Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish

English language

Published June 11, 2013

ISBN:: 978-0-385-53521-2

View on Inventaire

(2 reviews)

1 edition

Annette C. Boehm reviewed Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish by David Rakoff

Review of 'Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This novel in verse follows the connections between a number of widely different individuals: a widowed Chicago slaughterhouse worker in the early 1900s, two pre-adolescent / adolescent cousins in the 1950s, an office worker's affair with her boss, a materialistic real-estate agent, and others. Red hair plays a vital role, as it sets all the events into motion in the first place. The whole thing is written in rhyming (!) verse, but no worries, Rakoff manages to pull it off. A quick and engrossing read! For a more in-depth discussion of the book, visit my blog entry for the book.

unicorndeburgh reviewed Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish by David Rakoff

Review of 'Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

As a book—an object—this is wonderful. The design was done by Chip Kidd, with illustrations by the cartoonist Seth. It's beautiful to look at, and the illustrations of the characters at the beginning of each section are lovely and help you navigate the story.

The eccentricity of writing a novel in verse is staggering, and the result is delicious. I tend to read too fast, gulping down the words to follow the plot. This style slows me down, and makes me appreciate the book more. The vignettes of characters are wonderful.

I guess it's no surprise that it's not a conventional novel. The story jumps from character to character, but converges. It covers a dizzying amount of time in remarkably few pages. The cover is a portrait of a woman. There are holes drilled in it, which reveal letters on the next page which spell out the title. The book …

As a book—an object—this is wonderful. The design was done by Chip Kidd, with illustrations by the cartoonist Seth. It's beautiful to look at, and the illustrations of the characters at the beginning of each section are lovely and help you navigate the story.

The eccentricity of writing a novel in verse is staggering, and the result is delicious. I tend to read too fast, gulping down the words to follow the plot. This style slows me down, and makes me appreciate the book more. The vignettes of characters are wonderful.

I guess it's no surprise that it's not a conventional novel. The story jumps from character to character, but converges. It covers a dizzying amount of time in remarkably few pages. The cover is a portrait of a woman. There are holes drilled in it, which reveal letters on the next page which spell out the title. The book is rather like that. The story covers decades, but does it by giving you glimpses of short, vivid scenes.

Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish

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