pomalarson

I read this because it is widely claimed that Special Topics in Calamity Physics is derivative of this novel (and also of The Secret History). But here’s the thing: there’s pretentious and good, and then there’s pretentious and bad. STCP is pretentious and good. The Basic Eight and The Secret History are both pretentious and bad. For me, it all comes down to one all-important thing: I hate these people I am reading about. I hate their problems and their shitty attitudes. I hate their decisions and their passive-aggressive communication styles. I’m not rooting for anyone. I don’t like being in the protagonist’s head. Meh. I’m being too harsh. Here are some things I liked: It wasn’t ever boring. The premise was solid. The writing was intelligent. The setting is great: San Francisco! The coffee shops all had cutesy names. Okay, I didn’t really like the coffee shop names but I was running out of things to like. Everything else is swallowed up in the maddeningly over-the-top drama and rank, alcoholic disaster of a plot. Reading it makes you feel unclean--ew, this messy plot is touching my brain! Gross, the terrible character development is staining my neural pathways. I need to go brush my teeth and read some Edith Wharton to get this out of my system.

2020-08-27 18:54