the opening of Don DeLillo's Underworlds - which recreates the National League pennant match in which the New York Giants defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers is one of the most riveting pieces of writing I've ever read. The book didn't live up to the promise, but WHAT an opener!

Thank you! I’ll look them up and maybe ask my professor a thing or two about them :)

It’s the reason why Flatland women were represented by 1-D lines: they were perceived by many Victorian men as rather stupid, often invisible, and incredibly dangerous.

My love of reading was sparked by my Dad, who used to pick up anything nearby and read it to us at bedtime. Comic books, newspapers, shakespeare, the bible, pieces of mail, anything.

And that's really how I became a lover of reading and an educated man. To me it's quite obvious why libraries and books of all kinds are necessary and important. And I have hard time understanding how anyone could be OK with any sort of a ban on books.

I'm more than just concerned about book bans, I'm sickened and disgusted by them. I've seem videos of the parents who are trying to ban books and I'm horrified at the lack of intelligence and the bigotry on open display. These parents are unhappy with their lives, and it's obvious they want everyone else to be also.

No society of any worth would ever ban a book of any kind for any reason. And yet somehow one of the most violent and sexually explicit and gory books, The Bible, never gets brought up for discussion for removal.

Which proves to me that all this book banning is just knee-jerk reactionism toward progressive and scientific reasoning. If the Bible isn't excluded, then it proves that these are just acts of smallness and bigotry on the parts of those promoting such bans.

I'd also add Levin mowing the wheat in Anna Karina and the Wolf hunt in War and Peace

I wouldn't say I'm guilty about it but after about 3 drinks I switch from books to manga

I feel a little guilty for liking the Enders Game series with Orson Scott Card being such a piece of shit. What is it with writers sneaking in the fact that they are ultra religious bigots?

It’s an intentional decision on his part to write the characters like that. It’s part of what gives you a picture of these characters. If you look up an old Russian version of the movie you’ll see just how unhinged they appear in the Russian as well.

Dostoevsky himself had a crazy life, ordered to be executed with a last minute reprieve, suffered epilepsy, depression, and paranoia. He wasn’t going for realism but more in conversation with other writers of the time and probably his own experience of life.

What is the book called please

SPOILER:

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My biggest gripe with this book was Sam confessing his love to Sadie. If the book was supposed to be focused on nonromantic love then why did Sam admit to having romantic feelings for Sadie???

I felt like all of the characters were very two-dimensional- which is why the death of Marx didn 't have an impact on me. He was characterized as being too 'puppy' like for me to really imagine him as a real person.... But I also read this directly after finishing 'The Great Believers' which to me had the most life-like characters I have ever encountered. So maybe if my reading order was different I would have a different opinion...

I think part of the reason why this book has garnered so much buzz is because it is the first literary fiction a lot of booktok consumers have come in contact with.

Did I think this book was entertaining and therefore enjoyable? Yes. Do I think it deserves awards, accolades, and being "the best book of 2022"? Absolutely not!

Yeah, that's true honestly-- if the vast majority of characters were super likable that in itself would have been highly unrealistic, and I am glad that most characters I found kind of unlikable were so in a believeable, real sort of way. The narration was great, I think especially so since I listened to the audiobook as the female narrator for most of it surprised me by switching to a male narrator once the story is being told through Marx's POV and it really added another layer to the storytelling IMO.

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Sadly couldn’t get it today in Waterstones or WHSmith as they said they wouldn’t be receiving the new release until later this week so I have ordered from Amazon to be delivered tomorrow:) will start the kindle version tonight instead

This is exactly how I felt reading “Crime and Punishment.” I get it’s from a far different time, but I have a hard time believing anyone actually talked like that

Thank you so much! That’s the vibe that intrigued me, while we were talking about it :)

Oh I agree, and I'm happy you ended up really enjoying it! I did not end up liking many of the characters but I did also enjoy the way a lot of themes were tackled and characterization written, dialogue-wise many of Sam and Sadie's arguments felt frustratingly believable/real too.

Also, my condolences to your experiences having worked with some of those types u_u I relate to that as well...

I love Tricia Levenseller's medieval fantasies - Warrior of the Wild (standalone, Vikings/monsters) and Blade of Secrets (duology, magical bladesmith) - both easy, light reads, with a fun cast of characters. Legends & Lattes is an awesome "cozy fantasy" - not much plot, but a fun vibe.

My high school did

I recently read this in a book club, and most of us had similar mixed thoughts (most of us rated it 3-4 stars with some critiques, while a few loved it and rated it 5 stars). Personally, I was fascinated by the writing and really enjoyed the overall vibe, but also found the characters mostly unlikeable (except for Marx!). But...I almost felt like that was the point of it? At the very least, I think we are all supposed to hate Dov. Sam and Sadie were just likable enough for me to stay interested, but I was frustrated with both of them throughout most of the book. The most compelling themes to me were the unique narration with some interesting foreshadowing + the way in which games were woven throughout the story.

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Other highly regarded novels you didn’t list would be Once An Eagle which is basically about what a good military leader should be like. And Matterhorn which is a novel set in the Vietnam War

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I really enjoy reading bl manhwa😅 They're cringe and trashy but the art 👌🏻

As someone who works in computer science and knows these very kinds of people in this book, I had a very similar reaction of disliking these characters. They were eerily close to some of the worst types of people in University / work.

But overall, I really liked the characterisations in this book and the theme that these characters bring out the worst in each other but amidst all that they still create something so brilliant.

It took a while for me to warm to the book but once I did I found myself really enjoying it.

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