The Interestings

A bunch of kids meet at summer camp, grow up, more or less stay friends while they're living their lives and going through rough spots, and then they're older. Points for very interesting, distinct characters.

Okay, so, as expected, I did cry (a little) at the end. I understand some of the critics made about this book - that nothing incredibly “special” happens, that it is long and very descriptive. However, it worked perfectly for me, maybe because I love this type of book: long, about the passage of time and what time does to people, and about friendship, family, and love. In short, about life, showing what it looks like when we are teenagers and what it will probably look when we are middle-aged. I'm fascinated with the capacity some authors have to write about our lives' normality, and how they can capture the beauty and magic in all that normality. This book gave me “A little life” vibes (mixed with something written by Jeffrey Eugenides), because the characters' lives and the world-building are so detailed and well written that it seems that they have always been there, solid and ready, waiting for us.

Bored. Gave up.

Oh the privileged and their artsy and enigmatic friends. The book follows a group of friends from summercamp to middle-age, through crushes, heartbreaks, career choices, health crisis and wealth envies. The storytelling pulled me in, it was an easy listen, but all in all its not good enough to make up for the fact that the story and setting felt formulaic and familiar. It feels like The Secret History, spanning also the lives after they left college. The outsider (here Jules, there Richard) that joins a group of oh-such-interesting and dazzling young people, all well-read and talented, full of vigor and beauty. I think I am past my quota on such books.

3.5

DNF. Really not invested in the characters at all.

"And didn't it always go like that -- body parts not quite lining up the way you wanted them to, all of it a little bit off, as if the world itself were an animated sequence of longing and envy and self hatred and grandiosity and failure and success, a strange and endless cartoon loop that you couldn't stop watching, because, despite all you knew by now, it was still so interesting."

Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I started reading this book and around page 150, I put it down and decided to read another book. I am very happy that I picked this book back up. This book left me with no questions. It was all answered throughout the book, except did any of the friends receive any money. However, I think that was more of my psychology that I was bringing to the book. This book is going down as one of my favorites.

Didn't care about any characters. possibly the most misleading title ever. finished reading only because I kept thinking something interesting had to happen eventually, but no, that was a mistake.

This showed up on several best of 2013 lists, and it especially caught my eye because the titular group of protagonists all meet at a summer camp, and I'm a sucker for a camp story, and also for stories about pretentious young people. I could def see where another person could hate this book for all the reasons I loved it, but, I loved it. I loved how richly developed the characters were, and how honest & flawed & interesting they all were. It was also a bit of a page-turner for me–some of the ups & downs for the characters' lives were shocking and compelling, but even the more mundane moments captivated me for how honestly portrayed they were.

The Interestings follows a group of friends from a fateful summer camp meeting through the courses of their lives. Some become famous and wealthy, some struggle with relationships, making a living, and making something of their life. I enjoyed following these characters, although none are entirely likable. Meg Wolitzer has an easy and engaging style. However, by the end, the book didn't add up to much more than time spent with the characters. Though the book spans 30+ years it felt shallow in more than several places where I wish the author would have delved deeper.

Six teenagers, many privileged, meet one summer, bond, and live out the rest of their individual lives in the following pages. This is the premise of The Interestings, but it's also the same basic premise of my own novel-in-progress. Fortunately, the similarities largely end there. Now, I don't know if it's good for an author to read a book that bears such striking similarities to his own (especially when his book is still “in process”), but I was too curious. Did Wolitzer pull it off? What element of this story did she nail that I failed to acknowledge? Was a story with this premise even interesting, and if not, what did that mean for my own novel? Perhaps the only thing worse than reading such a similar novel for an author is acknowledging the fact on the Internet. Yes, I'm that idiot doing so now. If I'm ever fortunate enough to have my novel published, someone will likely make the connection, say I'm tapping Wolitzer's idea and shaping it into my own. Fortunately, I believe the differences in style, tone, execution, etc. are great enough that most people, even if they've read both novels, will not make a connection at all.

It may be my personal affection for the storyline, but I really enjoyed The Interestings. For a large part, the characters resonated with me. Although the story is about six characters, it almost entirely revolves around two, maybe three. The others are pushed to various levels of insignificance. I'd have liked to have known more about Cathy especially, but Wolitzer played her triviality well enough that it didn't harm the plot. Jonah and Goodman also could've been more significant, but upping their roles could've caused more damage than it would've been worth.

The thing that perhaps annoyed me most about The Interestings was the snobbery of some of the characters, particularly Jules. Oh my god, I have this shabby apartment and I have to walk up stairs!!! Whine, whine whine. What is unclear in the way Wolitzer implements this whining is whether the author genuinely believes Jules is somehow underprivileged, or is using very subtle irony, masquerading socio-economic views within the voices of her characters. And it is for the reason that a reader should never judge an author just because their personal feelings are getting in the way. Dostoevsky, after all, was a master at rallying his characters behind the belief that opposed his own. While I admit, I wanted to slap Jules, so much so that I feel the need to mention it in my review, her complaining did not detract from the skill of the novel.

The Interestings is not pieced together with the most captivating of plots, by any means, and I'm sure many readers will not enjoy this book the way I did. For me, it's personal. (Then again, isn't that what all stories are? Isn't our ability to connect to a particular storyline based on our own personal experience?) Those who don't care for The Interestings will likely first notice the irony of the title: “The Interestings isn't very interesting.” And yet, I think that is somewhat Wolitzer's point. Personally, I love that irony. And I tip my hat to her, even if she stole my idea. Assuming Wolitzer began writing The Interestings after she'd finished her previous novel, she probably didn't start the first draft until 2010 or 2011. If that's the case, technically she could've lifted the premise from me. I began work on my first draft in 2009. The idea was in my head years before that. It's a cutthroat industry and there are spies all around us, I say. Spies, spies!!!!