Sunday, July 3, 2011

Review: A Visit from the Goon Squad

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I wanted to like this.....I EXPECTED to like this....so many OTHER people like this....

but I just couldn't MAKE myself like it. I read this as part of the Goodreads book club. It came with high reviews and high expectations. But I really did not enjoy reading this book! There were so many characters and so many snippets of their lives. Every jumped from now to past to future to now.....it was hard to keep straight. Some of the characters were likeable, but most I felt I never got to know. I didn't like the endings for so many characters. There were so many 'unhappy' endings. The only chaper I really enjoyed was the 'Power Point' chapter! Towards the end, one of the characters 'sells out', doing things he never imagined he would do, and compromising/abandoning his integrity. He looks for an old girlfriends and asks 'what happened' and is told 'you grew up'. I guess maybe that is the lesson of the book....many of the characters died without really 'growing up'. Eventually, at least in this book, if you live long enough, you grow up, and set aside your ideals. Not a happy ending and not a fun book! I with I could give this a better review, but I just can't.



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1 comment:

  1. Ugh, sorry you didn't like it. I just can't get excited about this book at all!

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