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We Need New Names (2013)

by NoViolet Bulawayo(Favorite Author)

3.68 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0316230812 (ISBN13: 9780316230810)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Reagan Arthur Books

review 1: I loved so much about this book. The voice was original and cheeky and compelling and accomplished. The characters were memorable and original. The politics and the ideas, the quality of the writing, the ambition of the narrative -- these were all terrific. My quarrel is one that I have with so many first novels written by the graduates of American writing programs -- plot. Why do our nation's literary factories not teach the elements of plotting and narrative structure? Why do the literati seem to feel that plot is a base element, something only lesser readers crave? Why do people keep trying to pass off linked short stories as novels and vignettes as stories? The lack of narrative drive is what keeps this book from being a great novel. It's a terrific book, better than m... moreost. But it's episodic throughout and meandering in places, leaving the reader with a sense of a book that trails off, resting too much weight on a final image that is disturbing but not particularly enlightening. This is a writer who is capable of writing a great book, a book that harnesses the engine of story and races it over the finish line.I can't wait to read what she writes next.
review 2: This was one of my book club books. Good points-the voice was authentic and blended humor, despair, and the mundane in a very believable way. That said it was told in a first person stream of consciousness manner that just never resonated with me. The ending is terrible- I'm not asking for a happy one but some resolution should but be given rather than just stopping mid thought. Perhaps it is someone else's cup of tea but it sure wasn't mine. less

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