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Emily May's Reviews > Manhattan Beach
Manhattan Beach
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1 1/2 stars. Um, definitely not what I was expecting from Egan at all... is this really the same author who wrote A Visit from the Goon Squad?
Manhattan Beach feels like several stories in one, all struggling to come together, all lacking cohesion, none of them emotionally engaging. This is a messy book, full of plot points that seem unnecessary and deliberately convoluted. Is it a novel about a young woman navigating a male-dominated world and work force for the first time? Is it a gangster/mob story? Do we care either way? Personally, I didn't.
The first section is the strongest, introducing us to the spirited young Anna and her father, Eddie, who is about to break into the mob business in depression-era America. Anna's care for her disabled sister and her desire to appear strong and capable to her father drives the first few chapters, but it is over all too soon.
Then the novel makes one of many jumps through time and we find ourselves following Anna as an adult woman trying to forge a career for herself and support her family. After this, the book jumps back and forth, from past to present and from character to character, story to story. These jumps contributed to the scattered, almost rambling style of narration. The lack of cohesion really affected my enjoyment of the story and my ability to connect with the characters.
For such a talented author, I didn’t expect to see characters swooping in only when needed for the plot and then departing just as quickly. And it was incredibly slow, but not in the way that the recent Little Fires Everywhere was slow - a slowness that was still compelling, still left you asking questions and needing to know throughout - but slow in that it felt like there was nothing to read for.
I didn't feel like there was any point to the story, anything to question, wonder about, or want to know. Though that was perhaps a result of my inability to care for any of the characters. I was turning pages only to reach the end.
Looking back over the novel, I get an intense feeling of dissatisfaction. Everything is a series of disconnected plot points; many long, slow parts where nothing happens, and even the more action-filled parts were not particularly interesting. Bloodless and forgettable.
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Manhattan Beach feels like several stories in one, all struggling to come together, all lacking cohesion, none of them emotionally engaging. This is a messy book, full of plot points that seem unnecessary and deliberately convoluted. Is it a novel about a young woman navigating a male-dominated world and work force for the first time? Is it a gangster/mob story? Do we care either way? Personally, I didn't.
The first section is the strongest, introducing us to the spirited young Anna and her father, Eddie, who is about to break into the mob business in depression-era America. Anna's care for her disabled sister and her desire to appear strong and capable to her father drives the first few chapters, but it is over all too soon.
Then the novel makes one of many jumps through time and we find ourselves following Anna as an adult woman trying to forge a career for herself and support her family. After this, the book jumps back and forth, from past to present and from character to character, story to story. These jumps contributed to the scattered, almost rambling style of narration. The lack of cohesion really affected my enjoyment of the story and my ability to connect with the characters.
For such a talented author, I didn’t expect to see characters swooping in only when needed for the plot and then departing just as quickly. And it was incredibly slow, but not in the way that the recent Little Fires Everywhere was slow - a slowness that was still compelling, still left you asking questions and needing to know throughout - but slow in that it felt like there was nothing to read for.
I didn't feel like there was any point to the story, anything to question, wonder about, or want to know. Though that was perhaps a result of my inability to care for any of the characters. I was turning pages only to reach the end.
Looking back over the novel, I get an intense feeling of dissatisfaction. Everything is a series of disconnected plot points; many long, slow parts where nothing happens, and even the more action-filled parts were not particularly interesting. Bloodless and forgettable.
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Reading Progress
September 18, 2017
– Shelved
September 21, 2017
–
Started Reading
September 21, 2017
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 140 (140 new)
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Laura
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Sep 24, 2017 07:04PM
Yeah. I had a feeling reading the book description it might be mess. Thanks for taking the bullet foe us, so to speak.
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Oh boy. I didn't really like Goon Squad, but I was still excited to read this. I will still read it (eventually), but I will keep my expectations low.
That sounds painful. I may take this off of my TBR if it's that bad. I haven't read her novels since Look at Me and that was eons ago. Maybe I'll read Goon Squad instead.
I agree that it was lacking.....something.
In my book club, there were only a few who enjoyed Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Good Squad. So I am not surprised that Manhattan Beach is receiving the same reception. I love Egan's writing style. She makes me think and think deep. You can't just speed read through her writing. You have to take it slow. See what she's saying. I always hesitate critiquing those who have won Pulitzer Prizes.
I am glad I didn't choose this as one of my Book of The Month Club picks this month after reading this.
Whew! I am so relieved that I decided to not buy this yesterday.
I will never take seriously a review that begins with Um. Give me a break!
Mike wrote: "I will never take seriously a review that begins with Um. Give me a break!"Haha... why are you commenting this on multiple peoples' reviews? You obviously take it seriously enough to comment!
Emily May your review is spot on! I agree completely - and was so much looking forward to this book - I had on my calendar when it would be released so I could start reading immediately.
Thanks. I agree. I adored Goon Squad, and was open to something completely different, but this sure didn't do it. I think you nailed it that all the subplots were just lacking and unfulfilling. Very slow, with little payoff.
Your review is right on the money. Terribly disappointing.
I have never read goon squad so I can’t make a comparison. I enjoyed the book.
I loved this book! The writing style, the historical detail, the well developed characters all the together to createv an epic tale. There ARE several stories in the book but that is life. A beautiful, exciting life that takes on different twists. I loved the layers of characters in the book, the jump from past to present. It helped give depth to each character and showed how they were important in Anna's life.
Um. Yes. You want all books to be the same?
Feeling the same way now and wasted way too much time just not trying to give it a dnf
My feelings exactly. Anna was definitely the best part of the book for me, but still, I felt too removed from all the characters to really care much about them.
Totally agree with your review, especially near the end the story felt very disconnected. The book could have done without Eddie’s war experience in the end and more time on his whistle blowing of the mob
Author missed a big opportunity here. But it was not compelling.
Ditto for me. The whole story lacked authenticity. The author was trying too hard to recreate a time and place that was not part of her life. I felt like I being dragged through the mud and duped by all the reviews.
I think you nailed it. In bought the main character, and probably the diving part (though even that somehow never felt fully real). As for inside the mafia, not at all, and the stuff at sea least of all.I'm frankly perplexed by the reviews. I wonder how much they're giving her a pass, because she's a brilliant writer--no doubt about that. I just felt she wandered into turf that she never really embodied.
June wrote: "Ditto for me. The whole story lacked authenticity. The author was trying too hard to recreate a time and place that was not part of her life. I felt like I being dragged through the mud and duped b..."
I just saw her at an Author Lecture [thought it was an author reading. That was a no. WOW] and while I enjoyed her speaking style, it was super-cerebral. And while I like cerebral usually, super-cerebral makes for a long evening in a crowded hot theater. Most of what she talked about what super interesting, but it was just a lot and it reminded me of the book and how it just was SO. FREAKING. MUCH. I lost track of everything more times than I could count. And the lecture was a lot like that. And the more she said she didn't like to write about herself and then mentioned correlations between her life and the book, the more I thought she was in serious denial. Good lecture, would have been better if she had just read.
I agree. I was very disappointed in this one. There were story lines that were interesting, and then they got lost. I’m not sure that Eagan’s years of research served her all that well. The book could have been pared way down and/or broken into more than one.
I was also at the lecture mentioned by Dawn Michelle and have similar feelings about it. An author should ALWAYS read, imo. We learn more about the book and its intended nuances that way than from all (and I do mean ALL, in this case) of the talking about it.
Nice review Anna I will add that to my list to read your description is very detailed.
Book could have easily been parred down to half the page count and lost nothing. Halfway through I only kept reading because the author writes beautifully. Just wish she had more to say with this one.
The book would have been much "neater" if it never included the D.Styles plot line. She could have had the plot about a spirited Anna working a risky "male oriented" job while having a handicapped sister and a father that leaves the family. That right there is enough of a plot line. The Dexter addition made it very messy and unbelievable.
Agree about Dexter completely
Also didn't enjoy this one :(
Read the first 50 pages and quit this book.
This review exactly. I, too, eventually flipped towards the end to finish. It had potential to be poignant but it fell flat and felt slow and then rushed.
You nailed how I felt about the book exactly. Not engaging or entertaining at all.
I am trying to decide if I should keep on slogging through this book or just throw in the towel and read something i enjoy. I agree with everything you said here. And I keep having these eye-rolling moments where the dialogue is just so forced and overwrought that it is painful. I am very disappointed too!
Amazing review. It was SOOOOO slow. I too felt like I was lost at sea.
I’m struggling. I am half way through and really don’t care about what happens.
I am baffled that this could be written by the same author of them superb Visit from the Goon Squad. What an incoherent disappointment.
Just quit 50 pages and glad I’ve found others who feel the same!
I'm amazed people found this incoherent. It was as beautifully structured and interconnected as The Keep, simply with a few more wrinkles in the timeline. Well, to each her own.
Emily - I so agree with you. I quit halfway through.
I found the first part strong but after that... I stopped less than 1/2 way through. Too many other books out there and time is precious. Glad that I stopped reading.
I read the advance chapter in Vogue and the recent reviews (positive), so I had high hopes for this book as well. I agree with your points--it read like several stories thrown together with no real structure. Disappointing.
It seems a shame that people who can't follow a multi layered plot get to bag a book because "It's not like her last one."
Steve wrote: "It seems a shame that people who can't follow a multi layered plot get to bag a book because "It's not like her last one.""It's a shame you think so little of people with different opinions from you, Steve. Saying I don't think a book is as good as the author's previous work is not the same as saying "It's not like her last one." (Also not sure why that is in quotation marks as no one actually said that but you).
I don't think the plot was multi-layered. I found it rambling and incoherent, lacking in the structure I would expect from such a well-respected author. Though I fully appreciate that this is my opinion and not everyone will feel the same - perhaps you should consider that approach, too.
Like you, I found it hard to believe that the same author wrote A Visit From the Goon Squad. And I agree with you except for the part about turning the pages to get to the end. I decided to stop and read something else entirely.
Just finished this book and agree with you completely. Confusing, boring and scattered is how I would describe it.
Labored through it as was book club pick. Waste of time and story never went anywhere.Do not recommend
I wonder why anyone who disliked a book so much would continue to read it? There are too many things out there to read to bother wasting time on something that you hate.
