The Emperor's Children (Vintage)
by Claire Messud
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Book Reviews of The Emperor's Children (Vintage)
Book Review: The Emporer's Shallow Children
Summary: 3 Stars
I have very mixed feelings about Messud's The Emporer's Children. I really like Messud's use of strong detail. She paints a very vivid picture for the reader, and really gets inside her characters' heads. Her characters are, of course, all very self-centered and shallow, however. They are only concerned with their own lives, even in the wake of such a huge tragedy as September 11. They all wallow in self-pity and everything they all do is very egocentric. I think that this was Messud's intention, though. I found myself able to relate to each of the characters - but just barely - and I think that is how Messud wanted the reader to feel. The characters do seem very REAL, and not sugarcoated, which I ended up liking.
The main things that bothered me about this book were the EXTREMELY long sentences, and the rants that the characters went on in every single chapter. Messud could not just let the story tell itself, but had to climb into the characters' thoughts and go on and on about their reactions and thoughts. Normally, that would be great, because it helps the reader learn about the characters, but it was just too much. Her 'rants' ended up making the book very pretentious and slow to read.
Book Review: Enjoyed it.
Summary: 3 Stars
OK - so I didn't know this book was highly acclaimed when I bought it. Didn't see any reviews prior to reading it. The cover caught my attention at the bookstore, the story seemed interesting so I picked it up and put it in the queue. I finished the book the other day so came to write my review. Everyone has their taste in reading and I guess mine differs from the many who thought this book hollow.
I thought the characters were very real. There are Murry Thwaites in New York who are prestigious but many wonder why. Marina had trouble finding her way in life. Being the beautiful daughter of an influential family she could take her time. And her best friends were of very different social classes which I found brought interest to the story. The extreme "Booty" you wanted to knock upside the head to get a clue. My one disappointment was Ludovic Seeley was not explored. (maybe to use as book two?)
It's purely a book of life. How relationships evolve and change. What drives people to examine what's important. Nothing extreme. (excluding the 9/11 connection - which I could have done without) All plausible scenarios for real-life characters
Book Review: What an utter disappointment!
Summary: 1 Stars
Rating should be NO stars!
I was quite enthused to read this book, having read some of the reviews. I have limited time and so I tend to pick books carefully. All I can say is "my bad!" This book was such a disappointment - the characters were pretentious, the plot often vapid, and there seemed to be a ton of loose ends at the conclusion of the book.
Plot spoiler!!!! The book's chronology covers September 11, 2001, and it handled the day and its sadness in such a haphazard manner. I worked downtown in NYC and was a mere 4 blocks away when the first tower fell - the description of the event and the impact on the characters was laughable. None of the characters were appealing, save for perhaps one (Annabel Thwaite, but mostly b/c she was not very involved with the other characters, but rather her work, which was noble - assisting problem foster children in the system).
This was a very slow read, and I actually threw the book in the garbage as soon as I finished. I do not often have such reactions to books, but again, this was a huge let-down, empty characters, feeble storyline, and pretentious prose, to boot.
Skip this one!
Book Review: Underwhelmed
Summary: 2 Stars
I have a horrible thing to admit: I was interested in this book because of the cover art, including the nice use of a sanserif font. Okay, okay, I know, I'm contributing to the many reasons the human race is spiraling down the toilet. But I can't help it! I'm a sucker for classy art direction.
That being said, I was entirely underwhelmed by what was behind the cover. Rarely do I read a book nowadays that's touted as a sort of 'literary bestseller' where I have to look words up in the dictionary. The mouthiness of this author is astonishing. We get it, you're smarter than we are. But are you smarter than Saramago, Roth or Updike? Because I've read their works too and didn't need reference materials. I found it a limp way of gussying up a thin plot that wasn't really overly literary at all. There were definitely enough elements that kept me reading all the way through, or maybe I just wanted to see what happened out of sheer, Gawker-esque curiosity. But I would honestly not be interested in anything else this author has to offer; I feel I can get a similar tone, with much smoother, more thoughtful stories and writing, from Ann Patchett or Jane Smiley.
Book Review: Book about nothing
Summary: 2 Stars
The author seems to have gotten tired. She used up all her energy on her sentences, like an architect making a fancy stairway to nowhere.
Ludovic and Murray were mostly the same character. Julius was the typical chick lit gay friend with no life of substance.
There were things the writer could have done to make the book interesting. The Twin Towers was a potential plot device that could have moved the plot, if there was a plot. The Seeley character could have revealed himself as someone who married Marina to avenge Murray, although it was never clear why he had it in for Murray. The writer could have revealed that when Seeley left, he left his new wife for good.
Bootie should have come to a worse end.
Danielle had a get-together with her friends, and the next day, she had Murray over. One of her friends could have stopped by that day for any number of reasons and found Murray there.
Danielle running into Bootie in Florida was over the top coincidence. Danielle's need to return to NY was inexplicable.
This book stayed in my bathroom and if I was constipated, I never would have finished it.