'Lessons in Chemistry' by Bonnie Garmus | Book Review
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- Review of 'Lessons in Chemistry' by Bonnie Garmus, published in 2022.
(1) What It's About (0:31)
(2) What I Liked (2:25)
(3) What I Disliked (3:20)
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Finally someone who has similar thoughts to the book to me! Thank you for your review.
I expected to read something completely different and was quite disappointed with what it was. There are some really interesting themes like religion, patriarchy, stay at home vs working mothers, but this book did not adequately critique any of them.
I also found it really difficult to read Zott as a real character with no flaws, especially how all of her views perfectly map onto those of 2022 and then she gets to lecture everyone else on how they’re all bigots. I could perhaps understand it as her experience as a woman but when she went into discussing race through a science perspective I was exasperated, especially as a lot of science at the time was still hugely influenced by social Darwinism. When the priest ended up being an atheist coupled with Zott being included in the men’s eights after rowing for 2 minutes despite having a slim enough frame for the TV camera, the book lost all credibility for me. I can’t understand why it’s so popular.
Thanks for your comment, Caroline. You added several good points, which I hadn't considered, at least not consciously. We are exercising our standards of judgment and by doing that redeeming the act of reading an unsatisfying book. Critique makes the whole process satisfying and worthwhile, especially if it leads to the discovery of like-minded responses. Thanks again!
I felt the same - she is a beautiful writer in so many ways, but the story telling isn't there. It was all theme and no character arc.
Thanks for your comment, Kathy. I'm open to reading her next book, knowing that she is already working on it. Let's see if there will be improvements in those areas.
What a relief to see a review that translates my thoughts exactly! I have just finished this book and for many times I would just put away because I couldn’t “feel” the characters, it’s like they are kind of robotic with no souls. Not even a supposedly love story between Elizabeth and Calvin felt like a love story. I couldn’t buy it because of the lack of development of the feelings and thoughts of the characters. Everything was cloudy on that book, monotonous, she couldn’t even bond with her child (or maybe she did but we just don’t know!), she was like a machine, extremely intelligent but lacking depth. I agree when you say that maybe the character was so beyond the author that she couldn’t keep up with her. Maybe because I read too much classics (i.e Dostoevsky) I had this not so good impression of a more modern book like this one, it’s been a long time since I’ve read a novel written by a modern author (or, born after the 1900’s at least :) Great job on this review!
Thank you very much! Please let me know if you find a contemporary novel that you liked, and I'd be eager to read it given that we seem to share in common some important criteria in judging a story.
@@DavoodGozli I sure will! I already subscribed to your channel and looking forward to watching more reviews. I recommend an amazing writer, Clarice Lispector, from the 60’s / 70’s. “The Hour of the Star” and “The Passion according to G.H” are great. She was Ukrainian but was raised in Brazil since she was 4 years old. I’m Brazilian as well (living in the US) and she is my favorite Brazilian writer.
Thank you! She was already on my list of authors to check out, but now I have extra motivation to start reading her work. On the channel, I mostly talk about the books I have enjoyed, including works by Milan Kundera, James Baldwin, Edmund White, and André Gide.
Found it hard to hear with music in the background..good review though.
Thanks for your feedback. You're right about the music being too loud.
I expected so much more from this book. It was solidly written, but stood on the soapbox the main character derides. So tiring. Elizabeth doesn't grow or change in any way, which means, ironically, "Lessons in Chemistry" is not a story, it's a megaphone for a message, it's own religion. Elizabeth is not "a chemist," for one, because human being are not what they do, and two, if they were, she spend most of the book not doing chemistry. Garmus understands neither human beings or science, and add to that religion. All the same, she expressing it in a way that readers like.
I agree with you. I especially like the last statement in your comment, correctly pointing out that the book has succeeded in _something_, though we should quickly point out that that “something” isn’t related to literature.
This book has gotten a lot of good reviews. At this moment I'm about 1/4 the way through reading it. It is interesting to hear Davood take on the book. I like the way
Davood expresses his thoughts. One word he doesn't use to describe the one mood/stance he experienced when reading it - Anger - the author's anger. Author has put up with male workplace bias for likely her entire career and that profound stain has left an indelible 'flaw' in living her life. In my opinion, being a male, Davood has likely never had this career handicap. Still, this and his other perceptions are thought provoking and do resonate. Like most books this book is not perfect, but, that doesn't diminish the nerve Ms Garmus activated in the soul of many woman readers. I worked in corporate America my entire life and it was a rare occurrence to see a woman compensated, valued, acknowledged or promoted in the way lots of men are. That is a loss that is never shaken off. I also think that both men and women expect women to be nicer than Elizabeth Z. is and I hear this in Davood's criticism. In my read Elizabeth is a very believable woman who didn't embrace or align with the societal norms of her time. I have now finished this book. All told, it is a book worth reading. No man can do a proper review of this book and I don't agree with Davood's review. Ms Garmus had a long career in a world that dismissed her contributions and likely paid her less than her male colleagues. THAT life experience leaves deep wounds and pain. Ms Garmus is vetting a lot of pent up stuff and it is justified.
Thank you for your comment - I also agree with, and would wholeheartedly support, the sociopolitical issues (women's positions in the workplace) the book points out. It is important to be on the right side of an issue, but that is not the whole work. In fact, we could do more damage by defending our values badly. Perhaps we could talk about an artistic ethics -- going beyond simply having the right values, but more importantly to do justice to what we value. Hope you enjoy the rest of the book, and feel free to let me know if you have any further thoughts. I was very happy to receive your critical comment.
@@DavoodGozli Your review of Lessons in Chemistry stands out as a reader who has made an evaluation of a writer's work that is perceptive and singular. To me this is the best kind of book reviewer. In one of Ms Garmus' interviews about the book she tells of her impetus that hatched the book-- a bad day at work where a boss took credit for work she had done. Just like with Adele who wrote, "Someone Like You," when the man she wanted ditched her, anger and pain are where a lot of good art originates from. Both of these women had things to get off their chest and found a teaching moment path to do so. I do wonder if the workplace has become more egalitarian so a woman today does not go home at day's end and ruminates on the injustices she works within. I agree that this does narrow one's focus but I also genuinely connect with Adele and Ms Garmus. In love, there is no recipe on how to ensure his love never wains. At work, there ought to be more stability as long as you do good or great work that you were hired to perform. Being shown the door because you are the half of the relationship that got pregnant is pain and loss only women know. The sting of that rejection goes deep.
I couldn't agree with you more. Lessons in Chemistry seems like just the type of book drummed up in the aftermath of Me Too. I wanted to love it, but it felt forced and inauthentic. I felt I was being pandered to by the publishing company. Thank you for your thoughtful analysis.
Thanks for your comment! Many, perhaps most, readers don't expect a literary - as you said, authentic - experience in reading books, partly due to not having read better texts. Marketing and PR simply play too powerful a role in determining what becomes popular.
The piano music made your words hard to hear. I was thankful when the playing ended.
Please stop the background music makes your commentary hard to listen to.
You’re right - but even in this video the music goes away after a few minutes.
Please Stop that infernal bg music my head is spinning!!
The ending was rushed and shallow.