Lionel Shriver

8.5 This is a satirical and cynical look at the current fitness trends and it would seem that the character of Serenata is somewhat based on the writer herself. Shriver admits to subjecting herself to a daily fitness routine similar to Serenata. It is also a look at a marriage and the challenges of adjusting from full time work to retirement or in Remington's case dismissal. The reason for dismissal was he had been accused of assault when he slammed his hand on the desk of his boss, in anger at her perceived ineptitude. He believed that he had been overlooked in the appointment to the position she now held and was the victim of reverse racism. She was a woman of African-American decent and had a disability confining her to a wheel chair. So Remington feels he has something to prove in attempting to complete at first a marathon and then a triathlon.… (more)

Not sure if this is a 2* or a 4* book. Don't feel it deserves a bland 3 - sometimes a 2 is better than a 3.

On the positives, the book is very engrossing. The two main characters (one the narrator) are nicely defined and complex. It's an interesting topic, and there is a good, page-turn-inducing sense of menace growing steadily.

On the downsides... Well, it's frankly unbelievable. Some of the reactions of people to the more... unusual events seem ludicrous, and that in turn makes other people's reactions to their reactions ludicrous. I feel that Shriver was trying to walk a line between foreshadowing, without undermining the plot, and I don't think she succeeded.

I think the book would have been more resonant, more powerful without the big school shooting. There is no suggestion that this is supposed to help understand why people commit such atrocities - each seems to be considered as sui generis (although banal in its unoriginality, and the predictability that they will reoccur). No, the book is more about bringing up a difficult and disturbing child, and I feel would have been better left at that. But, and this may be a trifle unfair no Shriver, that would have been less headline-grabbing.

I'm also not convinced of how realistic it is that Kevin's behaviour and psycopathic tendencies - kinda obvious as they are here - would have been undetected or ignored for so long. Again, Shriver seems to want to have her cake and eat it here.

Finally, I feel there's supposed to be a big reveal, but it was telegraphed so far in advance that it's not surprising when it happens (which I wouldn't mind, except it was built up so much). Again - I think I see the balance she was going for, but feel she missed it by a wide margin. Which, isn't a bad summation of how I feel about the book in general.… (more)

This book was, ...whew, well to say it was good or enjoyable doesn't quite fit, though it is stunningly well written in a technical sense. The reading certainly isn't "enjoyable", the whole thing extracts a toll on you even as you eagerly, apprehensively turn the next page, it is a profoundly searing, moving book, and as if by magic, the trauma on the pages wounds you as well. Lionel Shriver's prose is inspired and lambent and her skill for unsettling and unnerving, for taking a simple scene you're familiar with and turning it into a nightmare, is absolute. By all means read this book, but do not read it lightly, it will affect you, it will make you consider the worst case scenarios of parenting and relationships in general.… (more)

The first half of So Much For That was incredibly difficult to get through. It felt like there were too many lectures, and too little characterization. The second half moved at a much better clip, but unfortunately this book felt too much like "American Health Insurance for Dummies." Jackson, for the first half of the book, seemed to exist solely as a mouthpiece for the author. Shep and Glynis, who were the heart of the story, seemed murky and distant, much like a picture from a pinhole camera. The prose is wonderful in much of the book, but it is too flawed to recommend.… (more)