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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dark and sharp,
This review is from: Like the Red Panda (Harvest Book) (Paperback)
Suicide is not exactly a funny topic. But new novelist Andrea Seigel tackles a strange death wish in "Like the Red Panda," and makes it funny too. Incisive, sharp-edged and smart, this look at the final two weeks of high school for a girl who is far and away the wisest person in her community.
Stella is brainy, pretty and wise beyond her years, about to graduate from high school. Up until this week, she was planning on going to Princeton -- now, she wants to die before she gets there. She deliberately flunks tests, ponders her teachers, and contemplates the absurdity of schoolwork (bouncing imaginary balls) and classmates (while befriending the class weirdo). As the school year winds down, Stella visits her bedridden, emotionally abusive grandfather -- discovering that they have more in common than she thought. She also ponders the loss of her parents when she was eleven, an event that shaped her personality from then on, and the colorless life she has had with her nervous foster parents. In those two weeks, Stella decisely works on how to best leave the world, observing as it moves past her. While "Catcher in the Rye" is referenced from time to time -- including the observation that you'd want to strangle Holden in real life -- Stella is a wholly different person. This story is a morbid comedy, where "Catcher" is more of an angry-young-man/coming-of-age tale. And it's that very mix of wit and darkness that makes "Like the Red Panda" so exceptional -- few authors could handle such a plot without making it trite or maudlin. Rarely could cocaine/heroin ODs be considered romantic or amusing. But Stella ponders the weird romantic streak in her parents' deaths (their "hearts snapped in tandem") at her eleventh birthday party. She looks back on them -- and her life -- with a mix of honesty and affection. She's not heartless, just brutally honest about herself and the world. Seigel does display some first-time difficulties -- she climaxes Stella's problems with her foster parents by having an awkward blowup. And Stella's relationship with her drug-dealing boyfriend seems tacked in. However, her prose is wonderfully written, with a sort of detached grace as Stella observes the little things, from sex to religion. Sprinkled in are wry observations, like the Jewish temple that her foster parents go to: services are held on Sundays, because "this benefited cross-religion plan-making on the weekends." Stella is not a female Holden clone -- where Holden is resentful, she is quietly brutal. She's witty, wry and thoroughly engaging for smart, philosophical young women. Her foster parents are pale characters, especially when compared to her exuberant druggie parents. And her classmates and teachers are gifted with little quirks and oddities, but not to the point of being caricatures. "Like the Red Panda" is an excellent first novel for Andrea Seigal. Rather than going into "angry young woman" territory, she opts for a funny, dark, strange journey into Stella's mind. While Seigel has some beginner's problems to iron out, her beautifully written debut is highly recommended.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant,
By A Customer
This review is from: Like the Red Panda (Harvest Book) (Paperback)
Reading the description of this book, along with its dreary premise, made me want to run screaming from the Amazon page. But something kept drawing me back to this book and I found myself purchasing it. I usually stick with a bestseller, like LIFE OF PI or BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, but thought I would give this new novel a try. The title didn't hurt any either as I was curious to find out what it meant. Suffuce it to say that I have NOT been disappointed. LIKE THE RED PANDA is a truly beautiful, disturbing, funny, heart-felt book and the author of this remarkable journey should be proud of her work. With insight into the human condition and a cast of characters that are at once believable and yet almost over the top, Seigel has given us a wonderfuly warped portrait of suburbia, much like Perrotta's LITTLE CHILDREN or McCrae's THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD. Both humorous and disturbing, this stellar novel can't help but pick up steam. Kudos to Seigel on this brilliant and wonderfully crated novel.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
not for everyone,
By
This review is from: Like the Red Panda (Harvest Book) (Paperback)
but hey, what is?
I just finished this book an hour ago. The last time I read a book was 3 years ago, but that was only for my English class. I've attempted to read various books since then, but have gotten bored with all of them before getting to the third chapter. "Like the Red Panda" was EXACTLY what I needed at this time in my life. I recommend it to anyone who has ever thought about suicide (not neccessarily as something to do, just something to think about) and those of us who are humored and at the same time bothered daily by the transparency of this world and the people in it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book in every way. The structure was easy to understand but not boring, and the detailed character description affected me the most. Anyway, this is my first book review and it probably didn't say much, but this is a smart book and smart people will enjoy it. :)
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