The Opposition…

A Visit from the Goon Squad

Jennifer Egan

Discussion: the water cooler

Why we're reading this: author guest during cOlbert's Book Club discussion of The Great Gatsby, May 9, 2013…more
[close] author guest during cOlbert's Book Club discussion of The Great Gatsby, May 9, 2013

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the water cooler

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By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 5 views

last updated Jul 26, 2012 02:50PM

Maurice Sendak
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 2 posts · 14 views

last updated May 11, 2012 02:59AM

What Members Thought

Jan 24, 2011 Pang rated it did not like it

Shelves: why-did-i-bother, tob, 2011, nyt-recommended

I'm actually a little bummed to be calling it quit on this book. A lot of people seem to like it, but it's just not for me. I just couldn't get into it. To me the book is not really a once cohesive story, but a collection of short stories that link through a handful of characters. That in itself isn't really the deal breaker to me. I think it's also because of the writing. It just rambles on and on. I wish I'm liking the book more because I feel like I'm missing something that other people seem ...more

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May 27, 2011 Celeste rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

I ordered this book because I like to read Pulitzer Prize winners and wanted to read it as a part of the Goodreads book club.

I'm a little ambivalent about it. I liked it ok, and the writing was clear and decisive, good for the most part. What I kept asking myself was, "When will this get good?" I never got to a point where I felt compelled to keep reading, I just got to a point where I just wanted to finish it. Frankly, it became a bit of a game to see where all the character connections were.

Re I ordered this book because I like to read Pulitzer Prize winners and wanted to read it as a part of the Goodreads book club.

I'm a little ambivalent about it. I liked it ok, and the writing was clear and decisive, good for the most part. What I kept asking myself was, "When will this get good?" I never got to a point where I felt compelled to keep reading, I just got to a point where I just wanted to finish it. Frankly, it became a bit of a game to see where all the character connections were.

Reading it reminded me of reading Jonathan Franzen. In the The Corrections, Franzen wrote wonderfully. Seriously, he plays with words in such a masterfully way that it looks effortless and easy (it's not), sort of like a cat batting around a dead mouse after having hunted it down. He also jumps from character to character, point of view to point of view, stringing along the novel bit by bit, and it works for him (sort of). Egan basically does the same thing, but she's just not the wordsmith that Franzen is. And I feel similarly about both in that it reads less like a cohesive novel containing an overreaching theme and more like a literary parlor trick. I'm a little over it, and I find myself wondering if either could write a great novel locked into just one point of view from one narrator. I guess it's more me than them in that I like novels less when they read like a collection of short stories. False advertising.

Back to A Visit from the Goon Squad. The whole metaphor of "the goon squad" is just a little weak. Really, I expected more from a Pulitzer winner. In that respect, the writing was a not up to par for me. Also, if I hadn't read it on the back of the book, I'd have not realized that Bennie and Sasha were the important ones out of the whole bunch.

I did admire the differentiation between the different narrators because an author can very easily screw that up. It takes skill to really plan out and characterize all these different people and give them "voice." I also found Egan's take on the future of communications interesting. A little something to chew on there at the end.

I may read from this author again if I come across something that sounds good. ...more

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May 19, 2020 Catherine Newell rated it it was ok

The story was fun, but I think I'm done with Jennifer Egan: I've read two of her books, and in neither of them did I care about the characters. Also, having just finished a New York book that was freaking phenomenal (Deacon King Kong), this one was just OK. This was a fun book and I'll probably think about it more/in the future, but it's a little droopy in comparison to other books I've read recently.

I did love the PowerPoint, though--that chapter alone made me laugh out loud multiple times. ...more

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Mar 14, 2011 Eileen rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction-contemporary

Alternating points of view and time periods can make it tricky to keep track of all the characters, but it also makes this book a great read. So amazing how the characters come into each other's lives. Kinda like seven degrees of separation? Loved the depiction of nyc in the not too distant future and the concert that will define a generation of 30 somethings. 4.5

"Time's a goon, right? You gonna let that goon push you around?" ...more

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Jun 22, 2011 Jennifer rated it really liked it

What a great book - at first I was skeptical, but as I read on I was hooked. Loved the connection between everyone in each chapter, the writing was terrific, and the PowerPoint chapter was pure genius (and I hate PowerPoint with a passion - see another review on this page speaking of it as the work of the devil meant to make us dumber - I totally concur!). Funny one moment and heartrending the next. Very recommended.

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