College Girl

College experience, about a girl living in a dorm for the first time- at twenty, having just transferred into a larger university for her final two years, so she feels a bit out of place. There’s a somewhat brusque roommate. A love interest who’s very tall and lanky, with light hair and a friendly face, always smiling. There’s hours spent in the beloved library, studying or just avoiding people. There’s insecurity and awkwardness around peers, and one professor in particular who tries to be a guiding element but meets with conflict from the student. The protagonist Natalie isn’t much of a reader, at least of fiction. She studies Russian history, finds delight in memorizing all the minute details about events and historical show more figures. Starts off not knowing many other students and only gradually makes friends. Her studies begin to suffer partway through the book, and then take a serious downward slide- due to becoming overly focused on a boy she gets involved with, in an unhealthy way. He seems nice upfront, but it soon becomes obvious to the reader that he has just one reason for being interested in her, and she takes that to mean a lot more than it does. Even when the red flags start flying, she makes excuses to herself and continues to meet with him, though he treats her worse as time goes on. Natalie is kind of desperate to gain the ubiquitous college experiences, so she goes to parties, drinks, takes up smoking, and eventually sleeps with her uncaring boyfriend. It was starting to feel very dismal to the reader.

Then she goes home for a holiday break- and suddenly a lot comes into focus when the family is revealed. They’re all blue-collar workers, sneer at her attempts to gain a college education, constantly insult and criticize her. Now the insecurities and self-doubt make sense. Add to that her struggles to makes sense of loosing a brother to suicide years earlier (which no one in the family will talk about) and I started to really feel sympathetic for her. Warning: there’s talk of self-harm and suicidal ideation in this novel. I was really glad at the end to see Natalie finally give her icky boyfriend the boot, find a better roommate, get back on track with her classes, discover some direction for her future and then meet a decent guy. The ending felt a bit too quickly wrapped up, but I was satisfied that it put this character on much better footing than she’d been for most of the novel. Reading this was like watching someone nearly wreck their life- akin to She’s Come Undone or The Book of Ruth. But it has a much more hopeful feel and I rather liked it in the end. show less

Patricia Weitz's coming-of-age novel about a college senior who learns to confront dating, sexuality, and her own insecurities, gets a lot of things right. Weitz captures the atmospheres of state university dormitories, lecture halls, frat parties, and the people who populate their backgrounds. Main character Natalie's struggles with her treatment at the hands of her emotionally abusive family and boyfriend are believably--and painfully--portrayed and developed.

Indeed, College Girl is very nearly an excellent book, but it falls short due to Weitz's disasterous decision to reduce all of her characters, and indeed the college experience itself, to sex. Yes, it is a huge aspect of the college experience, but were one to believe Weitz's show more narrative, no college student ever talked or thought about anything BUT sex: not their professors, not their homework, not the concert they went to the other day, the new CD they bought, or the movie they just saw. And these are college seniors we're talking about here. It's unfortunate because it seriously undermines Weitz's otherwise spot-on depiction of the college experience.

That said, College Girl is a fast read with more meat to it than most; one that deals with a difficult and serious subject with less melodrama and a good deal more sensitivity than one might expect. show less

I had a hard time finishing the book and almost gave up on it several times. Weitz never really made me care about Natalie or root for her. In fact, for most of the book, I was pretty disgusted by Natalie and only felt a little bit sorry for her. Many of the characters and scenes in College Girl seemed more like a caricature or Hollywood imagining of what the college experience is like rather than a realistic depiction of it. The dialogue was jerky and unnatural, and the side characters were stereotypical and rather boring.

Started this book in the summer and found myself reading it pretty consistently. I was creating the image of the character and her surroundings and everything was going great. Enter Patrick....I get frustrated, and not a month later, the book is tossed aside and not revisited for about 3 or so months. I begin my own college years and I gradually get back to this book, taking it in chapter morsels because I can't handle anymore than that in a single sitting. Last night, determined to be done, I completed it. I guess its just not my cup of tea...the ending was redeeming as I felt a semblance of who Natalie really was and can see how she's changed from where she started. But as she lost herself along the way, I lost my feelings of concern show more and care for her. Can't say for sure if this is due to Weitz's writing, or my own connection failure to Natalie. Maybe other girls of our time can relate to her, but I can't seem to, no matter how hard I try. I'm going to try to find this one a new home where it can be properly enjoyed, because to me, it was a hassle and I was forcing myself through it. =/ The actual rating of this book: 2 & a half stars....I can see the progression and kinda why things were the way they were, but this isn't a story I'd pick up again and not one that I would've been likely to pick up in the first place if I'd known more than just "Hmm...its called College Girl, I'm about to start college, why not?" Lesson learned, no hook ups for me. show less

I absolutely devoured this book from cover to cover. The story is based on hard-working studious Natalie Bloom. Coming from a working class background, she is determined to better herself and earn respect through hard work in college. She constantly struggles against her upbringing which has left her with a repressed sexuality and questions about her brother's suicide.

The feelings of lonliness and sexual curiosity that are common to university students are keenly evoked by the author and you will find yourself nodding along and agreeing with so many of the incidents. As Natalie develops sexual relationships and friendships, you will want to catch her and stop her from hurting herself. The story took me back to my own college days and my show more own efforts at those crucial first adult relationships.

It is a credit to the author that the book is easy and light to read, despite the heartful subjects at hand. It is an accurate experience of the college experience and I would recommend it as good reading for any young student who has questions about themselves and their relationships. To make an analogy that shows my age, it's a Judy Blume book for the college generation. show less

This book was almost painful to read. Not because of the writing - that was pretty good; almost stream of consciousness but with better grammar and sentence construction. No, the painful part of this was the main character, Natalie Bloom. A twenty year old college student just going to UConn after spending time at community college first. She has no self-esteem and isn't sure how to interact with the other students around her. Weitz makes us feel her pain, her uncertainty. The novel covers the semester that Natalie "grows up" if you will, and describes, in painful detail, all the false steps Natalie takes.

Maybe the reason this was so hard to read is that many of the feelings expressed by Natalie are so familiar. I imagine that most show more every woman in the world has felt them at some time.

This book could spark many lively discussions in book clubs. show less

I enjoyed this read, though I don’t think it captures the college experience as well as it purports to. What I think it does do is speak to anyone who has felt left out and confused, unsure of themselves, or been infatuated with the wrong guy for the wrong reasons while knowing it was wrong, deep down. Natalie has never really been taught how to be herself as she grew up in an overbearing family of older, trouble-making brothers and older parents who don’t really understand her themselves. This isn’t a particularly happy book, but I think that in the end, Natalie makes some decisions that she can live with, and is maybe taking the steps she needs to break away and be her own person.