I picked up The Flamethrowers after reading an article at Salon.com entitled, "Rachel Kushner's ambitious new novel scares male critics." Salon's female critic Laura Miller suggests that the book is an attempt at the Great American Novel, and that we're not used to reading anything this bold from a woman writer. James Wood also praised it, despite his being a male critic.
It is indeed an extremely well written book that tackles big themes, especially the never-ending dance between reality and art, authenticity and artifice. It includes some wonderful set pieces on the Bonneville Salt Flats and in Italy. My favorite chapter of all describes a family get-together in an Italian villa at Bellagio: the social dynamics between the characters are well rendered.
On the down side, though, I felt the story lacked any narrative drive, and few of the characters had clear motivations. I read each scene with interest, but never really wondered what was going to happen next.
My experience of reading The Flamethrowers was similar to my experience reading Roberto Bolano's books. Kushner and Bolano are clearly talented, ambitious authors; their characters are artists in international settings; and I admire their work but can't get completely engaged with it. I actually found Kushner more compelling than Bolano (maybe due to her being an American and therefore closer to me in background?).
It is indeed an extremely well written book that tackles big themes, especially the never-ending dance between reality and art, authenticity and artifice. It includes some wonderful set pieces on the Bonneville Salt Flats and in Italy. My favorite chapter of all describes a family get-together in an Italian villa at Bellagio: the social dynamics between the characters are well rendered.
On the down side, though, I felt the story lacked any narrative drive, and few of the characters had clear motivations. I read each scene with interest, but never really wondered what was going to happen next.
My experience of reading The Flamethrowers was similar to my experience reading Roberto Bolano's books. Kushner and Bolano are clearly talented, ambitious authors; their characters are artists in international settings; and I admire their work but can't get completely engaged with it. I actually found Kushner more compelling than Bolano (maybe due to her being an American and therefore closer to me in background?).
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