Exciting Times

There is nothing “exciting” about “Exciting Times,” by Naoise Dolan, other than the title. This is one of the most boring books I have ever read, and I read a ton of books every year. The story line is a good one, but never lived up to that potential. The book is heavy on narrative, thus it reads like Dolan is telling the reader a story instead of showing it to us. I wanted to see the action, not simply be told what happened. More dialogue and character development would have helped.

The book was extremely slow to get going. I almost ditched it early on. Finally, the last few chapters picked up, but too late for most readers. There were times I did not even want to pick the book up and continue reading.

None of the characters were show more likeable. Ava is an immature young lady incapable of making even the simplest decision. She does not know if she is in love or not. She does not know what she wants for dinner. She is like a dead fish, floating downstream in the river of life. She makes the lives of those around her as miserable as she is. She is an enabler who allows others to use and abuse her.

Julian is a total jerk. He uses Ava, and she lets him do so. I could not stand him at all.

The characters lacked decent development. Julian barely speaks, so we never know what he is really thinking. Therefore, it is impossible for the reader to get to know him. Ava is so indecisive the reader never knows her well either.

The story as a whole lacked conflict. If there is no conflict, then the reader does not care either. The only potential conflict was when Edith met Julian and that went so well, it was not believable.

I was most disappointed by the ending (or lack of one). I realize every book does not end on a happy ever after note, but this one has no conclusion. I would have liked some closure at least. Maybe the author left it vague hoping for a sequel.

I’m just glad the book wasn’t 100 pages longer as it would have wasted even more of my time reading it. show less

Whether or not you'll like Naoise Dolan's debut novel depends largely on what you think about Sally Rooney's novels. It's not that they are both young Irish women, but that they are writing about self-contained young women who have trouble looking outside of themselves or viewing people as independent creatures and they think primarily about their sexual and romantic relationships. I liked one of Rooney's novels and not the other. I found Exciting Times to be ok.

Ava is Irish and working as an English-language (TEFL) teacher in Hong Kong, teaching grammar to schoolchildren. She meets an English banker and while their relationship is decidedly not romantic, he invites her to move into his spare bedroom. He's detached and unemotional and show more busy, so a relationship based on convenience works for him. It works for Ava since housing in Hong Kong is expensive and Julian is an easy roommate, although she thinks endlessly about their relationship and its parameters. She's not in love, but she wouldn't mind if Julian were, as long as he still gave her her space. And she misses him when he's on business trips. It's while he's on a long business trip that she meets Edith and falls for her. What follows is a simple love story complicated by Ava's endless analysis of her feelings, Edith's feelings and endless deconstructions of their every interaction.

The parts of this novel where Ava emerges from self-reflection to ponder the differences between British and Irish English or when she notices that the kids she's teaching are individuals and interesting are wonderful. The endless navel gazing got old for me, but not so old that I wanted to stop reading. I would have loved to have seen what happens were Ava to stop watching herself and began participating in her own life, but that's not the book Dolan wrote. show less

Nach dem Studium flüchtet Ava aus Dublin nach Hongkong, wo sie einen Job als Englischlehrerin annimmt. Was sie in ihrem Leben tun will, davon hat sie keinen Plan, ganz anders als Julian, der als Banker fest im Leben zu stehen scheint. Bald zieht sie bei ihm ein, von einer klassischen Beziehung kann jedoch keine Rede sein. Sie wohnt im Gästezimmer, was die beiden jedoch nicht von gemeinsamen Nächten abhält. Sie sind ein ungewöhnliches Paar, zwischen Nähe und Distanz, immer darauf bedacht, keine rote Linie des anderen zu übertreten, jedes Wort auf die Goldwaage legend und doch vermissen sie sich, wenn Julian auf Geschäftsreisen ist. Während einer solchen lernt Ava Edith kennen, die so anders ist, sich wirklich für Ava show more interessiert und alles von ihr wissen möchte. Zunehmend lässt Ava sie in ihr Leben, auch wenn ihr das Interesse und bald auch die Zuneigung der Juristin komisch vorkommen. Aber womöglich hat sie nur noch nie die Erfahrung von Liebe gemacht.

Unweigerlich ist man bei Naoise Dolans Debütroman auch an eine andere irische Autorin erinnert, die in den letzten Jahren für Furore gesorgt hat. Ebenso wie Sally Rooney schreibt Dolan über eine Generation von stark verunsicherten jungen Menschen, die sich nichts mehr als funktionierende Beziehungen wünschen, aber selbst mit dem passenden Partner eher einen gemeinsamen Tanz voller Verunsicherung aufführen, als sich gelassen dem hinzugeben, was geschieht.

Ava ist die Personifizierung des Twentysomething: sie wirkt unabhängig und willensstark nach außen, ihr Leben findet gleichermaßen online wie offline statt, Image muss immer in beiden Versionen des Lebens mitgedacht werden. Freundschaften drücken sich mehr durch die Likes und Klicks aus denn durch das gemeinsame Erleben. Gedanklich steckt sie derweil in endlosen Spiralen des Überdenkens fest, Spontaneität gibt es nicht mehr, da Worte Folgen haben und jede mögliche Deutung antizipiert werden muss, bevor es dann doch zu spät ist, noch auf etwas zu reagieren. Ironie und Zynismus gehören zum Kommunikationsrepertoire, sind jedoch gleichzeitig mit für die Distanzierung von den anderen verantwortlich, die die Figuren einsam macht.

Einerseits ist die 22-Jährige nicht immer leicht auszuhalten, man wünscht ihr eine gute Portion naive Sorglosigkeit, um frei von den Gedanken zu sein und das Leben genießen zu können. Andererseits hat ihr analytischer Verstand jedoch auf einer ganz anderen Ebene wiederum einen großen Reiz. Sprache dient ihr nicht nur als Mitteilungsmedium für Inhalte, sondern markiert auch Klasse. Sie als Irin mit bescheidenem Hintergrund unterscheidet sich dramatisch von Julian, der Eton und Oxford besuchte und mit seinem Job im Finanzsektor auch finanziell zum oberen gesellschaftlichen Ende zählt. Beide wiederum gehören als Expats des ehemaligen Kolonialherren in Hongkong zur Oberschicht, die in einer Parallelwelt lebt und nur im Dienstleistungsbereich Berührungspunkte mit den Einheimischen hat. So kommt es auch, dass die dramatischen politischen Ereignisse der Umbrella Bewegung vor Avas Tür stattfinden, ohne dass sie ernsthaft davon Notiz nehmen würde. Sie kann jedoch auch jederzeit das Land verlassen, irgendwo hingehen, wo sie ganz selbstverständlich alle Rechte in Anspruch nehmen kann. Sensibilität scheint nur in Bezug auf die eigene Person angezeigt, dann jedoch gleich in übersteigerten Maßen.

Avas Angst vor Zurückweisung, dem immerwährenden Gefühl nicht zu genügen, folgt eine Distanziertheit, die man auch als Leser spürt. Es fällt nicht leicht, Sympathie mit ihr zu empfinden und sich ihr zu nähern. Als Figur kann sie so überzeugen, ich hätte mir jedoch eine größere emotionale Eingebundenheit gewünscht.

Eine pointierte und scharfe Analyse einer Generation, deren globale Vernetzung nicht zu mehr Nähe, sondern zum genauen Gegenteil führt und deren Leben nur dann stattgefunden hat, wenn es auch mit schönen Bildchen dokumentiert und von möglichst vielen geliked wurde. show less

You know when you understand why some protagonists are classed as “unlikable” but you actually see all your own toxic traits in them? And therefore find them QUITE comforting and become reassured that you’re not a crazy person.

Dolan’s writing is wonderful, short snappy chapters keep the story moving. Ava, Julian and Edith were all very interesting, complex and well written characters.

The story rang true of real life, where no matter how much you talk to your partner you somehow you’re still not totally sure what’s going on...

I also enjoyed how not that much really happened, the whole story was centred around the relationships built between the characters. Plus, nobody died, so it was a pretty cheery story by my usual standards.

"Choose Your Own Adventure" time for Ava: wealthy banker Julian or loving lawyer Edith? Ava is an Irish transplant to Hong Kong, where she learns English grammar while teaching it to fourth graders. Struggling to live on her meager salary, she accepts Julian's invitation to move into his cold, barren luxury high-rise apartment for free, as they trade snarky quips of seeming disinterest in each other as Ava secretly yearns to be his official girlfriend. What does Julian think? We don't know, because we aren't privy to his inner thoughts about Ava, or if he even has any. When he is sent back to London, Ava founders until she meets the stunning Edith and they become lovers. We do know Edith's thoughts, because we hear many an argument show more between the women, about Ava's tenancy in Julian's digs, and Edith doesn't even know that Julian and Ava are not-so-platonic roomies. When Julian returns to Hong Kong, he admits to having missed Ava. Ava doesn't admit Julian's status to Edith, who inadvertently and disastrously discovers the truth about her unwitting membership in the odd romantic triangle. Ava is flighty and selfish, though she maintains a close and loving relationship with her Mam back in Ireland and a granddaughterly-like rapport with Julian's dad. Now Julian is being permanently reassigned to Germany. Whither Ava? The novel is filled with humor and silly behavior, several cuts above a beach read and was a roaring debut novel success in Europe.

Quotes: "I wondered if Victoria was a real person or three Mitford sisters in a long coat."

"The buck stopped with him, a reflection of his general distaste for parting with currency." show less

Can there be too many twenty-something, steam-of-consciousness, acerbically witty books? As a boring, middle-aged professional reader, I tend to think so, but Naoise Dolan has written a pretty good one. The main twenty-something in Exciting Times is Ava, who has traveled from her home in Dublin to Hong Kong--maybe to find herself, maybe to get away from her family. She teaches English to children and ends up living with Julian, who she loves but doesn’t like. As with most of these books, there is not much plot, but enough to keep the book moving as we listen to Ava worry and think about everything. Hong Kong plays a nice backdrop, and there are lots of funny Irish/British bashing moments and human nature observations. Dolan cannot show more escape comparisons to Sally Rooney, and with good reason, but if you liked Normal People, then Exciting Times is a good match. show less

lolol exciting times? probably not, but this was good! i totally understand why people didn't like it/gave it bad reviews, but IRISH AUTHORS WRITE CHARACTER DRIVEN BOOKS AND I LOVE THAT FOR THEM! if you're a fan of Sally Rooney you'll enjoy this which i am and i did. i flew through this. nothing really happened but so much was said in every sentence. i would describe Ava, the main character as morally ambiguous and an unreliable narrator who is emotionless in her interactions and is trying to navigate her uncertainties about her sexuality, class, and lack of ambition. this story is messy and confusing up until the last quarter of the book. but i really, really enjoyed it! people's negative reviews are a little confusing.. like people show more are claiming that this book is full of racism? the entire book seems to feel like a deconstruction of a foreigner's view of Hong Kong and how British classism and snobbery have infiltrated the culture irrevocably and how even this is some ways preferable to the looming and uncertain threat of China. to me it feels like Ava is meant to act as an unreliable narrator who doesn't realize that she's also using her position in the country for her own selfish ends and the moments when she really sees Hong Kong and its people as more than just backdrops happen more and more as the story progresses and when she spends more time away from Julian and more time with Edith show less