![]() Cassidy Serhienko Even though it took approximately half a decade for me to plonk my way through this book, I actually really enjoyed it. It’s another stop on the Sad Boi express where not much happens other than one kid's very drawn out existential crisis and reading it made me feel very smart. Really whenever I deigned to pick it up my inner monologue was like “I am a Smart Person. I am an intellectual, I am a frickin’ scholar” And I know that this is a Smart Book that people read to feel more intelligent, and I am no stranger to these kinds of self-aggrandizing reads (did I use that word mostly right? Let’s say I did). Like I said, I did enjoy it but I wasn’t as into it as everyone else seems to be. I know that this is a good book and I enjoyed reading it, it just didn’t make me feel anything. Throughout the entire book there are some truly beautiful passages, and the way Tart describes the painting and the act of appreciating art in general makes me wish I knew anything about the subject. But as emotional and erratic as Theo is, it often felt rather dispassionate to me. Maybe it’s just because after about 400 pages I was over Theo’s Holden Caulfield impersonation. He’s not charming, neurotic or unraveling enough to pull it off for 800 pages. Seriously the description says he gets more and more obsessed with this painting that he sort of accidentally stole, but it’s literally just him schlepping the painting from place to place, occasionally having a breakdown about it and then knocking himself out on Wolf of Wall Street amounts of drugs. Also, be less of a dick to women please and thank you. My favourite section was his hedonistic time in Vegas with Boris (ironic, considering he treats girls even worse). Boris has the energy and gumption to push the story along and occasionally make Theo seem like he has any personality whatsoever. Really the entire premise was interesting and Donna Tart is no slouch, but for me it felt like she was fighting against Theo’s dullness for the majority of the book. Was it good? Yes. Worth a read? Definitely. Is this book going to be one of my personal all time favourites? Meh.
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![]() Meghan Brehon There’s something about studying ancient Greek classics that really appeals to my pretentious side. Am I aware of the fact that a bachelor’s degree in classics isn’t exactly practical in the way of finding jobs? Yes. Does that mean that I don’t think fancifully of studying classics instead of engineering? Of course not. This story of a group of elitist college students studying classics, conversing in Greek, conducting ancient rituals in the woods of New England, and becoming increasingly more morally corrupt seems like a much more interesting way to do university (especially when compared to studying from home). Seeing as the whole draw of this book for me was that it is essentially the story of 5 pompous kiddos being pretentious and going around doing kind of sketchy things, the book delivered on this expectation. I liked that while pomposity (didn’t know that was a word until I tried to use it in this context) is a natural quality for the majority of the characters, it was something that the main character, Richard, had to feign in order to be accepted. Following a gaggle of highly well-read early 20-something-year-olds who can converse in Greek and Latin feels very removed from the real-life experiences of many, but having Richard enter as the outsider helped to also introduce the reader as an outsider, and make the whole thing seem less outlandish. A lot happened in this book. Despite this fact, I felt that it dragged a bit at some parts. The pivotal point of the novel happens at about the halfway mark, and afterward the plot really slowed down for me. The tension becomes dispelled quickly, after which I wondered how there was still enough material for another 200 pages. With this being said, the plot was still rife with murder and intrigue, so slow as some parts may have felt it wasn’t as though plot dissolved into boring mundanity. As a person who hasn’t been known to like mysteries or thrillers, I found that this novel delivered a suspenseful plot while not playing into the aspects of mysteries and thrillers that I dislike (don’t ask me what the aspect is, I don’t know). Overall, it delivered on the sophisticated and ostentatious feel I was expecting, while offering a deal of interest and intrigue. |
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