The Interestings in What's the Name of That Book???

Dec 26, 2013 Jessica rated it it was ok

Shelves: literaryfiction

Oy. The whole time I was reading this book I kept thinking of hilarious and/or incisive things to say in the review, but now that it's over I'm just relieved and exhausted. Yes, the title is meant to be ironic, but honestly it becomes ironic to the point of cruelty as you are forced to read page after page of repetitive descriptions and endless navel-gazing. Most of the characters are unlikeable, some of them are supposed to be, some of them aren't, all of them are described using the same adjec Oy. The whole time I was reading this book I kept thinking of hilarious and/or incisive things to say in the review, but now that it's over I'm just relieved and exhausted. Yes, the title is meant to be ironic, but honestly it becomes ironic to the point of cruelty as you are forced to read page after page of repetitive descriptions and endless navel-gazing. Most of the characters are unlikeable, some of them are supposed to be, some of them aren't, all of them are described using the same adjectives through the book (Ash is delicate, Dennis is thick and hairy, Ethan is ugly, EVERY TIME THEY APPEAR). The likable characters get sadly little attention, and instead we are treated to the shrill jealousy and failures of Jules, the main POV character. The thing about Jules is that the jacket copy blathers on about the fame and talent you have at 15 not being enough when you're 30, but as far as I can tell, Jules was never talented. She's supposed to be the witty one in their group, but nothing she says is actually funny, and it's occasionally very mean. She's also supposed to be a deep and loyal friend, when in reality she rarely thinks of anyone but herself, and is really only loyal to one of their friends (basically throwing her own mother, sister, husband, and child, under a bus in favor of this friend on several occasions) and she's only loyal to Ash because Ash is pretty and rich, which is understandable at 15, horrible at 30, and truly psychologically disturbing at 50.

Ugh.

I almost didn't finish, because by page 200 nothing had happened and I didn't like any of them. By page 300 I started laughing maniacally whenever there was another sex scene described in incredibly unsexy terms, with the couple being described as being awkward, having morning breath, excessive body hair and so forth, in order to show how tender and vulnerable human beings are.

Just, ugh.

The book is just well written enough and just engaging enough that I did finish it. But I have absolutely NO idea why I keep seeing this on Best of 2013 lists.

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May 08, 2016 Ray rated it liked it

First off, I find a long novel about intellectual, snobby people staring at their toes, thinking that they are navel gazing, immensely satisfying. I felt regret when the novel ended as I had been page-turning for days, and had happily been immersed in Wolitzer's world.

So yeah, but these people are awful. Or not awful per se, but not fully enough developed for me to feel like I could do anything but judge them.

Of course most of the character's development is secondary to the narrator's, Jules.

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Jul 07, 2013 Misha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2013, doorway-place, doorway-people, artists, friendship, college, doorway-prose, comics, doorway-plot, coming_of_age

What a big-hearted, smart and fulfilling read. Realistic fiction has been letting me down these days, but this is seamless, generous and real in a way that isn't pretentious or precious. Wolitzer delves into the lives of a group who meet at high school at an exclusive summer camp. That she chooses to make the two more plain/homely characters the leads is also a relief--there are plenty of pretty people here, to be sure, but the world is more complex than many books and films lead us to believe a ...more

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Aug 07, 2014 Mary rated it really liked it

Such a wonderful story. Although I'm a bit younger than the protagonist, I fully get her almost pathological need to be an outsider. Within a bunch of outsiders. She nails so much of the language we throw around daily, be it teenage girl, young gay man, older mothers, missing sons..... I'm almost finished and really don't want it to end. Just amazing. ...more

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