I think The Shards is probably not a book for everyone but it was for me. It was so deeply for me. I'm pissed that it's over, that I finished it so raI think The Shards is probably not a book for everyone but it was for me. It was so deeply for me. I'm pissed that it's over, that I finished it so rapidly at the end after reading it for two months straight (it's so long) but I just had to know and it just had to end eventually.
It's a 1980s preppy teenage slasher, and it's just as candy as you'd think if you like that sort of thing. The narrator is 17-year-old Bret, some version of the author in some version of Los Angeles. His voice is dry, shallow, acerbic and he's horny and unhinged and dramatic. Everything is described with fashion labels and everyone is described by hotness and every moment is lived through songs (especially "Icehouse" by Flowers/Icehouse and "Vienna" by Ultravox). It's just a treat if you like new wave and fashion and sexual tension.
The plot is secondary to the vibe and follows Bret's increasingly unhinged obsession with a serial killer in the news and his connection to a new (hot and troubled) boy in town, Robert Mallory. Robert just wants to be friends with Bret's clique of hot, popular friends but his (hot and troubled) presence disrupts the entire balance of the friend group. He's suspicious and he lies and Bret's the only one who seems to notice or care. Everyone else wants Bret to shut up and let them all get through senior year with as little drama as possible. But Bret is a writer and he thrives on drama and thinking about drama and how much of what's going on is just his own imagination? And honestly, who cares?
I was worried the book would end in a twist or a cliche or a cliche twist, but it didn't really and it's all beside the point. The book is about the vibe. It's about being along for the ride and being invested in Bret and his voice and his sex life and his friends' stupid prep school drama and empathizing with him crying to "Vienna" when his friends are hanging out with someone else instead of him. If you can't do that then I don't recommend the book, but if that stirs something in you then I can't recommend it highly enough. (Especially on audio! Bret narrates the book and having his own voice and inflection is just invaluable.)...more
This is literally a masterpiece. I'm telling you, it's so special. It's only a few pages long and every single word and black box bears so much weightThis is literally a masterpiece. I'm telling you, it's so special. It's only a few pages long and every single word and black box bears so much weight. I'm so moved. Whatever literary YA awards are out there please direct your attention to Different for Boys....more
At first I thought, I hate this. Oh no. Another unlikable unnamed Messy Millennial protagonist. But II'm obsessed with this book. I'm feral about it.
At first I thought, I hate this. Oh no. Another unlikable unnamed Messy Millennial protagonist. But I'm so glad I kept reading.
I'm a Fan suffers from its title. I thought it would be superficial, about y'know, being an obsessive stalker fan online. It's not that. It's about a young woman who gets caught in a manipulative relationship like one of Armie Hammer's kittens. It could actually be about him.
The book is told in vignettes, or entries like a journal. Entries that are so similar in thought and tone to my own journal I felt it in my gut. I would keep reading these chapters if they went on forever. I wish I could explain it better, but I'll just post an excerpt (an entire "chapter" actually) and if this does anything for you, you'll love the rest of the book, too:
“Things are truly bad when, at the park, a dog bounds over to where the man I want to be with and I are sitting and he pets and coos over the dog so warmly and indulgently and I sit there un-petted and un-cooed over and I start to feel jealous about the way he is with this animal because he is not this way with me. That’s really when you should be thinking about getting out. When you start getting jealous of a dog.”
For such a beautiful and thick book, the content is surprisingly empty. The chapters are each 2-4 pages and between each one is a one or two line snipFor such a beautiful and thick book, the content is surprisingly empty. The chapters are each 2-4 pages and between each one is a one or two line snippet, an ersatz proverb about creativity. For example, I opened a random page and the only text reads, “Sometimes disengaging is the best way to engage.” A lot of the advice is kind of eye-rolling and obvious, like it wants to be a Buddhist text so bad. But it’s not all bad. If you’re down on yourself about creating, I can see it being helpful to flip open to a random page and really remind yourself that creation is a holistic process that ebbs and flows. I would recommend Rob Walker’s The Art of Noticing for more practical advice about getting out of a creative rut while you enjoy this one’s pep-talk to your spirit. ...more
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