ceoln reviewed University of strangers by Bob Pfeifer
Review of 'University of strangers' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I'm still puzzled by this book; it's either great or sort of meh, depending on whether there are more meanings hidden down below the surface. Sometimes I'll love a book that just hints at deeper meanings without giving them to me, because just that feeling of secret promise is done so well. Here it's more like the author has scattered some pieces on the table, none all that special, sort of intriguing overall, but without any strong feeling that they'd actually fit together into anything.
There may be in-jokes here that I'm not getting, cultural references I've overlooked; in fact I'm sure there are. But whether, having finally gotten them all and not overlooked any, I would think hey, this is an amazing book, I'm not convinced.
Since I can't rate it as a linear superposition of great and sort of meh, I've given it three stars. But one thing …
I'm still puzzled by this book; it's either great or sort of meh, depending on whether there are more meanings hidden down below the surface. Sometimes I'll love a book that just hints at deeper meanings without giving them to me, because just that feeling of secret promise is done so well. Here it's more like the author has scattered some pieces on the table, none all that special, sort of intriguing overall, but without any strong feeling that they'd actually fit together into anything.
There may be in-jokes here that I'm not getting, cultural references I've overlooked; in fact I'm sure there are. But whether, having finally gotten them all and not overlooked any, I would think hey, this is an amazing book, I'm not convinced.
Since I can't rate it as a linear superposition of great and sort of meh, I've given it three stars. But one thing it isn't, despite the rating, is typical or ordinary...