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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I really wanted to love this book, but I only ended up liking it.,
By
This review is from: The Great Perhaps: A Novel (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
When I first started reading the Great Perhaps, I loved the author's style of writing. Simple, to the point, and the characters are a little quirky: one rebellious teenager, one religious daughter, an unsatisfied mom and an oblivious father. Right off it reminded me of the book the Corrections, but I didn't like any of the characters in the Corrections. In the Great Perhaps, I at least started liking them.
But then, it became harder to like anyone. The rebellious teenager is at the extreme end of hating government, hating corporations, and pretty much hating everyone. Having grown up with a lot of teenagers that had similiar ideas to her, I could relate, however they would never have been as wild, childish and immature as she was. Pipe bombs and ranting editorials? I don't understand how this girl should have such a mature outlook on how the government really is and how media controls what society knows about, and then she blows it but having temper tantrums and hissy fits. The mother and father have marital problems, and each of them try to deal with everything in their own seperate, strange ways. The religious daughter, who does have a "Are You There God, it's Me Margaret" quality about her is probably the least confusing, turning to a God that she is not sure that she believes in because she knows that her family is starting to travel the road of the emotional breakdown. Like I said in the title of this review, I went into this book thinking I was going to love it, but only ended up liking it. I am interested in reading other books by this author as well, but am nervous of finding the patterns of overly obvious character development in each one.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"It's Beautiful Because It's Complicated",
By
This review is from: The Great Perhaps: A Novel (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
"The Great Perhaps" is one of those books where you finish it and just think, "wow." The characters themselves are fairly unpleasant in the beginning, and do nothing readily remarkable. Although the characters belong to the same family, and four of them live in the same house, for much of the story, it reads like a collective monologue. Just four narcissists and a shell of a grandfather going through their insignificant lives.
Then author Joe Meno works his magic. I do not want to sound gushy and I definitely do not want to give away anything in the plot, anything about the characters. If you're thinking about buying and reading this book, do. The characters will not make a wonderful first impression on you, but the narrative voice, the style, will pull you through and make you want to keep reading, and you'll be rewarded. At least I feel like I was. Rewarded without being preached at, uplifted in a way, without the use of cheesy plot devices. If you would like something to compare "The Great Perhaps" to, think of "White Noise" by Don DeLillo, which is a novel also peopled by characters who muddle through this modern world, maybe trying to make sense of it, maybe simply interested in gazing into a mirror, but it's impossible for the reader to make quick decisions about them, about the story. I cannot recommend "The Great Perhaps" enough, and the reason is best summed up by a line from the book itself: "It's beautiful because it's complicated."
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Corrections meets American Beauty,
By
This review is from: The Great Perhaps: A Novel (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
The Great Perhaps is the novel that The Corrections should have been: witty, empathetic, and engaging. Jonathan is an academic scientist married to Madeline, another academic scientist. Although he loves his family, he is far too distracted by an internet girlfriend, a Jacques Cousteau-like paleontologist rival, and his pursuit of a giant squid to recognize that he has lost touch with the concerns of his wife and children. The pigeons upon which Madeline's research is based are raping and killing each other, his eldest daughter Amelia is constructing a pipe bomb and constantly wearing a beret, and his youngest Thisbe may be a lesbian though she feels guilty about it and prays a lot. Additionally, Jonathan's father is in a nursing home and seldom seems mentally present anymore, despite the fact that Jonathan still needs guidance. When Madeline temporarily becomes as self-serving as he is and demands a separation at the same time as his father's health falters, Jonathan becomes unraveled and consequently so does the rest of the family.
The chapters of The Great Perhaps for the most part focus on one of the five members of the Casper family. Joe Meno is at his best when describing the characters of Jonathan and particularly his children. Jonathan is the quirky stereotype of a man facing a mid-life crisis, while Amelia is the epitome of teenage angst. He missteps slightly in telling Henry's story, which involves German spies and Japanese internment camps. These chapters and a couple which don't pertain to the main story (labeled "historically significant") do not seem to fit with the dark but humorous tone of the rest of the novel, and could have been omitted. The Great Perhaps reminded me very much of American Beauty, in that it does an excellent job of portraying the internal struggles that people who (on the surface) live a relatively carefree life face. One could argue that Meno's clouds are the literary equivalent to Sam Mendes' plastic bag. Ultimately, this is a worthwhile read because although the Casper family seems so odd their struggles are common to everyone. You will laugh at their strange behavior yet see parts of yourself in each character. The Great Perhaps addresses the problems and insecurities created in many families, and should appeal to anyone who appreciates masterful characterization.
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