I’m back again with two more mini-reviews on a theme. Last time was mysteries that had me going until the end but today is not all that mysterious, it’s rich white dudes. Which, apparently, there are fair amounts of in recent fiction.
The Fall of Princes by Robert Goolrick
Published by Algonquin Books
Publication date: August 25th 2015
The Fall of Princes is author Robert Goolrick’s look at the brash and bullish world of Wall Street in the 1980s. An interesting time to be sure but one I feel like I’ve already covered in my reading with Tom Wolfe’s The Bonfire of the Vanities—which isn’t to say I only read one novel about a time period or event—an outright lie given my fondness for the Tudors and World War II. From another perspective, maybe, but the narrator is a Wall Street hotshot and Goolrick’s macho prose, peppered with declarative sentences and enough testosterone to leach off the page doesn’t interest me anymore. It’s a time and a place we learned nothing from so that in 2008 the same expensively suited, stupidly wealthy men got to do it all over again and this time, bring down our economy. This one rubbed me so wrong I was not able to finish it but Goolrick’s brash prose and the narrator’s foibles, as well as the sybaritic high life of the era, mean that this is a novel that could be appealing to a number of readers. If you’re one of them read it and stop back to let me know what you thought!
A Good Family: A Novel by Erik Fassnacht
Published by St. Martin's Press
Publication date: August 25th 2015
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary 
A Good Family chronicles the lives of the Brunson family: the powerful patriarch, Henry, whose personal and professional successes have segued into the unease of middle age only to be assuaged by leaving his family and embracing nightclubs, young women and Viagra—in that order; his wife, Julia, who is coping with her husband’s departure by popping Zoloft like Pez; their oldest son, Charles, who was his father’s pride and joy and heir apparent in the business world until he quit his job and enlisted; and Barkley, the youngest son who perfectly fills his slot as a pretentious, entitled young man who is certain that his sci-fi stories are going to make him the next Asimov.
I started A Good Family right after The Fall of Princes so in the name of honesty, I’ll acknowledge that it was bad timing for me regarding fiction about rich white men who have spent their lives plundering only to be beset by fears of dying. This is not a protagonist class that piques my interest. Add to that the abundance of family stereotypes (philandering dad, checked-out mother, loser gamer brother) and I’m left wondering when/if originality is going to make an appearance. Having said that, this novel has garnered a lot of praise and while the story did not appeal to me the writing is strong. If A Good Family had been about Charlie and his struggles to re-integrate into his life after a tour of duty in Afghanistan I would have stuck with the book because in those chapters Fassnacht explores issues of profound importance in modern day America. Unfortunately, if only one out of four in an ensemble cast has a compelling story it’s not enough to keep me turning pages.
A quick note: I’ve reached the point in my reading life where I give a book only so much time and if it hasn’t won me over, I’ll stop reading it before the end. I never used to do this but the credo “life is too short” has made its way into my bookish life. There are simply too many other things out there waiting to be read to stick with something that doesn’t work for me.
How about you? Do you power through every book no matter what? Or do you bail when they bore? If you do bail, what’s the deciding factor?
I read Fall of Princes until the end and, while I didn’t love it (like you said, I’d read the same book before…Vanities, Wolf of Wall Street, a bunch of nonfiction about the 2008 crash), I did end up appreciating the more melancholy tone that was different than other debauchery books. I gave it 3.5 stars.
I remember hearing about A Good Family at BEA and briefly considered picking it up, but didn’t. I’d completely forgotten about it until now!
And – I used to finish every single book I started, but made a 2015 resolution to be quicker to DNF and I’ve gotten a bit better, but still…ha!
I totally do not understand the concept of “powering through” a book I’m not enjoying. I probably finish 20% of the books I start. Partly this is because I’m a bookseller and I bring home piles of books to choose from, but I did this even as a child — I would bring home stacks of books from the library and read some and abandon others. What I don’t get is how people who feel they must finish every book they start ever have the courage to open a book! Do they feel that just because they read the first chapter they must grimly read on, even though there are countless books out there they would enjoy?
Oh, Ann, I was one of those people- even more so when I was younger! I did it with books and movies. I felt some kind of obligation- that someone had put time and effort into creating this thing so I had to finish what I started. Really silly, I know but it was a kind of mercy reading. Now, I’m much more brutal. I can’t even imagine how many books you must have to choose from so can see that you’d have to be ruthless about what you stick with and what you ditch.
I bail. I used to worry about finishing everything I started (that said, I’ve never had a problem abandoning a book for bad writing), but I don’t so much anymore. I think it’s perfectly okay to abandon something when I realize I’m not the right audience.
Bad writing is an automatic DNF! You’re absolutely right about “audience” which is a great way to look at it.