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megangraff's review against another edition
3.0
It took me ages to get into (and as a result of not starting something else I haven't read much the last couple of weeks). Finally the combination of a long weekend and knowing my library loan was ending soon, pushed me to read about 70% of it in the last two days.
I enjoyed it more the further I got in but it didn't make me go wow.
I enjoyed it more the further I got in but it didn't make me go wow.
cami19's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jennylion's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
felicitylouise's review against another edition
2.0
I got maybe a third of the way through this bloated doorstop before I accidentally lost my place and took the opportunity to abandon it before I wasted any more time. I loved the Corrections and Freedom but maybe I've just reached my threshold for entertaining middle-aged sex-obsessed creeps with mother issues. Franzen is a great writer; lately I have been enjoying his non-fiction, which makes sense because what's going on in the real world is clearly more engaging than whatever is going on in his head these days. Yeah, nah.
emilykomp's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
libwinnie's review against another edition
5.0
A dense and weighty book that is not for the faint of heart, but there is absolutely no fluff. The intricate plot weave in and out and back on itself, the characters are genuine and the description is transportative.
amalauna's review against another edition
4.0
First, this book is a tome. It's long and loping and above all long.
Second, while plodding and downright incomprehensible at times, Purity is a masterful work. It's full of inside jokes and woven storylines.
I won't go too much into the plot, but to say this: much like the Bronte novel Shirley... much of this book is not about the title character and that's okay. It's okay because in a book of interesting and broken characters Purity is boring. She's wheat toast next to a case of delicious French pastries.
The overlapping storylines weave together a sick tale (in some ways more disturbing than Gillian Flynn) of relationships and shared cruelty and mistrust and anger and sexual dysfunction.
And that's part of what makes it masterful... the sickness of the characters is beyond the scope of normal humanity, but not vile physical cruelty. It's more subtle and insidious than that.
Second, while plodding and downright incomprehensible at times, Purity is a masterful work. It's full of inside jokes and woven storylines.
I won't go too much into the plot, but to say this: much like the Bronte novel Shirley... much of this book is not about the title character and that's okay. It's okay because in a book of interesting and broken characters Purity is boring. She's wheat toast next to a case of delicious French pastries.
The overlapping storylines weave together a sick tale (in some ways more disturbing than Gillian Flynn) of relationships and shared cruelty and mistrust and anger and sexual dysfunction.
And that's part of what makes it masterful... the sickness of the characters is beyond the scope of normal humanity, but not vile physical cruelty. It's more subtle and insidious than that.
lananhngvu's review against another edition
3.0
This book took me 2 months to finish. At first it promised to be a thrilling and page-turning story, but then it deceased into unbearably long prose with no development at all in all the characters.
Tbh, I skipped the last chapter, which is only about 50 pages long. My patience wore thin then, ha.
Anyway, it's been long since I read a novel that long, and it was quite a journey, I must say.
Tbh, I skipped the last chapter, which is only about 50 pages long. My patience wore thin then, ha.
Anyway, it's been long since I read a novel that long, and it was quite a journey, I must say.
jasperburns's review against another edition
2.0
Franzen managed to build an entire novel entirely out of character development with little or no real plot. Well written and intriguing characters but nothing to write home about. Also, the chapters were unbearably and unnecessarily long.
View my best reviews and a collection of mental models at jasperburns.blog.
View my best reviews and a collection of mental models at jasperburns.blog.
anniewill's review against another edition
Thank God I didn't buy this book!
I made it 100 pages before I closed it in disgust. There are too many good books waiting to be read to waste time with this drivel. God. His dialog was so stilted and false sounding. His descriptions of sex, especially in the context of child abuse was creepy and disturbing. Nothing rang true to me at all- none of the characters and none of the situations described.
(This is the second Franzen book I've stopped reading in absolutely real disgust. I own a copy of The Corrections, I wonder when/if I can work up the interest to crack the spine of that dust collector and start actually reading it. Not any time soon I would guess.)
I made it 100 pages before I closed it in disgust. There are too many good books waiting to be read to waste time with this drivel. God. His dialog was so stilted and false sounding. His descriptions of sex, especially in the context of child abuse was creepy and disturbing. Nothing rang true to me at all- none of the characters and none of the situations described.
(This is the second Franzen book I've stopped reading in absolutely real disgust. I own a copy of The Corrections, I wonder when/if I can work up the interest to crack the spine of that dust collector and start actually reading it. Not any time soon I would guess.)