The Burgess Boys in Pick-a-Shelf

May 24, 2015 Ozma rated it really liked it

Shelves: signed-by-the-author, bargain-book-purchase

All I have to say is WOW. Ms. Strout does not shy away from uncomfortable topics and has a knack for expressing those thoughts that many of us have but don't want to say out loud or share. She also managed, in addition to exposing great truths of life, to build a story that I cared about, explicate on the legal field, and, and, and expose the duality of being seen as a bad guy versus actually being a bad guy. I was blown away by the concept of that a great criminal lawyer can, by getting a crimi All I have to say is WOW. Ms. Strout does not shy away from uncomfortable topics and has a knack for expressing those thoughts that many of us have but don't want to say out loud or share. She also managed, in addition to exposing great truths of life, to build a story that I cared about, explicate on the legal field, and, and, and expose the duality of being seen as a bad guy versus actually being a bad guy. I was blown away by the concept of that a great criminal lawyer can, by getting a criminal off, steal his destiny, steal his story. I also was blown away by the concept of that one's destiny can be set from early on, so much so that one does not even question it even when the premise was not even accurate or true, and the corollary that one can overcome one's destiny. And the truism that bad guys are bad guys, but some perceived bad guys are not actually bad guys. I am not doing this novel justice at all, but it was a great, thoughtful, brilliant read. I wish I could have read it slower to appreciate the truisms of life that are exposed, but I had to read it fast b/c I was dying to know what happens! I will say that, as a Muslim, I was very touched by the storyline. At first, I was like, oh no, not a Muslim subplot and thinking I could not handle it. However, and I do not know much about the Somali Muslim community in America, but I do think Ms. Strout got a lot of the "Muslim" part right. I really appreciated this, particularly since I was sure it was headed for disaster. There were real opportunities for Ms. Strout to take the easy way out and spread some hatred-type storyline, but she didn't do that. She did the plot real justice (in, ironically, a book about crime and justice in the most literary way). I'm considering giving this 5 stars, but, to be honest, Ms. Strout covered so many uncomfortable areas that I feel weird giving it a perfect score. It's hard for me to give a perfect score to a book that made me confront uncomfortable truths of life. One of the main characters, the younger brother, is so sad, so pathetic, so mistreated by his older brother that it was almost physically painful to read. One buys into the whole storyline that this younger brother is wrong, pathetic, a loser etc. But things are not what they seem, not at all. Anyone who wants a good read, or who wants to challenge their pre-conceived ideas, or who has been misunderstood, or who enjoys the law and lawyers (probably no one on that last point!) would enjoy this great book. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

May 12, 2020 Susan rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction

The blurb for this books says it shows "a rare combination of brilliant storytelling, exquisite prose, and remarkable insight into character. " I agree with the last of those, which is why I gave the book 3 stars rather than a lower rating. The characters and their interactions were fascinating. But neither the writing nor the storytelling seemed so great to me. I hard a hard time getting into the book far enough to begin to appreciate the complexities of the characters and all their flaws. Much ...more

Like · see review

Jun 01, 2013 Lorna rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction-literary

I prefer books that are character driven and that's exactly what this book is. It's quite a strange story about an even stranger family. But it's the extraordinary writing that I liked so much. Deals with tensions that fester among families as well as cultural divides. Things change and no one can ever predict anything. ...more

Like · see review