Sign in with Facebook
Philip's Reviews > The Great Believers
The Great Believers
by
by
Philip's review
bookshelves: 2018-releases, americana, contemporary, author-woman, historical-fiction, pulitzer, top-5-2018
Oct 26, 2019
bookshelves: 2018-releases, americana, contemporary, author-woman, historical-fiction, pulitzer, top-5-2018
5ish stars.
Comparing this book to other recent Pulitzer winners/nominees, it doesn't have the gorgeous, lyrical prose of Imagine Me Gone, the magniloquent wit of Less, or the savage bite of The Sympathizer, but it's pretty perfect in its own way.
I love the two main characters, Yale and Fiona, so much that I got emotional whiplash from how many times I was hopeful for them, anxious, heartbroken, and hopeful all over again. Their stories, taking place in 1980s Chicago and 2015 Paris, are equally gripping and although it takes a while for the connection between the two settings to reveal itself, it eventually becomes clear that they're both vital.
Makkai's prose is tidy and precise, prudently telling the story without drawing too much attention to itself. The sense of setting in both timelines, as well as in flashbacks to Paris before and after WWI, is so complete. This is aided, interestingly, by descriptions of the art scenes in each period.
This is a beautiful, gripping, important book (without being too Important) and is completely deserving of the awards it has earned Makkai.
Posted in Mr. Philip's Library
Comparing this book to other recent Pulitzer winners/nominees, it doesn't have the gorgeous, lyrical prose of Imagine Me Gone, the magniloquent wit of Less, or the savage bite of The Sympathizer, but it's pretty perfect in its own way.
I love the two main characters, Yale and Fiona, so much that I got emotional whiplash from how many times I was hopeful for them, anxious, heartbroken, and hopeful all over again. Their stories, taking place in 1980s Chicago and 2015 Paris, are equally gripping and although it takes a while for the connection between the two settings to reveal itself, it eventually becomes clear that they're both vital.
Makkai's prose is tidy and precise, prudently telling the story without drawing too much attention to itself. The sense of setting in both timelines, as well as in flashbacks to Paris before and after WWI, is so complete. This is aided, interestingly, by descriptions of the art scenes in each period.
This is a beautiful, gripping, important book (without being too Important) and is completely deserving of the awards it has earned Makkai.
Posted in Mr. Philip's Library
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
The Great Believers.
Sign In »
Quotes Philip Liked
“It's always a matter, isn't it, of waiting for the world to come unraveled? When things hold together, it's always only temporary.”
― The Great Believers
― The Great Believers
“Stupid men and their stupid violence. Tearing apart everything good that was ever built. Why couldn't you ever just go after your life without tripping over some idiot's dick?”
― The Great Believers
― The Great Believers
“But when someone’s gone and you’re the primary keeper of his memory—letting go would be a kind of murder, wouldn’t it? I had so much love for him, even if it was a complicated love, and where is all that love supposed to go? He was gone, so it couldn’t change, it couldn’t turn to indifference. I was stuck with all that love.”
― The Great Believers
― The Great Believers
“But when someone's gone and you're the primary keeper of his memory -letting go would be a kind of murder, wouldn't it?”
― The Great Believers
― The Great Believers
Reading Progress
October 9, 2019
–
Started Reading
October 9, 2019
– Shelved
October 26, 2019
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-7 of 7 (7 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Felicia
(new)
Oct 28, 2019 09:25AM
Great review, Philip 💖
reply
|
flag
Felicia wrote: "Great review, Philip 💖"Thanks Felicia! :)
Great review, Philip! I get a little nervous about a book when it approaches 500 pages since that's a big reading commitment for a book that might not be up my alley. This read sounds really worthwhile, though, so I'm keeping it on my TBR list! :)
Julie wrote: "Great review, Philip! I get a little nervous about a book when it approaches 500 pages since that's a big reading commitment for a book that might not be up my alley. This read sounds really worthw..."I’m the same way. Anything over 350 is intimidating. I read the ebook version of this so I didn’t realize how long it is until I finished and noticed the page count of the print version. Didn’t feel like 400+ pages!
Good review. Are you in our Pulitzer group? It seems like you read a lot of them. I can't recall if that's how we met.
Philip wrote: "I’m the same way. Anything over 350 is intimidating. I read the ebook version of this so I didn’t realize how long it is until I finished and noticed the page count of the print version. Didn’t feel like 400+ pages!"Glad I'm not the only one who feels that way about lengthy books, and glad this one didn't drag!
Bookslut wrote: "Good review. Are you in our Pulitzer group? It seems like you read a lot of them. I can't recall if that's how we met."I'm not in the group, but it sounds like fun! I do try to read a lot of them. I've got the other two from this year on hold currently.
