereotypes—poor Puerto Rican family! domestic violence! etc. etc.—but that's a bit of an empty accusation. Stereotypes are the shorthand lazy writers use to manipulate readers, and nowhere does this book feel lazy or manipulative. It's not a social expose, no, but it's not trucking in easy stereotypes, either. The troubling things in this story just are. They're not deployed to curry reader sympathy or explain character actions or any such thing; they are just part of the world this narrator survives.
The one weakness may be the ending, which does feel a bit unforeshadowed. So: a flawed masterpiece.
August 7, 2018
I reviewed We The Animals for Guernica Magazine - over the years, it has become a very important book in my understanding of contemporary fiction. The film comes out this month, so now it is a perfect time to read it! https://www.guernicamag.com/a-little-...
March 14, 2019
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
Since my daily commute is so short and I only listen to audio books in the car Monday-Friday, I’m always struggling to find a selection that works for me. When I saw my friend Matthew’s review of We the Animals, I thought it might be a good fit. I also thought it was a young adult book for some reason, but soon realized . . . . .
While the characters in this story are children, the content most definitely is not and focuses on growing up in a poor, mixed-race, abusive family in Brooklyn. Confession: I still thought it was a YA story until the parents had sex in front of their children, at which point . . . .
And logged onto Goodreads to confirm that this was not a children’s book.
This was a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed the vignette style of storytelling that presented snapshots of time rather than a flowing story – more so probably due to this being such a short book. I appreciate storytellers who don’t pull punches and are as brutal as necessary for the subject matter that they are presenting. But I don’t like writing that doesn’t feel effortless and Justin Torres most certainly was trying VERY HARD here. Almost like it was the last requirement before receiving his Masters in Fine Arts. The timeline also was hard to wrap my brain around. The reader is informed at the beginning that the children are “stair steps” of a sort with the youngest (our narrator) being around 7. By the end of the book (and the couple of big “shock and awe” entries which focus on a completely different subject matter than the first 80-90% of the book), I thought that same child might be around 16. There aren’t really any “in between” sort of selections to indicate age progression – you just make the hop. That was jarring enough, but it would make the older brothers of adult age and yet they are still present in the family home. I didn’t buy that one bit and it made other moments jump back to the forefront of my mind that had rang out as inauthentic as well.
In the end, this falls under . . . . .
And receives a satisfactory 3 Star rating.
Since my daily commute is so short and I only listen to audio books in the car Monday-Friday, I’m always struggling to find a selection that works for me. When I saw my friend Matthew’s review of We the Animals, I thought it might be a good fit. I also thought it was a young adult book for some reason, but soon realized . . . . .
While the characters in this story are children, the content most definitely is not and focuses on growing up in a poor, mixed-race, abusive family in Brooklyn. Confession: I still thought it was a YA story until the parents had sex in front of their children, at which point . . . .
And logged onto Goodreads to confirm that this was not a children’s book.
This was a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed the vignette style of storytelling that presented snapshots of time rather than a flowing story – more so probably due to this being such a short book. I appreciate storytellers who don’t pull punches and are as brutal as necessary for the subject matter that they are presenting. But I don’t like writing that doesn’t feel effortless and Justin Torres most certainly was trying VERY HARD here. Almost like it was the last requirement before receiving his Masters in Fine Arts. The timeline also was hard to wrap my brain around. The reader is informed at the beginning that the children are “stair steps” of a sort with the youngest (our narrator) being around 7. By the end of the book (and the couple of big “shock and awe” entries which focus on a completely different subject matter than the first 80-90% of the book), I thought that same child might be around 16. There aren’t really any “in between” sort of selections to indicate age progression – you just make the hop. That was jarring enough, but it would make the older brothers of adult age and yet they are still present in the family home. I didn’t buy that one bit and it made other moments jump back to the forefront of my mind that had rang out as inauthentic as well.
In the end, this falls under . . . . .
And receives a satisfactory 3 Star rating.
October 15, 2011
Here's a review in keeping with the half-baked animal theme supposedly running through this "novel": this book is horseshit. As both a homosexual and a publishing professional, I am ashamed that this is what is considered laudable queer literature these days. This is an intermittently interesting but preciously overwrought series of writing exercises in that unpleasant, twee, self-fellating "MFA style" we know and hate, haphazardly strung together so it eventually gags on its own crap like in The Human Centipede. At the end there is of course a convoluted, manhandled, and cliched moment of sexual awakening (of a never-before alluded to sexuality) that was so pointless and inept it made me want to go back in the closet.
I'm not ashamed I bought this glorified bit of firewood [trivia: "faggot" is an olde English term for a bundle of kindling] because I am always happy to give $18 to the wonderful Spoonbill & Sugartown Books, but I'm telling you now, you're an idiot if you drop the cost of a round of beers for 3 friends on this. If I see you out in the world even eyeing this book, I will first take $5 from your pocket as a moron tax and then make you spend the balance on the new Dennis Cooper novel.
PS. I know two does not a trend make, but with this book by Justin Torres and Tango by Justin Vivian Bond both battling it out for the crown of Queen of the Overhyped Gay Short Story Masquerading As an Actual Novel, it's clear one should give a wide berth to anything by queers named Justin.
I'm not ashamed I bought this glorified bit of firewood [trivia: "faggot" is an olde English term for a bundle of kindling] because I am always happy to give $18 to the wonderful Spoonbill & Sugartown Books, but I'm telling you now, you're an idiot if you drop the cost of a round of beers for 3 friends on this. If I see you out in the world even eyeing this book, I will first take $5 from your pocket as a moron tax and then make you spend the balance on the new Dennis Cooper novel.
PS. I know two does not a trend make, but with this book by Justin Torres and Tango by Justin Vivian Bond both battling it out for the crown of Queen of the Overhyped Gay Short Story Masquerading As an Actual Novel, it's clear one should give a wide berth to anything by queers named Justin.
February 17, 2015
Self-regardingly box-ticking like a preening popinjay of American literary workshops (oh how I loathe that word), We the Animals bounds into our readerly arena like a snow leopard but it turns out to be your neighbour’s moggy with an off-white rug draped over it.
I thought it wasn’t anywhere near the five-star foams nor yet the one-star fleshtearing burn-the-witch gnashes neither. It was a damned 3 star not-bad what-else-have-you-got kind of God-damned normally novelised autobiography/shortstorycollection bookmeld which has been going on since at least Dandelion Wine by Ray (now there was a writer) Bradbury in 1957 and prolly way back b4 that too, I could wiki that but I dint.
The thing is, we is totally spoiled with great current American writers of Heisenbergian crystal blue prose, you have heard me radiate on this subject many times so I will just mention in passing MatthewKlamRustyBarnesJunotDiazDonaldRayPollockHarperJordanGeorgeSaundersAlissaNuttingthat’s enough but I could GO ON and Justin Torres is all right but not there yet.
Boxes ticked in this novel :
Voice of an ethnic minority – check
Gay – check
Extreme poverty – check
Working class – check
Arse-end of America – check
Elliptical style beloved by little magazines and award ceremonies – check
We will see about Mr Torres when he produces his Difficult Second Album.
July 24, 2023
I think this book did a great job of portraying the effects of poverty, toxic masculinity, and dysfunctional parenting on three boys’ coming of age. Unfortunately, I found the book rather bare – I felt that the prose was lyrical to the point of vagueness which made it hard to connect to the characters. It’s clear the author put his heart into this novel, though I think other authors have written about similar topics with more specificity and precision.
August 2, 2011
We the Animals is about three "half-breed" brothers being brought up in Brooklyn by a Puerto Rican dad and a white mother. Why animals, you ask? As one might expect in these dysfunctional-families-equal-sales times, "Paps" likes to beat the ever living purgatory out of "Ma" and occasionally, for good measure, out of his little hellions, too. At the novella's (talking 125 pp., folks) start, the narrator son is, at age 7, the youngest, and the three amigos are separated by three years.
This fact carries some weight, considering the voice of the book. It is, for a first-person plural ("we" as in the boys collectively) which transitions to a first-person singular ("I" as in the youngest son) point of view, quite sophisticated. TOO sophisticated. Author Justin Torres might take refuge in the fact that he is an adult looking back, but that wouldn't explain some of the more mature and clever words the boys mutter in the dialogue. By the rules of narrative, dialogue is embedded in time, after all.
This is one of those "vignettes strung together as an excuse for a novel" books that have increased in popularity of late. In fact, the whole time I was reading it, I kept saying, "Torres is writing a boys' POV version of Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street, only not as well." The language certainly has that sometimes poetic, sometimes workshop colony air to it. Torres is a product of the famous (and, in publishing circles, self-perpetuating) Iowa Writers' Workshop (among others). He thanks many at the end, including one of his writing teachers, the famous Michael Cunningham. Surprise, surprise -- on the cover we get a blurb from this well known writer (his initials are "Michael Cunningham") that states, "we the animals is a dark jewel of a book. It's heartbreaking. It's beautiful. It resembles no other book I've read [Editor's Note: Apparently he hasn't read The House on Mango Street]. We should all be grateful for a brilliant, ferocious new voice." Apparently cut off during printing was the ending, "... who I happened to mentor, thus making him easier to discover."
Looking at Cunningham's blurb, I see that Torres comes by his penchant for anaphora honestly. Another Torres strength, when kept in check, is cascading participial phrases, sometimes in twos, sometimes in threes or fours. I'm not saying the book lacks good writing. It's in there, if you care to pan for it. What really jolts the reader, taking this book as a whole, is how it shifts from a coming-of-age story with rather violent parents (say, for 85% of the short way) to an entirely different kind of coming-of-age story at the end. That's right. In the last three or four vignettes, Torres springs some new information on us and this causes the family to act in ways that not all will buy, whether they're packing plastic or not. Honestly. I had the literary equivalent of American Express in my pocket and I was rolling my eyes. "No, no, no! In the first place, you're shifting gears too late and too suddenly. If you WANT to try and pull this off, you might need an additional 50 pp. to transition us to it." But no one listens to readers reading in a void. The writer-reader transaction is a mute one, alas.
Anyway, I guess this "new information" might be considered a "spoiler," so I'll leave it at that. What I won't leave is how it became a "spoiler" of another sort -- the type that spoils a book that was actually trying to be something.
This fact carries some weight, considering the voice of the book. It is, for a first-person plural ("we" as in the boys collectively) which transitions to a first-person singular ("I" as in the youngest son) point of view, quite sophisticated. TOO sophisticated. Author Justin Torres might take refuge in the fact that he is an adult looking back, but that wouldn't explain some of the more mature and clever words the boys mutter in the dialogue. By the rules of narrative, dialogue is embedded in time, after all.
This is one of those "vignettes strung together as an excuse for a novel" books that have increased in popularity of late. In fact, the whole time I was reading it, I kept saying, "Torres is writing a boys' POV version of Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street, only not as well." The language certainly has that sometimes poetic, sometimes workshop colony air to it. Torres is a product of the famous (and, in publishing circles, self-perpetuating) Iowa Writers' Workshop (among others). He thanks many at the end, including one of his writing teachers, the famous Michael Cunningham. Surprise, surprise -- on the cover we get a blurb from this well known writer (his initials are "Michael Cunningham") that states, "we the animals is a dark jewel of a book. It's heartbreaking. It's beautiful. It resembles no other book I've read [Editor's Note: Apparently he hasn't read The House on Mango Street]. We should all be grateful for a brilliant, ferocious new voice." Apparently cut off during printing was the ending, "... who I happened to mentor, thus making him easier to discover."
Looking at Cunningham's blurb, I see that Torres comes by his penchant for anaphora honestly. Another Torres strength, when kept in check, is cascading participial phrases, sometimes in twos, sometimes in threes or fours. I'm not saying the book lacks good writing. It's in there, if you care to pan for it. What really jolts the reader, taking this book as a whole, is how it shifts from a coming-of-age story with rather violent parents (say, for 85% of the short way) to an entirely different kind of coming-of-age story at the end. That's right. In the last three or four vignettes, Torres springs some new information on us and this causes the family to act in ways that not all will buy, whether they're packing plastic or not. Honestly. I had the literary equivalent of American Express in my pocket and I was rolling my eyes. "No, no, no! In the first place, you're shifting gears too late and too suddenly. If you WANT to try and pull this off, you might need an additional 50 pp. to transition us to it." But no one listens to readers reading in a void. The writer-reader transaction is a mute one, alas.
Anyway, I guess this "new information" might be considered a "spoiler," so I'll leave it at that. What I won't leave is how it became a "spoiler" of another sort -- the type that spoils a book that was actually trying to be something.
November 9, 2025
So good. Such an incredible economy of words. Tight. Dynamic. Full of heart. I was so taken by how Torres could render full humans on the page in one or two sentences.
December 27, 2019
"Always more, always hungrily scratching for more."
I started reading this just before I had to switch off the light, but had to finish this raw, heartbreaking novel in one sitting - luckily for me it comes in at under 150 pages.
I was hooked by the poetic yet urgent quality of the writing from page one, and I thought the we/us POV of the three brothers in many parts of the book was unique and powerful.
What I loved most about this book (except for the exquisite writing) is that the author portrays the family situation exactly as a young child would experience and react to it. There is also no judgement made on anyone, as everyone is doing the best they can in a bad situation.
My only issue with this book is that the ending felt accelerated and in some sense disconnected from the rest of the story, but other than that I thought this novel was flawless. Highly recommended.
"We hit and we kept on hitting; we were allowed to be what we were, frightened and vengeful - little animals, clawing at what we needed."
September 13, 2018
This short (128 pages) novel with its first person plural (we, not I) narrator proceeds through short snapshot chapters to tell the story of three brothers (the we) growing up in a quasi-dysfuntional family in upstate NY state. The father (Paps) is Puerto Rican and the mother is white (no more details available); both are from Brooklyn and moved upstate after their very early marriage (he 16, she 14). Both parents work at what jobs they can get, and the three boys bring themselves up in those long stretches where no one's watching them. Even though the narrator is plural, it's clear that the youngest of the brothers is the main narrator. We see everything through his eyes.
While the story of this family fascinates, it's the language of the writer that sets the book apart. Torres writes an electric and poetic prose, which is sometimes excessive but mostly in the sweet spot. By the end, as the brothers grow from the pack of animals in the title to separated characters; at least the youngest has clearly taken his separate path, his difference acknowledged, if not always appreciated, by his family. Strong story in a short space.
09/12/18 Just got back from the movie theater after seeing We the Animals directed by Jeremiah Zagar. Definitely worth seeing as Zagar uses stunning images to replace language as his way of recreating the poetry of the novel. Fine work by all involved; go see it. Read the book too. I wasn't the only one in the theater called there by a love for the book.
While the story of this family fascinates, it's the language of the writer that sets the book apart. Torres writes an electric and poetic prose, which is sometimes excessive but mostly in the sweet spot. By the end, as the brothers grow from the pack of animals in the title to separated characters; at least the youngest has clearly taken his separate path, his difference acknowledged, if not always appreciated, by his family. Strong story in a short space.
09/12/18 Just got back from the movie theater after seeing We the Animals directed by Jeremiah Zagar. Definitely worth seeing as Zagar uses stunning images to replace language as his way of recreating the poetry of the novel. Fine work by all involved; go see it. Read the book too. I wasn't the only one in the theater called there by a love for the book.
October 20, 2019
Our October bookclub choice and we have now met so I can share my thoughts.
An autobiographical tale, author Justin Torress' unnamed narrator tells us about three brothers in a series of vignettes that shows their upbringing. At first, the three are inseparable and then as time wears on our narrator finds himself more "other" than a part of "we."
Like my fellow bookclub members, I was invested until the author took a side road to complete the arc of his story that many of us weren't expecting. We all admitted that we did a little bit of research online including interviews with the author to get a little bit more of a deeper understanding of what we might have been missing. I am not sure I would have given this book a chance if not for my fellow bookclub members, but it sure did give us a lot to discuss.
Goodreads review published 19/10/19
An autobiographical tale, author Justin Torress' unnamed narrator tells us about three brothers in a series of vignettes that shows their upbringing. At first, the three are inseparable and then as time wears on our narrator finds himself more "other" than a part of "we."
Like my fellow bookclub members, I was invested until the author took a side road to complete the arc of his story that many of us weren't expecting. We all admitted that we did a little bit of research online including interviews with the author to get a little bit more of a deeper understanding of what we might have been missing. I am not sure I would have given this book a chance if not for my fellow bookclub members, but it sure did give us a lot to discuss.
Goodreads review published 19/10/19
November 29, 2011
11/27/11 -started 11/28/11 - finished.
I did not like it. And I'm having a hard time finding the appropriate words to put into description of how it left me feeling. I really didn't like it. I only finished it because it was a short book and because I don't like leaving things unfinished. I so hoped that as I continued to read that there would be more purpose to it than to just say "look at us". It lacked on so many levels and left so many half painted images hanging in space.
This book seemed to be designed purely to shock its readers. Perhaps, even, ride the train to success on the trussels of a way-ward society. Something to give praise or recognition to degradation. This book did not entertain me, inspire me or informe me it merely made me glad it was over.
I'm old fashioned, was raised in old fashion-ness. I strongly believe in active parenting. I did not like the language use here either, but like I said I'm old fashioned. It was excessive in needlessness. Perhaps a picture the author wanted to paint? Well let's hope it hangs on a wall in the back of the museum where the lights stopped working.
I did not like it. And I'm having a hard time finding the appropriate words to put into description of how it left me feeling. I really didn't like it. I only finished it because it was a short book and because I don't like leaving things unfinished. I so hoped that as I continued to read that there would be more purpose to it than to just say "look at us". It lacked on so many levels and left so many half painted images hanging in space.
This book seemed to be designed purely to shock its readers. Perhaps, even, ride the train to success on the trussels of a way-ward society. Something to give praise or recognition to degradation. This book did not entertain me, inspire me or informe me it merely made me glad it was over.
I'm old fashioned, was raised in old fashion-ness. I strongly believe in active parenting. I did not like the language use here either, but like I said I'm old fashioned. It was excessive in needlessness. Perhaps a picture the author wanted to paint? Well let's hope it hangs on a wall in the back of the museum where the lights stopped working.
June 23, 2024
"Listen, and you will hear their whispers floating up towards the house"
A lyrical ode to growing up in a household of where two cultures collide, where toxic masculinity rules, and of where there is a love like no other.
Reminiscent of Sandra Cisneros' "The House on Mango Street", this coming of age novel about blossoming sexuality, amidst chaos, amidst violence is an unforgettable and slim little book.
A lyrical ode to growing up in a household of where two cultures collide, where toxic masculinity rules, and of where there is a love like no other.
Reminiscent of Sandra Cisneros' "The House on Mango Street", this coming of age novel about blossoming sexuality, amidst chaos, amidst violence is an unforgettable and slim little book.
September 12, 2011
I finished reading the novel this afternoon on my back porch among an extended family of potted plants, looking out on their wild cousins.
It’s a short book and I read it slow. I read a chapter before a meal, a chapter on the bus going into the city, I read a chapter in the morning drinking my cup of coffee. I read it quietly and slowly and during the day.
I didn’t read it at night. I quickly understood that reading this book was the opposite of going to sleep. I knew I would want to do more with its energy newly inside me.
We the Animals made me want to stop and appreciate the complexity of living. To remember and savor the small details of a life and to write. It made me remember what writing can do and how reading an exceptional book can, at least temporarily, play with my habits and expectations.
The book is taut and concentrated, it’s clever and simple, and it brought back the dull ache of growing up when I only had a vague notion that life was larger than I could imagine in the small town of my childhood.
We the Animals is about the brothers I never had and therefore about the sisters I did. It’s an avalanche and a meditation. It’s about going on an adventure and how any adventure contains a constant fear and a constant amazement.
I admire the way Torres writes and found myself stopping to appreciate the subtle power of his images but I never lost the flow. It’s a novel that reads like poetry, paying attention to sound and rhythm, but it reads quick like a feast you don’t want to end.
Full review here: http://behindheavydrapes.blogspot.com...
It’s a short book and I read it slow. I read a chapter before a meal, a chapter on the bus going into the city, I read a chapter in the morning drinking my cup of coffee. I read it quietly and slowly and during the day.
I didn’t read it at night. I quickly understood that reading this book was the opposite of going to sleep. I knew I would want to do more with its energy newly inside me.
We the Animals made me want to stop and appreciate the complexity of living. To remember and savor the small details of a life and to write. It made me remember what writing can do and how reading an exceptional book can, at least temporarily, play with my habits and expectations.
The book is taut and concentrated, it’s clever and simple, and it brought back the dull ache of growing up when I only had a vague notion that life was larger than I could imagine in the small town of my childhood.
We the Animals is about the brothers I never had and therefore about the sisters I did. It’s an avalanche and a meditation. It’s about going on an adventure and how any adventure contains a constant fear and a constant amazement.
I admire the way Torres writes and found myself stopping to appreciate the subtle power of his images but I never lost the flow. It’s a novel that reads like poetry, paying attention to sound and rhythm, but it reads quick like a feast you don’t want to end.
Full review here: http://behindheavydrapes.blogspot.com...
October 10, 2011
Very disappointing. This book did not work. The writing was choppy, disjointed, and incoherent. Sometimes authors do this to seem unconventional and unique having some profound insight that makes them seem worthy of greatness. In reality, they are just bad writers. The subject matter was ripe with stereotypes that were quite offensive. A poor Puerto Rican family filled with abuse, violence, and sex. Parents having sex in front of their three young sons, a mother beat up with two black eyes, parents' behavior so erratic they seemed strung out on drugs or alcohol, neglected boys ravaging someone's garden for traces of food. The parents and the children all vocally said how much they wanted to escape from their life. Strange things happening with child pornography and parents molesting their children. One of the sons turns out to be gay. How much drama and insanity can one fit into a 100 page novella? So much so that we are so confused as to the point of it that we regret having wasted our time reading this. There are much better written novels about poverty that actually treat the subject matter seriously and with respect. This is not one of them.
July 12, 2018
Βαθμολογία: 5/10
Δεν έχω να πω και πολλά για το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο, μιας και πέρασε και δεν ακούμπησε. Υποθέτω θα έπρεπε να με κάνει να ενδιαφερθώ για τον πρωταγωνιστή και τα προβλήματά του, από τη στιγμή που μιλάμε για μια κατά κάποιο τρόπο μυθιστορηματική αυτοβιογραφία από τα παιδικά χρόνια του συγγραφέα, όμως οφείλω να παραδεχτώ ότι ούτε που με άγγιξε. Από ένα σημείο και μετά, μάλιστα, θα έλεγα ότι η όλη ανάγνωση του βιβλίου πήρε διαδικαστικό χαρακτήρα. Το στιλ γραφής, ο τρόπος παράθεσης των διαφόρων οικογενειακών περιστατικών, η ατμόσφαιρα, γενικά δεν μου είπαν και πολλά πράγματα. Πως να το πω, ήταν σαν ένα σχετικά πολυσυζητημένο φαγητό, που όταν όμως το δοκίμασα μου φάνηκε τελείως άγευστο και αδιάφορο. Πολύ μέλι και από τηγανίτα τίποτα. Κάπως έτσι. Μελλοντικά ίσως δω την φετινή ομότιτλη ταινία, σίγουρα δεν είμαι προκατειλημμένος εναντίον της.
Δεν έχω να πω και πολλά για το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο, μιας και πέρασε και δεν ακούμπησε. Υποθέτω θα έπρεπε να με κάνει να ενδιαφερθώ για τον πρωταγωνιστή και τα προβλήματά του, από τη στιγμή που μιλάμε για μια κατά κάποιο τρόπο μυθιστορηματική αυτοβιογραφία από τα παιδικά χρόνια του συγγραφέα, όμως οφείλω να παραδεχτώ ότι ούτε που με άγγιξε. Από ένα σημείο και μετά, μάλιστα, θα έλεγα ότι η όλη ανάγνωση του βιβλίου πήρε διαδικαστικό χαρακτήρα. Το στιλ γραφής, ο τρόπος παράθεσης των διαφόρων οικογενειακών περιστατικών, η ατμόσφαιρα, γενικά δεν μου είπαν και πολλά πράγματα. Πως να το πω, ήταν σαν ένα σχετικά πολυσυζητημένο φαγητό, που όταν όμως το δοκίμασα μου φάνηκε τελείως άγευστο και αδιάφορο. Πολύ μέλι και από τηγανίτα τίποτα. Κάπως έτσι. Μελλοντικά ίσως δω την φετινή ομότιτλη ταινία, σίγουρα δεν είμαι προκατειλημμένος εναντίον της.
March 21, 2024
This book reads like a long poem, or a lyrical ‘catcher in the rye.’ The part about the family finding his journal and basically rejecting him for his sexuality was saddening. The parts with the quirky family interactions were the best. The casual mention of violence lost this a star, but it seemed to be the style and the kid’s perspective of things.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2023
By far the best book of 2011. Not sure what to say about those reviewers who believe this book has no literary merit or that Torres is a bad writer. The book is brilliant - yes, it is short. Yes, it is sparse. No, it is not a linear plot, being episodic. But it cuts deeply - if you can set yourself aside for a moment and really sink into the story, imagine what life was like for this family, for this young boy - so different from anyone else he knew.. it seems impossible not to 'get it.' Unfortunately, there are those out there who just don't get it - and I think the negative reviews come from a certain lack of understanding or empathy.
August 20, 2018
view my reviews at http://jenchaosreviews.com
We the Animals is about three brothers soaring through life with ma and paps. They smash tomatoes and lotion on each other, build kites with trash, and hide in the crawlspace while their parents fight. They also have to be silent as their mother sleeps for her graveyard shift at the brewery. Paps and Ma are from Brooklyn- he's Puerto Rican and she's white-their love is a dangerous thing that serious and deep.
Life in this family is utter chaos and dysfunction and growing up isn't easy for the boys. However, they are three and they are one, they belong together and belong to one another and it is a euphoria of its own. From intense familial unity to profound alienation the youngest child endures as he begins to see the world differently than his family does.
Written in a poetic and intense magical language, filled with imagery, this novel is one that is never forgotten.
RATING: 5 stars
REVIEW:
This is the most beautiful book I have ever read! I very rarely read an author that can string prose the way Justton Torres can. He writes of three biracial brothers-Puerto Rican and white- who grow up in the Spanish Harlem of Brooklyn New York. Each chapter catalogs a day that the brothers are together doing something that I couldn't, myself believe. However, the language was poetic and musical. The characters of ma and Paps were and different as night and day. She was a hard worker who saw her boys as her babies, especially the youngest one. The father, saw his boys as men, as most fathers do. The father was a bit like someone who couldn't seem to grow up, just like the brothers.
They were in a dysfunctional impoverished situation, yet, the boys seemed unconcerned, as they continued to do what they pleased. Animals would, later on, be explained in a way that makes the reader chuckle.
The ending was something that I didn't expect, though it made sense. I wish it hadn't ended. However, as with these sorts of stories, I am not sure where else he could have gone with it.
WRITING:
Again, this author is a fabulous writer. He uses a method that I haven't seen since Faulkner. That says a lot. I blew through this book. It wasn't because it was short, it was because the writing was so enjoyable. The story was woven so well and was so poetic and powerful I simply couldn't put it down.
PLOT:
This was written almost like a memoir. So the plot was more like a timeline following the growth of the brothers in a dysfunctional household with odd parents. We see an evolution in each brother. The author is able to show how the environment plays a role in the development of young minds and how some become part of it and how some escape it. He does this very well and shows it until the end of the book.
WHAT I LIKED:
I liked the relationship between the brothers and their father the most. They respected him as their father but mostly feared him because of his physical power. It goes to show that sometimes young people can be swayed by some other things besides intelligence and other deep meaning things. This struck a chord in me. Mr. Torres displayed the mother a weaker person on purpose to show that the boys though respected her, also had a love for her in a mother to son way. They respected their father but did not love him like they loved their mother. Does that make sense?
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
Some parts of the book discussed violence. It did not go into detail in any way. However, it was implied. I was under the impression that the only reason the boys respected the father was that he beat them and beat the mother. I did not like that. It may very well be true in society, however. I also wish the story would have been longer. These would be my only complaints.
We the Animals is about three brothers soaring through life with ma and paps. They smash tomatoes and lotion on each other, build kites with trash, and hide in the crawlspace while their parents fight. They also have to be silent as their mother sleeps for her graveyard shift at the brewery. Paps and Ma are from Brooklyn- he's Puerto Rican and she's white-their love is a dangerous thing that serious and deep.
Life in this family is utter chaos and dysfunction and growing up isn't easy for the boys. However, they are three and they are one, they belong together and belong to one another and it is a euphoria of its own. From intense familial unity to profound alienation the youngest child endures as he begins to see the world differently than his family does.
Written in a poetic and intense magical language, filled with imagery, this novel is one that is never forgotten.
RATING: 5 stars
REVIEW:
This is the most beautiful book I have ever read! I very rarely read an author that can string prose the way Justton Torres can. He writes of three biracial brothers-Puerto Rican and white- who grow up in the Spanish Harlem of Brooklyn New York. Each chapter catalogs a day that the brothers are together doing something that I couldn't, myself believe. However, the language was poetic and musical. The characters of ma and Paps were and different as night and day. She was a hard worker who saw her boys as her babies, especially the youngest one. The father, saw his boys as men, as most fathers do. The father was a bit like someone who couldn't seem to grow up, just like the brothers.
They were in a dysfunctional impoverished situation, yet, the boys seemed unconcerned, as they continued to do what they pleased. Animals would, later on, be explained in a way that makes the reader chuckle.
The ending was something that I didn't expect, though it made sense. I wish it hadn't ended. However, as with these sorts of stories, I am not sure where else he could have gone with it.
WRITING:
Again, this author is a fabulous writer. He uses a method that I haven't seen since Faulkner. That says a lot. I blew through this book. It wasn't because it was short, it was because the writing was so enjoyable. The story was woven so well and was so poetic and powerful I simply couldn't put it down.
PLOT:
This was written almost like a memoir. So the plot was more like a timeline following the growth of the brothers in a dysfunctional household with odd parents. We see an evolution in each brother. The author is able to show how the environment plays a role in the development of young minds and how some become part of it and how some escape it. He does this very well and shows it until the end of the book.
WHAT I LIKED:
I liked the relationship between the brothers and their father the most. They respected him as their father but mostly feared him because of his physical power. It goes to show that sometimes young people can be swayed by some other things besides intelligence and other deep meaning things. This struck a chord in me. Mr. Torres displayed the mother a weaker person on purpose to show that the boys though respected her, also had a love for her in a mother to son way. They respected their father but did not love him like they loved their mother. Does that make sense?
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
Some parts of the book discussed violence. It did not go into detail in any way. However, it was implied. I was under the impression that the only reason the boys respected the father was that he beat them and beat the mother. I did not like that. It may very well be true in society, however. I also wish the story would have been longer. These would be my only complaints.
September 29, 2011
This book was sitting in the pile of galleys up to my knees. It was among the books I handed over to my best friend to borrow and hopefully never return... When she saw it she told me "I think you better keep this one, it looks like something you might like."
OH BOY
This is a BEAUTIFUL, dark, funny, shocking book. It's like a Peurto Rican Catcher in the Rye if you will. Written like a series of connected, yet stand alone short stories it's one of those literary reads that is a pleasure to go through no matter what your tolerance for pace and style. My only complaint about it is that the last few chapters contain a time jump just to create some kind of page-turning conclusion (or so it feels). I liked the end, but I would have preferred it if there was foreshadowing of its twist in the beginning and middle of the book so that the conclusion didn't feel rushed and forced.
OH BOY
This is a BEAUTIFUL, dark, funny, shocking book. It's like a Peurto Rican Catcher in the Rye if you will. Written like a series of connected, yet stand alone short stories it's one of those literary reads that is a pleasure to go through no matter what your tolerance for pace and style. My only complaint about it is that the last few chapters contain a time jump just to create some kind of page-turning conclusion (or so it feels). I liked the end, but I would have preferred it if there was foreshadowing of its twist in the beginning and middle of the book so that the conclusion didn't feel rushed and forced.
April 10, 2012
Three brothers three musketeers mixed race. They talk of their experiences and coming of age, their embarrassments, their fears, their joys and pain. Life in it's truest forms no fake facades, fairy tale stories. Souls that try to survive and be happy against the odds against prejudices and the concrete jungle. The family ups and downs father drinking, father hitting on ma, mum and dad just plain in love. The joys of brotherhood makes you want to be young again surrounded by siblings.
This story was a heart warming treat brutal and a true portrayal of many families, one that would touch your heart and stay with you for a time. This is one story I will be revisiting again some time.
Also here on my webpage
This story was a heart warming treat brutal and a true portrayal of many families, one that would touch your heart and stay with you for a time. This is one story I will be revisiting again some time.
Also here on my webpage
December 30, 2018
12/30/18: Re-read after viewing the acclaimed, award-winning film version, which hews fairly closely to much of the original novel, although the ending in the book is slightly bleaker and more powerful. Although my rating hasn't changed, I was reminded of how highly crafted the book is, which was a complaint from many of the naysayers (... as if sloppy writing were some kind of virtue?). It's too bad Torres has not followed this up with any full-length fiction in the 7 years since publication.
Original review, 2/2/16: Not sure why this is even marketed as a novel, since it is pretty clearly autobiographical - or at least seems to be so. Reviewers appear to either really like it or dismiss it out of hand; I fall in the former category, appreciating the stark language and languid pace of these memories of a troubled childhood. Easily read in one sitting, which probably helps the impact, especially of the last three chapters.
Original review, 2/2/16: Not sure why this is even marketed as a novel, since it is pretty clearly autobiographical - or at least seems to be so. Reviewers appear to either really like it or dismiss it out of hand; I fall in the former category, appreciating the stark language and languid pace of these memories of a troubled childhood. Easily read in one sitting, which probably helps the impact, especially of the last three chapters.
December 1, 2025
so many emotionally charged scenes, but also some scenes put me to sleep. I've come to realize that I really don't like reading from the pov of young/adolescent boys lol, but the writing is phenomenal nonetheless.
May 24, 2023
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وقتی ازت می پرسن چند سالته و تو جواب میدی شیش به علاوه ی یک، یا دو، یا بیشتر، داری بهشون میگی هر چن سالت هم که بشه، پسر کوچولوی مامانت هستی. و اگه تو همیشه پسر کوچولوی من باقی بمونی، همیشه واسه م می می مونی و هیچ وقت ازم خجالت نمی کشی و روتو بر نمی گردونی، نرم و سخت نمی شی و منم مجبور نمی شم دلمو از سنگ کنم.
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کودکی و بازیها و شیطنت های کودکانه، کودکی، زمانی که شخصیت هر آدمی شکل میگیره و رشد میکنه، نوع تربیت و فضای موجود در خانواده. سه برادر این داستان از کودکی خودشون میگن، از مادر مستی که در کارخانه آبجو سازی کار میکنه و هیچوقت برای کنار فرزندان بودن و تربیت اونها حضور نداره. پدری که یا نیست و وقتی هم که هست در حال دعوا و زد و خورد با مادر خونواده اس. توی همچین خونواده ای این سه بچه به بیرون از فضای خانواده پناه میبرن و طبیعتا رفتارهای غیر طبیعیه زیادی ازشون سر میزنه. شخصیت این سه بچه به همین صورت شکل میگیره و روز به روز بزرگتر میشن تا جایی که فرزند کوچکتر خونواده کاملا متفاوت با دو فرزند دیگه رفتار میکنه و همین باعث سرزنش و آزار و اذیت توسط سایر برادرها میشه. بیست صفحه پایانی کتاب کلا همه چی کاملا عوض میشه، که توضیحش باعث لو رفت داستان میشه.
محبت و توجه باید به موقع خودش انجام بشه نه بعد از اینکه تأثیرات نبود توجه و محبت باعث از بین رفتن همه چیز بشه. فصل پایانی کتاب حسن ختام خوبیه برای داستان، باغ وحش، زمانی که فرزند کوچک برای نوازش و آرامش به حیوانات پناه میبره.
وقتی ازت می پرسن چند سالته و تو جواب میدی شیش به علاوه ی یک، یا دو، یا بیشتر، داری بهشون میگی هر چن سالت هم که بشه، پسر کوچولوی مامانت هستی. و اگه تو همیشه پسر کوچولوی من باقی بمونی، همیشه واسه م می می مونی و هیچ وقت ازم خجالت نمی کشی و روتو بر نمی گردونی، نرم و سخت نمی شی و منم مجبور نمی شم دلمو از سنگ کنم.
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کودکی و بازیها و شیطنت های کودکانه، کودکی، زمانی که شخصیت هر آدمی شکل میگیره و رشد میکنه، نوع تربیت و فضای موجود در خانواده. سه برادر این داستان از کودکی خودشون میگن، از مادر مستی که در کارخانه آبجو سازی کار میکنه و هیچوقت برای کنار فرزندان بودن و تربیت اونها حضور نداره. پدری که یا نیست و وقتی هم که هست در حال دعوا و زد و خورد با مادر خونواده اس. توی همچین خونواده ای این سه بچه به بیرون از فضای خانواده پناه میبرن و طبیعتا رفتارهای غیر طبیعیه زیادی ازشون سر میزنه. شخصیت این سه بچه به همین صورت شکل میگیره و روز به روز بزرگتر میشن تا جایی که فرزند کوچکتر خونواده کاملا متفاوت با دو فرزند دیگه رفتار میکنه و همین باعث سرزنش و آزار و اذیت توسط سایر برادرها میشه. بیست صفحه پایانی کتاب کلا همه چی کاملا عوض میشه، که توضیحش باعث لو رفت داستان میشه.
محبت و توجه باید به موقع خودش انجام بشه نه بعد از اینکه تأثیرات نبود توجه و محبت باعث از بین رفتن همه چیز بشه. فصل پایانی کتاب حسن ختام خوبیه برای داستان، باغ وحش، زمانی که فرزند کوچک برای نوازش و آرامش به حیوانات پناه میبره.
September 6, 2020
4.5 stars
Exquisite painful disturbing writing that will leave you a little uncomfortable at times and amazed at others.
For a book that is only 128 pages this packs an hella punch.
I loved the collective feel of the narrative. The 3 brothers isolated by circumstance, mongrel status and upbringing and how their frustrations, fear and joy manifested itself.
The story of their homelife is not a new one but the way it was told is utterly unique.
I initially did not want to give this 5 stars as the ending felt just a little too abrupt but I have not been surprised by a book in a long time and I just cant get the story out of my head.
Highly recommended but be warned this can be, at times, quite a brutal read.
Exquisite painful disturbing writing that will leave you a little uncomfortable at times and amazed at others.
For a book that is only 128 pages this packs an hella punch.
I loved the collective feel of the narrative. The 3 brothers isolated by circumstance, mongrel status and upbringing and how their frustrations, fear and joy manifested itself.
The story of their homelife is not a new one but the way it was told is utterly unique.
I initially did not want to give this 5 stars as the ending felt just a little too abrupt but I have not been surprised by a book in a long time and I just cant get the story out of my head.
Highly recommended but be warned this can be, at times, quite a brutal read.
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