The resisters : a novel

Hardcover

Published Feb. 23, 2020 by Alfred A. Knopf.

ISBN:
978-0-525-65721-7
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OCLC Number:
1085575812

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3 stars (4 reviews)

4 editions

interesting premise, poor execution imo

2 stars

I struggled with how every character seemed flat as a sheet and with about as much personality. All the voices sounded the same. I also found the viewpoint character to be an odd choice - wouldn't the daughter have been better to give us interiority instead of the bizarre choice of pigeon grams and bugging? It sounds cool when I type it, but without character depth, it was just another strange choice. All of this made the actual story hard to care about, despite it being a solid plot. Also, no one was queer, which sucked - just saying. I don't know. The whole thing felt upside down and askew, and I had to work to finish it. I recently read a short story of hers that had emotional interiority, so the way she wrote this was clearly a choice and not just her "style."

Review of 'The Resisters' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

 No matter how well it's been done, I'm biased against books in which a sport is a big factor, and [a:Gish Jen|32872|Gish Jen|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1357165457p2/32872.jpg]'s [b:The Resisters|45835970|The Resisters|Gish Jen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569173277l/45835970.SX50.jpg|70642581] is largely about baseball. Despite that, it's a penetrating look at an American future which, as is all good speculative fiction, really about how things are today.
 Too much of it read, to me, like a dystopian young adult novel, despite the occasional rough language. Jen's skill, however, made it readable for me and depicted future scenarios in authentic ways. I've been out of college for forty years, but this description brought it back:

Gwen's dorm was extraordinary except for how ordinary it was in the Netted world that a neo-brick building of no particular distinction should command its own large oval of high, dry land. It lay in the even midday sun, surrounded not by floodwater but by bustle. Every …
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