Prep in Books I Want To Talk About

Dec 19, 2007 Sera rated it liked it

Shelves: own, other-fiction

Started out well, but then slowed down alot. Overall, a decent read, but there is so much better out there if you don't have the time. ...more

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Jul 23, 2009 Meghan rated it it was ok

Shelves: own, childrens, biwtr-bc

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I want to first say that I really, really liked American Wife A Novel, and didn't realize until halfway through this book that it was written by the same author. AW was well-written and a solid story from cover-to-cover, despite what you may think of the subject matter. This book, unfortunately, was so uneven that the writing was too often distracting to fully enjoy. I feel that now that I know this was written before AW, it almost feels like it was her "practice" novel.

Sittenfeld definitely und I want to first say that I really, really liked American Wife A Novel, and didn't realize until halfway through this book that it was written by the same author. AW was well-written and a solid story from cover-to-cover, despite what you may think of the subject matter. This book, unfortunately, was so uneven that the writing was too often distracting to fully enjoy. I feel that now that I know this was written before AW, it almost feels like it was her "practice" novel.

Sittenfeld definitely understands how to write about the Midwest. Even in this book, as a Midwesterner, I felt that Lee and her family were true and not just charicatures and stereotypes. However, the people at Ault I felt were mere shadows of what "Easterners" are like and so Lee's whole time at Ault (while is the whole point of the book) felt fake. Aspeth was the rich beautiful girl. Cross was the rich beautiful boy. You had the smart geeky math tutor, Aubrey. You had the wannabe-popular-but-not-quite Dede. You had the rich Asian, Sin Jun. You had the wealthy-but-is-he-black-enough, Darden. But none had depth and felt like stereotypes fillers only there to set up whatever situation Sittenfeld needed Lee to end up in. Even Martha, who was wealthy, felt like the kind of best friend that Lee would have back in Indiana, who's father may live in the better neighborhood, but NOT in a tax-bracket that is completely out of Lee's family's league. It is discrepencies like this that made Sittenfeld 's arguments of class inequalities at the end seem hollow.

Although, I felt that the last part of the book was the strongest of the whole book. And though I can understand some reader's complaint that it was anticlimatic, I think that it was the strongest written portion because Lee actually DOES something rather than just an observer. While there were many times I recognized my teenage self in Lee, her antipathy of joining felt false as her time at Ault lengthened. It's one thing to not join in the beginning because you're afraid or uncertain. It's another to be a junior and still not participate simply because you never started. And while I recognize that was the point of Lee, it just didn't feel true to human nature.

The other major thing that bothered me about the writing was that Sittenfeld often left "foretelling" little clues about what's to come. And rather than subtle hints that unless you're paying attention you might miss, she hits you with them like a two-ton brick. And so you KNOW Lee and Cross are going to hook up. You KNOW Lee is going to do something stupid at the end of the book. You KNOW Conchita is going to tag Lee in Assassin. And while it's alright to know ahead of time, the lack of suspense made the reveals unremarkable.

I think this book is good in the sense that I'm sure many teenagers can identify with Lee's insecurities and fears. I think in that sense, Sittenfeld strikes the right cord with her young readers. As a person in my 30s, while it took me a while, I eventually could relate to Lee on several levels--thinking back to my high school years. Lee is socially naive and underdeveloped, which makes her extremely frustrating at times. But it doesn't make her unreal. And in that truth, I found Lee interesting (up to a certain point).

Unfortunately, the writing was not strong and the storytelling so uneven that as a mature reader, I was too distracted by the inconsistencies to appreciate the story. And I cannot fathom how anyone could even think to compare this book to Salinger, Didion, or Wolff, other than it's a coming-of-age story. I probably would have given it two-and-a-half stars in that I liked the premise of the book, but it is not the best (or even close to the best) book I've ever read about coming-of-age, prep schools, or just high school in general.

I am very glad though to see that Sittenfeld's writing has matured, and highly recommend AW though. ...more

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Jul 27, 2007 Jennie rated it really liked it

Shelves: women

Well written and funny, this book was a great beach read. It may be to Sittenfeld's credit that I would get so annoyed with the character and her foibles. I remember thinking some of Lee's thoughts my freshman year in college, but I was able to move past those boundaries, for the most part. Sittenfeld's strongest skill is being able to tell a good, long story. Her later novel, Sisterland, holds a pretty strong narrative, and this does too, though I found it more appropriate for vacation than mor ...more

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Jan 31, 2008 Danielle rated it really liked it

I really, really enjoyed this...yes there are hard parts to read and yes the main character is a self absorbed teen but it felt like a slice of life, like Curtis had been a fly on that way at this Prep school and was really honest in the telling. She also is a great writer, putting together thoughts and concepts I have never been able to articulate, I actually had to mark many, many pages to be able to go back and enjoy her turn of phrase.

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