The Mookse and the Gripes discussion
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Such a Fun Age
Booker Prize for Fiction
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2020 Booker Longlist: Such a Fun Age
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Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer
(last edited Aug 24, 2020 11:25PM)
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rated it 2 stars
I was surprised this was not on the Women's Prize list as it was very hyped at the time. I am more surprised it is on the Booker.It is the sort of book that can generate lost of discussion (an ideal book club book) - in some ways it was much better than I expected, and in other aspects disappointed me.
I look forward to discussing it when more people have read it (I read it back in January so my memory of it may be poor).
Gumble's Yard wrote: "I was surprised this was not on the Women's Prize list as it was very hyped at the time. I am more surprised it is on the Booker.It is the sort of book that can generate lost of discussion (an id..."
I've had this available at least 5 times since it was released (from my library) and each time, either I didn't feel the interest or didn't have time. Now I suppose I've probably got a long wait ahead of me. And the ones I read were all pre-February, which feels like a century ago now.
Completely agree with your first paragraph. I read this in early Feb and gave it two stars with the comment “not for me”. I remember the basic storyline but I don’t really remember why I didn’t like it. I think it had to do with the writing style. This is very much a book club pick book.
I also read this earlier in the year - I must say when people were saying they thought The Vanishing Half would be nominated, I thought this would be more likely. Not because I think it’s the better book, but because it is a lot more modern in style and content.
That's a good call Suzanne.And Amanda definitely a book club pick book - which means it might be an interesting one to discuss here if its shortlisted.
I just finished this book as it’s part of the Tournament of Books summer reading. I gave it 2 stars. Did not enjoy. I also didn’t write much in my review. Full of cliches. I haven’t read what people are saying about it in TOB so not sure if I’m in minority.
I haven’t heard or read much about this that makes me want to read this.
WndyJW wrote: "I haven’t heard or read much about this that makes me want to read this."Watch out! Buzzfeed REALLY like this novel! it was part of their book club
If I’m hearing about a book for the first time I look to see who reviewed it. There are at least two in the Longlist that have not been reviewed in sources I trust, but have been eagerly anticipated by Entertainment Weekly and Buzzfeed. If this makes the Shortlist and is well received by others here I might read it.
This one has a breezy writing style that didn’t much impress me. In that sense, it felt very book clubby or “women’s fiction.” That said, the story itself is quite interesting and raises some subtle points about race that were extremely well done. This is a book that demonstrates how a well-meaning person might actually be racist without being conscious of it. It’s an important point, and I personally am very glad to have read it. As another has mentioned, it’s part of the TOB summer tournament this year, which is why I picked it up.
I'm 100 pages in and it is gripping. I normally don't read this sort of fiction, but the subtlety in the prose while portraying class and race distinctions is really keeping me in, for now.
I agree Wendy, my review opened ......The book (I am almost tempted to say - long-form movie script - as that is surely its destiny) opens with a dramatic scene – which anyone vaguely familiar with the book from reviews or 2020 previews will know in outline.
I definitely think it will be a movie and in this case I think the movie will probably be better than the book which is not something I say often.
I really enjoyed the breezy style of the book, I read it quite quickly and I remember I chuckled out loud at some of the jokes. I thought it was well done for a beach read. I didn't expect to see it on the Booker list.
Irene wrote: "I really enjoyed the breezy style of the book, I read it quite quickly and I remember I chuckled out loud at some of the jokes. I thought it was well done for a beach read. I didn't expect to see i..."Completely agree that this is a "beach read" and not something that I would have expected to see on the Booker longlist. Certainly it's topical, but so are many other novels (see, eg, The Vanishing Half) that I think are more "literary" and impressive.
I am going to read this one eventually b/c my library has multiple copies. But I would have much preferred to see The Vanishing Half on this list (dunno about its actual eligibility - I think I asked elsewhere, but I don't remember the answer...)
Yes it was eligible and even in the UK strongly expected to be on the list.
Gumble's Yard wrote: "Yes it was eligible and even in the UK strongly expected to be on the list."I really do feel that it would have been a much better selection than Such a Fun Age.
message 21:
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Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer
(last edited Aug 24, 2020 11:27PM)
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rated it 2 stars
Well .... I have just been listening to a podcast by three of the judges (Sissay, Busby, Rahim) discussing in turn each book on the longlist and why they chose it. Typically one of them only would discuss it, perhaps with a second joining in briefly. But in this one they were all joining in - almost talking over each other - about how it managed to be both fun and profound, how it was so insightful on transactional relationships and relationships across o many dimensions (race, class etc), how it mixed complexity with readability, how she cleverly pokes fun at every character but without assassinating any of them.
Sissay said there were lots books which set out to discuss race, many “high-falutin” (“one in particular which shall remain nameless) but this was the one that carried it off.
Honestly based on this discussion I could see this being very likely for the shortlist as three judges clearly love it.
I feel like I need to re read this.
What was the high falutin’ book do we think?
We will never know. My immediate thought was The Vanishing Half (as that’s the book so many of us plus all various bloggers and media people had expected in the list) but I don’t really see how that is a fair comment on that book. My second guess was The Water Dancer. But it’s all complete speculation.
If The Water Dancer was eligible, that would be my guess. I didn't think The Vanishing Half was very good, but "high-falutin'" doesn't fit.
While this book was not the most literary, it is very topical and does a good job with race issues. It is easy to read. It would be a good book club read but I would not call it women's fiction, even though most of the primary characters are female. It's definitely prime movie material. And for those of you not in the US, a relatively recent federal law mandated that insurance companies allow parents to keep their children on their health insurance plan until the children are 26, so it's a big deal.
I didn't enjoy this or Vanishing Half, but I felt Vanishing Half was a masterpiece compared to this. Really disappointing.
Nicole D. wrote: "I didn't enjoy this or Vanishing Half, but I felt Vanishing Half was a masterpiece compared to this. Really disappointing."100% agree with the entirety of your post.
Just finished it and really surprised on the Booker Longlist, over Hamnet, wow! Is reasonable as far as it goes, really setup to be one of those lightish book club reads on a 'controversial' topic that can be debated without anything too challenging going on. Written in terms of dialogue and scenewith an eye to a seamless transition to film. For what it is worth my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm about to start Brit Bennett's Vanishing Half so will be interesting to see how it compares.
This read at breakneck speed for me. I found it hilarious and uncomfortable and extremely of the moment. At first I was tempted to dismiss it as not particularly serious or good – I'm consciously avoiding using the L-word here – but upon further reflection, I appreciated how it managed to address complex racial themes in a nuanced way while sticking to a more approachable and comedic format.I liked that the antagonists weren't cartoon villains, just egotistical and blind to their own bullshit – racist in the particular and insidious way of white liberals. Emira and her friends were hugely sympathetic without feeling idealized, and I really appreciated the book's treatment of her relationship to ambition and career. She was lost in a familiar post-college way, but she reached a different endpoint than I expected and than most characters in novels like this do. I found that very refreshing.
I think you have captured why the judges liked it Nicholas - serious theme but with a partly fun treatment.
I have just finished this and see that it vies for the wooden spoon in the longlist placements, and has a dearth of comments here, too.In a year when, as has been pointed out, a significant number of books deal with, variously, race, sexuality and gender, I thought Kiley Reid's book stands up pretty well.
Other posters have been commenting on individual characters that have remained with them as more of the longlist books are read (quite intensively). I would add Emira to that list. I relished the chapters when she was the central figure.
John wrote: "I'm about to start Brit Bennett's Vanishing Half so will be interesting to see how it compares. ..."Interested in your thoughts. Comparable in many ways I thought (and both books have a lighter touch than other race centered books without compromising on serious messages)
Jonathan wrote: "In a year when, as has been pointed out, a significant number of books deal with, variously, race, sexuality and gender, I thought Kiley Reid's book stands up pretty well. "Great to hear. I'm reading this one next.
Ang I think it was you that said you enjoyed alternating styles of books - and this one I think makes a good contrast to Burnt Sugar.
I read this some months ago. It was hyped a lot and I was intrigued to read it. It deals, as others have said, with important issues with a light touch. However, overall I wasn't especially enamoured.Trying hard not to give anything away but, I wasn't convinced by the reason behind the main incident happening and for that reason the whole book lost credibility from then on.
Easy to see it being made into a film.
I have to admit that I had to revisit notes I made at the time I finished it as I couldn't actually remember much about it which I guess isn't a good sign. At the time I gave it a 3 out of 10.
So nowhere near what would be my shortlist but I've a feeling this would make a possibe compromise shortlist title.
Another that just wasn't for me.
I’m debating this one. It’s sounds okay, but it also sounds like it won’t be a loss if I don’t read it.
I think you would enjoy it Wendy - it’s a fun read while also addressing some serious issues.
I would agree. An enjoyable, easy but worthwhile read.
Having re-read the book I think it will be an interesting one to discuss once the shortlist is announced - as its hard to get into details of what I felt was good/unsuccessful about the book without getting into details. I hope that the book itself does not make the shortlist although I think it may So for now my updated review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I enjoyed this and I can see why the judges selected it. It first seemed a little lightweight but that turned out to be my prejudice against the type of female friendships depicted. I looked on with horror at times but those friendships were realistic.
Apologies, I mentioned a theme that turns out to be a bit more nuanced than I thought. I've removed posts related to it.
Today's Kindle Daily Deal (UK) has Such a Fun Age for £1.29
Thanks Ang, I’ve taken advantage of that.
I found this one unbelievable. Maybe it was the white privileged woman stereotype that turned me off. I'm with Alix at the end where she acknowledges "now she sat in Philadelphia, participating in a losing game called "Which One of Us Is Actually More Racist." (p. 227). Did anyone else think Alix's character was over the top? She didn't seem real to me. But I agree with others that this could end up as a movie.
I rather thought all the main characters were over the top, or certainly stereotypes. Interesting that in the acknowledgments she thanks her editor for inspiring cliches!I can see the judges perhaps wanted a light-touch treatment of race, but that doesn’t excuse picking what seemed to me such poor writing.
Although actually that line on the most racist competition was one of only two I liked in the book (the other the one that terminates the TV interview which, while perhaps inevitable, will make a great moment in the movie)
Just one example of an issue with the book. The author has been quoted as saying she loves dialogue, and press reviewers have tended to highlight this aspect. Yet so many times particularly in the first half, characters would be talking, someone would say “have I told you about x” and then the narration would drop out of dialogue into straight exposition. As for nanny-employer relationships, Leïla Slimani (tr. Sam Taylor) did it so much better in Lullaby/The Perfect Nanny (from having employed several nannies I felt skewered by her book in a way I wasn’t with this) - that was also something of a thriller rather than my usual literary fictional fare but much stronger.
And - hope this doesn’t count as a spoiler - it says something when the most breathless prose in the novel is reserved for a young child being sick at a birthday party.
I agree. The entire book feels exaggerated, which I think is effective in that it creates a sense of discomfort. At first, I was quite bothered by the characters - "This is unbelievable! No one /really/ thinks or behaves this way!" Now, I think that reaction is somewhat simplistic. At the core of the exaggeration is a truth that is easy to ignore - but it's more difficult to ignore when it is presented in this exaggerated manner.
However, it's entirely possible that I'm simply projecting my own perspective onto the text - which is surely inevitable with any text though more so, I think, given the heightened awareness surrounding race.
Unfortunately, I still don't think it's an especially good book and think these topics can be and have been addressed with greater depth, nuance, and subtlety by better authors.
However, there is certain merit to these addressing these conversations directly and unambiguously. I think the fact that there is a much larger audience for this book is a good sign that it will be the beginning and continuation of a broader discussion.
Yes I think the author has gone out of her way to be unsubtle in her depiction precisely as she wants the issues to be out in the open rather than alluded to. But then I don’t see what the enormous coincidence that dominates the novel adds to the discussion of race.
Paul, do you speedread all books? It was only 4 hours between buying and offering your take on this one.
The Mookse and the Gripes
Books mentioned in this topic
Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism (other topics)Such a Fun Age (other topics)
Such a Fun Age, by Kiley Reid
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