I'm only half-way into this book and already I can tell you that Tom Wolfe tells it like it is! He writes with the energy and panache of an ageless (and authentic) wunderkind. People who decry this book as "unrealistic" are just fooling themselves. Wake up! Take a look in the mirror, people! Tom doesn't shy away from showing you all the sad, petty, twisted and overwhelming obsessions of college life (which, of course, is just the real life shrinked down.) In fact, this book is SO realistically written that it's given me post-traumatic stress syndrome. I'm not kidding! In college (and high school) I was basically the Adam Gellin character - the dork, forced to kowtow to the jocks and always shot down by the hotties. Here's a little passage where Tom NAILS the mindframe of one of the a-hole jockstrap gorillas:
"What did Adam the tutor amount to? He amounted to a male low in the masculine pecking order who is angry, deserves to be angry, is dying to show anger, but doesn't dare do so in the face of two alpha males, both of them physically intimidating as well as famous on the Dupont campus. Jojo had enjoyed this form of unspoken domination ever since he was twelve. It was a source of inexpressible satisfaction."
Thank god somebody's got the guts to tell the TRUTH. Frankly, I think Wolfe is unjustly criticized on the basis of his age; people assume a 70-something author can't capture college kids' mental state. WRONG! Time and again I'm just blown away at how well he does it - the slang, the attitudes, the clothes, etc. The guy was clearly channeling!
And one finally gets a true view into the workings of the female mind - the ostensibly "smart and sweet" Charlotte Simmons is just a sucker when it comes to hot guys; she can't see them for what they really are: a-holes. "Charlotte's pulse was rapid... She was excited...the only girl in a room in a fraternity house with a whole bunch of cool boys." Meanwhile, like in real-life, the poor dork in the form of Adam Gellin (ME) is shunned and shunted. Nerds lose. Frat-boys and jocks win. Like in real-life: Bush is President. While a nerd can't get a job or a girl and winds up spending too much time writing up a review for Amazon. Ha!
Some readers complain the characters are stereotypes. Well, okay, Wolfe does skirt the margins of caricature. On the other hand, there really ARE people like this! If anything, his portrayals are HYPER-realistic. It's like he put a college campus under a microscope, and really ZOOMED in, until all the frightening details scream in your face. After all, what would've been the point of a bland, distant, birds-eye view? No, this is the only way it could've been done, had to be done, for the average, jaded reader to stand up and take notice.
Also, Wolfe gives every character depth and dimension, lifting them above the stereotype category. Even the gorilla jock becomes a REAL PERSON. Often he'll break the narrative flow to launch into a long exposition on how a character became what he or she is. You'd think it'd be boring, but it's actually not. You feel their desires, hopes, fears, everything.
AS FOR STYLE - Tom has enough to spare. I've never read a book by him before, namely because I assumed he'd be boring (most books dubbed as "literary" tend to turn me off), but wow was I wrong! This guy breaks every rule in the book and makes it work! He's like some hybrid of Bret Easton Ellis and Hubert Selby jr (and maybe a dash of Chuck Palahniuk?). He uses plenty of repetition (creating a crazed rhythm), will use all CAPS in dialogue (like Selby for emphasis), will phonetically spell out slang and sounds effects like "Woooooooooooooo!" and "oohooooo....oohoooooo...." and ":::::STATIC:::::" and is no stranger to using ellipses and wild streams-of-consciousness. He's clearly having an exhilarating good time with the English language. This is the book that Bret's "Rules of Attraction" wanted (or should've) been. While Bret is a great stylist as well, his book bogs down under its too-episodic going-nowhere structure and characters that all sound the same. Not here. Wolfe always maintains a "through-line" - things connect, there's a sense the characters are headed for a showdown (psychic or physical). Or to put it another way: THE PROPULSIVE ENERGY OF THIS BOOK COULD POWER ALL THE LIGHTS AND SUBWAYS OF MANHATTAN FOR A YEAR.
The chapter entitled, "The `H' Word" alone is worth the price of the book! It's a laugh out-loud expose' of the weight-rooms and body-conscious culture of America. The men with their "curious, apelike straddle gait." The females on cardio-machines with their rear, sweat-stained "declivities." And poor "unsexed" Adam running around, hoping to bulk up. Read it! Nobody has made you seen it more vividly.
Okay, I could on and on, but I need to stop somewhere. Suffice to say - I would give this book 20 stars if I could! It's one of those rare books that hits a nerve in you, expresses everything inside of you. It's real. It's the truth.
PS - I will post a Pt. II follow-up when I done. Stay tuned! ;)
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more
Similar items that may ship from close to you
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Top reviews from other countries
Ovidio Perera Moser
I really enjoyed this book
Reviewed in Spain on October 26, 2022