Modern Lovers

After seeing the many negative or mediocre reviews, I hesitated about reading this novel, but I'm so glad I did. It proved to be a wonderful escape during the early days of coronavirus and sheltering in place, and I really looked forward to "hanging" with these fascinating women. Straub is a graceful and elegant stylist and very good at drilling into her characters' emotional lives. With the exception of the odious Andrew, these are complicated and very believable characters -- not always likable, but who among us are. That's what makes them interesting. And building her story through the lenses of almost all of the characters not only made the novel more compelling, but also stronger, showcasing the ways we so often misinterpret others' actions or thoughts or fall prey to misconceptions of our own. Her take on Brooklyn today was particularly good -- gentle satire poking fun at the pretensions and pretentiousness, but with a loving eye. Straub is also very good with teenagers. Ruby was perhaps my favorite character and her interactions with her other friends and of course with Harry were lively, entertaining and also incredibly sweet. The one negative, as others pointed out, is Andrew, who was impossible to like and worse, to believe in. What a sad sack at almost 50; whiny, self-involved, self-pitying, stupid, irritating beyond belief. I'd have chalked this up to Straub's difficulty with male characters but Harry was a wonderful character, so I have to believe she either missed the boat with Andrew or had some reason for making him so unpleasant. He's the only one that doesn't grow and he isn't really mentioned in her clever finale wrapping up the lives of everyone else looking ahead a few years. I'd have rooted for Andrew to face some consequences from throwing away a considerable amount of money on a con man, but that plot line never goes forward, and for me, that was a bit of a miss. All this said, I'd still recommend this as a heartfelt, funny and very well-written novel. Can't wait to start her new one, just out this week.

I honestly loved this book. There were so many negative reviews on it, which almost deterred me from even giving it a chance. I'm glad I ignored them. This was a really sweet book that stayed with me long after I read it. All of the characters feel fully fleshed out, and each have their own interesting story arcs throughout. Modern Lovers also was very timely when it came to the environment which many generations live in today. The world is changing, and it can be scary. This book did not shy away from that. I would recommend this to anyone that wants a fun summer read that also makes them think long after they've finished it.

It took 300 pages, but I finally got into this read. The main problem for me was that there were too many character perspectives. The beginning was hard to get interested in because I was having trouble investing in each characters plot... Andrew for instance, was a character that was so one-dimensional and needless that I began to skim when his parts came up. I'm sorry, but after twenty years of marriage, the repetition of, "I want to deserve my wife..." Give me a break. I get where she was going with this, but he just wasn't believable and therefore, I had zero investment in his storyline. That said, the Jane and Zoe storyline was interesting... and Ruby's was vaguely interesting as well. I felt like towards the end, I was really waiting for something big to go down. Something earth-shattering to all of the characters, but really it was all rather predictable. The ending was a letdown, for sure. Especially since it took well over half the book to get invested. As a previous poster mentioned, it felt under developed. I liked the underlying themes that the author was after - especially what marriage REALLY is about... I appreciated what she was trying to capture, but it felt rushed. I do think it was an okay read in the end. Perfectly timed release date, as this would have been much more of a letdown mid-winter.

Oh, what a lovely summer read! I especially recommend it for readers with teenage children. The writing is lovely and each of the characters was likable and sympathetic. I could thoroughly relate to each of the character's discontent and the stories of their college days definitely reminded me of my own. The teenage angst was also realistic and brought back both my own days as a teenager and helped remind me of what my own teenager is experienced. I downloaded this as a kindle book, but also ordered the hardcover as a gift for a friend once I finished reading it. I also own Straub's THE VACATIONERS but the beginning of the book just didn't hook me. Now that I have read MODERN LOVERS, I will go back and give it another try.

Read the vacationers and thought it was okay, maybe more of a library rental. When I saw the description of this book, mainly revisiting the death of a college band singer who later becomes famous, I thought meh. Turns out I clicked buy by mistake and it was quite a happy mistake. This book has very little to do with the college bang, or the singer's death, but is a realistic but beautifully pictured examination of growing old and looking back, juxtaposed with a younger generation coming of age. All of the characters are sympathetic, despite their faults. I thought racial implications might have been fleshed out a bit more, but then I think the focus of the book might have splintered. Maybe ignoring it completely rather than briefly hinting at it would have been more fluid. I found it utterly enjoyable.

An enjoyable read where we see a group of college friends as they reach middle age. It has humour but also pathos. I found the characters of Zoe and Elizabeth well portrayed and relatable and I liked the way that their now teenage children were beginning the journey they had once travelled. The teenagers were great and spot on and the relationship between them and their parents made me sigh and chuckle as I recognised myself in them: they were trying to be the supportive friendly parent we all try to be whilst being unable to resist the rant that an often recalcitrant teen can so easily invite. The conclusion was little too neat and Andrew was beyond infuriating but overall I enjoyed this novel.

I couldn't even finish the book. I read half of the book and the story hasn't started yet. They are still describing characters, so I did not get involved in the story.

Die Bücher sind ganz neu, sehr gute Preis und Leistung Verhältniss; Die Lieferung war sehr schnell und praktisch. Ich werde in der Zukunft sicher bestellen!

Great book!

On passe un excellent moment avec ces personnages ! Pas de mièvrerie des histoires vraies ancrées dans notre époque.