Fleishman is in Trouble

[pollyhemlock]

Anyone else read this yet? If so what did you think? What did you feel about Toby and Rachel?

Read it last week (on holiday!) I did like it but I'm not sure it's as profound as it thinks it is, if that makes sense? I felt like it could have been by a number of authors (Franzen et al) and whilst that's not necessarily a bad thing, it didn't make it stand out to me in any meaningful way.

However... I read Lake Success just before reading it and they are similar books in a lot of ways (to me, anyway) so maybe it was more on me for not mixing up my reading list better! That said, it was a perfectly acceptable way to while away a few days and I might re-visit it again (I also laughed hard at Private Eye's predictably savage review of it, which was OTT as usual)

I'm not sure of it was meant to have a 'big reveal' when the narrative and perspective switched but I felt that it was a bit of a damp squib, and the ending REALLY irritated me!

Thought it was a massive disappointment given all the hype. Didn’t find either character engaging enough and thought the plot line was really thin.

Yes, I enjoyed it and thought it was quite clever, but I don’t think it’s ‘ the book of the summer’ as some have suggested. I found Toby and Rachel believable, though often very irritating, which is presumably intentional. Obviously I get that it’s a feminist book, but by the end I felt I was being hit over the head by the feminist message. Must try and find the Private Eye review.

I enjoyed it but also found it underwhelming. Also I didnt find the 'twist' very shocking at all. To me it was obvious from the beginning that Toby was a self absorbed twat

Indeed. The way he treats Mona is a strong indicator of the kind of guy he is.

I didn't like Rachel. Was she assaulted during her labour, or not? I couldn't tell.

I liked it though the characters were both ridiculously over privileged

Agree with @Springfern that it was pretty obvious. I did like the fact that Rachel only got such a small piece of the book and that became part of her silencing.

I'm on p86 and it's really not grabbing me at all. Just a relentless catalogue of Toby's dating conquests and bitching about his ex.
Should I give up or carry on? Will something engage me soon???

ImAShowPony
I'm reading it at the moment and it's not realky grabbing me either.

Recently finished this and thought it was very lacklustre... Even having lived in NYC I just couldn’t relate to “their world” at all. Found it quite boring to be honest and didn’t really see what having Libby as the narrator added...

@beanaseireann I read another 20 pages last night. It's improving slightly- well the plot and characters appear to be building so it's moving on from a long, dry, boring list of Fleishman's fucks.
The characters are all so uninteresting, dislikeable and one dimensional that it's offputting rather than engaging.

I finished it.
A couple of hours of my life I'll never get back.

Thanks for helping me decide- it's going back to the library.
Reading should be a pleasure and this book has turned into some horrible job that i felt i had to do.