A charming, absorbing read for the academia-inclined that may struggle for readership outside its hallowed halls.
Three student friends contemplate whether the pursuit of academic accomplishment is ultimately fulfilling or futile in Fedunkiw’s debut novel.
At the University of Toronto in 2002, Lily Halton defends her dissertation and envisions the start of a successful academic career. She craved intellectual fulfillment over luxury when she started in the History of Science, Medicine and Technology Institute’s master’s degree program, and she made two fast friends with similar goals. Simon was posh, British, gay, and brilliant; Greg was always struggling to keep up with the intellectual powerhouses, but was a faithful friend. Lily’s only regret now is that they will soon part ways; Simon’s already at the University of Oxford and Greg still hasn’t finished at U of T. However, Lily’s expectations deflate when she struggles to obtain an academic post. A year of applications and living on crumbs finally yields her a fellowship at Oxford, joyously reuniting her with Simon. They embark on a companionable adventure there, enjoying both the school and the town. But their fellowships expire in a flash, leaving them both scrambling for new positions before they’re impoverished and homeless. Meanwhile, the struggle for academic success proves to be too much for Greg without the in-person support of his friends, and he abandons his degree. Hence, the novel follows Lily and Simon through a decade of struggling for financial stability, and no amount of published research seems to help them succeed in the system. Greg appears to be the only sensible one, making a life for himself outside academia. Fedunkiw’s prose epitomizes her insider’s knowledge of the academic system but isn’t hampered by the dry tone of the scholar. Her dialogue richly depicts each character; Simon, in particular, is, as Lily calls him, a “verbose pedant” whose every remark is a bon mot: “Never let it be said that I do not acknowledge, to use your vernacular, the little people.” Overall, she displays impressive writing skill, with only two minor criticisms: Simon is so engaging and central to the storyline, one wonders whether the novel would have been better from his point of view, and the fact that the story is mired in the minutiae of academic posts won’t make it appeal to the broadest of audiences.
A charming, absorbing read for the academia-inclined that may struggle for readership outside its hallowed halls.Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4602-3379-5
Page Count: 270
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok in Crichton's new, vastly entertaining science thriller. From the introduction alone—a classically Crichton-clear discussion of the implications of biotechnological research—it's evident that the Harvard M.D. has bounced back from the science-fantasy silliness of Sphere (1987) for another taut reworking of the Frankenstein theme, as in The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man. Here, Dr. Frankenstein is aging billionaire John Hammond, whose monster is a manmade ecosystem based on a Costa Rican island. Designed as the world's ultimate theme park, the ecosystem boasts climate and flora of the Jurassic Age and—most spectacularly—15 varieties of dinosaurs, created by elaborate genetic engineering that Crichton explains in fascinating detail, rich with dino-lore and complete with graphics. Into the park, for a safety check before its opening, comes the novel's band of characters—who, though well drawn, double as symbolic types in this unsubtle morality play. Among them are hero Alan Grant, noble paleontologist; Hammond, venal and obsessed; amoral dino-designer Henry Wu; Hammond's two innocent grandchildren; and mathematician Ian Malcolm, who in long diatribes serves as Crichton's mouthpiece to lament the folly of science. Upon arrival, the visitors tour the park; meanwhile, an industrial spy steals some dino embryos by shutting down the island's power—and its security grid, allowing the beasts to run loose. The bulk of the remaining narrative consists of dinos—ferocious T. Rex's, voracious velociraptors, venom-spitting dilophosaurs—stalking, ripping, and eating the cast in fast, furious, and suspenseful set-pieces as the ecosystem spins apart. And can Grant prevent the dinos from escaping to the mainland to create unchecked havoc? Though intrusive, the moralizing rarely slows this tornado-paced tale, a slick package of info-thrills that's Crichton's most clever since Congo (1980)—and easily the most exciting dinosaur novel ever written. A sure-fire best-seller.
Pub Date: Nov. 7, 1990
ISBN: 0394588169
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1990
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