Sabbatical

Rating:
Summary: A Most Accessible Barth Novel
Review: This is a great novel, one which you will enjoy whether or not you like John Barth, whether or not you enjoy postmodern fiction. It is comic, the plot is comprehensible and linear, the characters are human and speak like humans, the tale is succinct, and the story mirrors an old favorite--the Odyssey. This is both an intriguing thriller and a warm comic novel. It's also written with grace and intelligence. I recommend it to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: A Most Accessible Barth Novel
Review: This is a great novel, one which you will enjoy whether or not you like John Barth, whether or not you enjoy postmodern fiction. It is comic, the plot is comprehensible and linear, the characters are human and speak like humans, the tale is succinct, and the story mirrors an old favorite--the Odyssey. This is both an intriguing thriller and a warm comic novel. It's also written with grace and intelligence. I recommend it to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant but only marginally interesting
Review: This is an example of Barth in his "too smart for us readers" mode. Instead of telling a poignant and interesting and perhaps moving story about a complicated family wrapped up in cold-war intrigue and general late-twentieth century angst and insanity, this is a book about books, and about writing. If you go in for that sort of thing you will love it. Far from being straightforward, the plotting is circuitous and completely unsatisfying; the shifting point of view is so consciously experimental that it is almost a joke on the reader. There is no doubt that John Barth is a lot smarter than most of us, and is a really brilliant writer and thinker. But his brilliance keeps this from being a fun or entertaining novel. If you like your reading experimental and self-conscious, by all means, pick it up!

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant but only marginally interesting
Review: This is an example of Barth in his "too smart for us readers" mode. Instead of telling a poignant and interesting and perhaps moving story about a complicated family wrapped up in cold-war intrigue and general late-twentieth century angst and insanity, this is a book about books, and about writing. If you go in for that sort of thing you will love it. Far from being straightforward, the plotting is circuitous and completely unsatisfying; the shifting point of view is so consciously experimental that it is almost a joke on the reader. There is no doubt that John Barth is a lot smarter than most of us, and is a really brilliant writer and thinker. But his brilliance keeps this from being a fun or entertaining novel. If you like your reading experimental and self-conscious, by all means, pick it up!