Different readers have different reactions to different things. Banal observation I know, but it's one of the things that make reviews worth reading. For instance: "The 40-page stretch that almost made me give up describes Able’s near-paralyzing depression early in the school year. It paralyzed the book."
I found that "paralyzing" stretch quite gripping and memorable. It immersed me in Able's depression in a way that a 4-page summary wouldn't have.
I think the book takes place somewhere in the mid-late 2000s, at the height of "No Child Left Behind." This fits with the tech (there were lots of different phone types, and everyone had very individualized relationships to texting), and it fits with what was going on in American education at the time.
> What’s more important to you, the material or the students?… Are you teaching for them, or are you teaching for you?
I think with my favorite teachers, both things were true at the same time. A teacher who really loves the material tends to animate it and make it more interesting and memorable for the students.
I think we're going through a period with a lot of very blunt idea-art, which is probably inevitable when people have very different ideas about things. It does get a little exhausting, however. I tend to prefer novels where people's everyday struggles take on epic proportions without being explicitly linked to larger ideas or issues.
But there are certainly good idea-novels. Some of the Russians manage to pull it off, for example.
Thanks for this, and kudos for the callout to the amazing Naomi Kanakia.
Despite both of your recos, and the other fellow's, this one doesn't sound like something I'd want to read. Especially now, when we are in the midst of a difficult move, and personal turmoil. Who knows, perhaps I'll write about *that* someday? If terminal decline doesn't come first.....
--
"The future is a lovely thing to contemplate, but in the final analysis, it is where we go to die."
Different readers have different reactions to different things. Banal observation I know, but it's one of the things that make reviews worth reading. For instance: "The 40-page stretch that almost made me give up describes Able’s near-paralyzing depression early in the school year. It paralyzed the book."
I found that "paralyzing" stretch quite gripping and memorable. It immersed me in Able's depression in a way that a 4-page summary wouldn't have.
I think the book takes place somewhere in the mid-late 2000s, at the height of "No Child Left Behind." This fits with the tech (there were lots of different phone types, and everyone had very individualized relationships to texting), and it fits with what was going on in American education at the time.
> What’s more important to you, the material or the students?… Are you teaching for them, or are you teaching for you?
I think with my favorite teachers, both things were true at the same time. A teacher who really loves the material tends to animate it and make it more interesting and memorable for the students.
I think we're going through a period with a lot of very blunt idea-art, which is probably inevitable when people have very different ideas about things. It does get a little exhausting, however. I tend to prefer novels where people's everyday struggles take on epic proportions without being explicitly linked to larger ideas or issues.
But there are certainly good idea-novels. Some of the Russians manage to pull it off, for example.
Great review.
Book reviews like this are why I subcribe to ROL. And surprisingly, there were no attacks on "wokeness" in this piece.
Excellent review, John. You seem somewhat ambivalent about the book, but from the way you describe it, it sounds right up my alley.
The scenes that work really work, Avner.
Thanks for this, and kudos for the callout to the amazing Naomi Kanakia.
Despite both of your recos, and the other fellow's, this one doesn't sound like something I'd want to read. Especially now, when we are in the midst of a difficult move, and personal turmoil. Who knows, perhaps I'll write about *that* someday? If terminal decline doesn't come first.....
--
"The future is a lovely thing to contemplate, but in the final analysis, it is where we go to die."
-- John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946)