Just saw this on my TV and had to hop on my phone to leave a comment. This. This is why I love you so much, Greg. Such a well-tempered, thorough, sincere, apt, interesting analysis. Your videos often mention having a discussion, and it really feels like one, not like being talked at, particularly one point in the video where it sounded like you were responding to something we viewers just said. Makes it feel very immersive and real-time. And while it was satisfying to see you toss that book (in a genuine and organic moment, not as performance), it was after very thoughtfully discussing what you consider to be wrong with it. In my mind, if not in a review, I probably would have mentally tossed it, slotted it into the "sh*tty writing" category for all the reasons you gracefully addressed. I probably would've been mad I'd wasted my time when I could've been reading something else. The time you have spent sharing your thoughts redeems and dignifies the entire topic, and it feels like a gift. I admire your ability to keep it classy 🎉
That is so sweet-thank you! I’m so glad the discussion vibe I always want comes across. I started my channel hoping it would be a way of having a conversation with people. Comments like this help keep going, even when it takes a lot of time and work to keep posting. Thank you! ❤️📚🥂
Exactly!! Read it for yourself and make up your own mind! I did and really enjoyed this book in the end! It is not an easy read in the beginning because the author has to show the types of trauma incurred during wartime - not only for the soldiers but also for the families left behind. There are plenty of 5-star reviews on Goodreads. The ‘mixed reviews’ on this book made me want to read it more! It would make for great book club discussion, imho. I’m also a book-loving Texan and we can definitely think for ourselves 😊
Wonderful rant. If this book wasn't going onto your Pulitzer shelf, I could envision a book toss that would've sailed right through that window behind you.
Thank you for this really substantive review. I refuse to read books that have nauseatingly graphic scenes in them. As a teacher in Germany, I'm forced to teach state-selected books that are traumatizing to me and to my students. It's very disappointing that the Pulitzer prize committee chose a text that abuses the reader in this way. You work really hard to explain all the ins and outs of why this book was selected and to explain your own assessment. Very helpful.
Like you, I’m starting to worry if the Pulitzer is ok. I was DOWN with Trust and DC sharing it last year, but with The Netanyahus, The Night Watchman, and now The Night Watch, we’ve had 3 dud years out of 4, and very worthy books have been excluded (Love Songs of WEB Du Bois *cough*). Not sure what’s happening, but very grateful for your honest thoughts. Looking forward to your deep dive on the state of the Pulitzer in 2024…
I agree about those three duds! And going back further, there haven't been many winners that I've been excited about over the last decade. And far too many great books have been overlooked (Love Songs, Sing Unburied Sing, The Good Lord Bird, etc.).
I so appreciate your honesty. I read so many of the wonderful books that I thought were in contention for the prize. I haven't read Night Watch and probably never will now.
I just discovered your channel, coincidentally coinciding with my desire to start reading again. A Pulitzer Prize winner that everyone seems to universally hate had me curious so I had to read it for myself and figure out what was going on. I'm only 30 pages in but this book is so overwritten and meandering that I've been tempted to abandon it already. I can do this though, it's a short book and I must know what the jury could have possibly been thinking (besides wanting to highlight a lesser known author, that is, as I'm sure there are far better choices out there).
what an amazing collection in the background!! im between homes at the moment so all my books are in storage. I used to love collecting books, mostly poetry and art books. I can't wait to get them back❤
I haven't seen anyone give this a good review yet. I am envisaging a corner of the floor of your library where Night Watch, Rabbit Run and The Netanyahus live.
I've gotten some comments on this video from people who liked Night Watch, so there's that. I would love to just leave Gone With the Wind, Night Watch, Rabbit, and Netanyahus in the closet to think about what they've done, but I do keep them on the Pulitzer shelf--which is arranged chronilogically.
I have not read any of these books, but it's enjoyable to hear your analysis and criticism, Greg. I understand where you are coming from even though I don't literally understand from a firsthand experience yet (if that makes sense).
Night Watch drew me in and kept me interested up to a point but then it quickly had me asking, “What is the point you’re trying to make, Jayne Anne Phillips?” I enjoy historical fiction because it leads me off-piste down rabbit holes so the lists and photos, etc., were enjoyable for me although completely unnecessary and puzzling as to why they were included. The sexual assault scene was brutal and drawn-out to the point where I yelled, “Stop hitting me over the head with this!” Having read the excellent McBride, Woods, and Patchett books, I am left scratching my head as to why Night Watch was chosen as the winner.
p.s. When I finished the book, I felt like it had been a good read (for me) but only because I’d enjoyed going down those historical rabbit holes such as researching asylums of the period, post-Civil War conditions, etc. However, it was definitely not Pulitzer Prize material and I should have DNF’d it rather than turning it into a history project.
My curiosity about what everyone hates about the book has been piqued! I find unnecessary detailed SA scenes bothersome. I put in on a hold at the library for what I am not sure!!!!
In hindsight, we have Tayari Jones blurbing a rave for Night Watch, the Fiction jury chair Sam Sacks giving a positive WSJ review (he was also on the jury for The Netanyahus, so watch out whenever he's selected for one of these), and Michael Chabon proudly making a point of acknowledging lesser-known authors, which might have been the mandate of the jury this cycle. The three other books Chabon mentioned were The Ice Harp by Norman Lock, After World by Debbie Urbanski, and Dearborn by Ghassan Zeinnedine. I've only heard of Dearborn, which I thought could legitimately be a dark-horse contender for its topicality. Seems like the heavy hitters were penalized for being heavy hitters, just like the Booker jury did last year for Demon Copperhead, which still irks. It makes the exclusion of North Woods here even more gross and glaring. My library doesn't even have Night Watch in circulation. I'm not bothering to seek that nonsense out after I was burned with the unreadable Lark & Termite. I checked out Same Bed Different Dreams instead. Very weird, but I'm kinda liking it so far.
I've heard great things about Same Bed Different Dreams, but it feels like a book that does a lot of things I typically don't respond to, so I'm happy leaving it for others to enjoy.
I didn't know that Chabon was on the jury, so this video was very informative. Do you have a link to that statement about the other books he liked? I have the deepest respect for this man, and while I didn't read Night Watch, there are so many people I respect who disliked it that I'm a bit surprised and disappointed. Regarding the point about a "writer's writer," Yiyun Li, one of the nominees, is also somebody who is taught in writing classes a lot and is perceived as what you refer to as a "good literary citizen" in the community. However, even by her standards, the nominated book was the most obscure of her books. Interestingly, she will be on the Booker jury this year, so let's see how much of the Pulitzer mindset will be in this year's Booker.
Chabon posted the other books he liked on Threads. There's a link in the post from my website, or you can check his feed there. I do agree that Yiyun Li fits a similar mold to Jayne Anne Phillips. Someone else pointed out that the nature of the other two finalists makes it feel like they were stacking the deck for Phillips to win, and despite Yiyun Li's reputation I do agree. The nature of this particular book--especially being a story collection--make it something that traditionally has a hard road to winning a Pulitzer.
This was brilliant, Greg! Thank you very much!🌷I’ve enjoyed all the books I’ve read following your recommendations, and I’m definitely not going to waste my time on Night Watch. By the way, I read The Netanyahus when it won the Pulitzer (I hadn’t discovered your channel yet😢) and wasn’t impressed. I actually found it rather annoying. So I’m glad I’m being saved from another disappointing (and this one even traumatizing) read. Totally agree on Tom Lake and The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store deserving the prize. I know you are of a different opinion, but I also wouldn’t have minded if North Woods had won. I have read Trust, but not yet Demon Copperhead, I think I’ll try and squeeze it in among my summer reads. I’m currently listening to Barbara Kingsolver narrating one of my favourites among her novels, Prodigal Summer. Great book and great narrator!😊📚
I would definitely have taken North Woods over this! I still need to read Prodigal Summer. Happy to have helped you avoid some trauma! I also found Netanyahus to be annoying.
And this is why we love you, Greg. The best part of this review hits at the 16:00 mark with your recitation of many other deserving books. I didn't realize it's been since 1988 since a Black woman won the Pulitzer. Good Lord. (Talk about being dragged kicking and screaming into the modern world.) That is baffling that Phillips doesn't classify this as historical fiction. What the hell is it, then?! And don't get me started on the sexual assault scene -- it's going to be a long, long time before that leaves my mind (if it ever does) which makes me furious because this was a DNF!
Thank you! Her only explanation was that she thinks historical fiction is "event-based" and her work is "character-based." That feels like an extremely narrow view of historical fiction to me.
Yes, I have read Night Watch through the Libby app, first as an audiobook, then as an ebook…so yeah, twice. It’s telling that Libby predicted I wouldn’t get the ebook for 18 weeks and it was available in less than three. Night Watch has out-Netanyahued The Netanyahus! Is this the worst Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction? No, I think the Updike books are worse, but Night Watch lives two blocks away.
So glad to see you talked about this! I tried reading the book and would have tossed it if it weren't on my eReader 😂 Thanks for reading it and sharing all your thoughts.
I'm loving how many reviewers are hating this. Ha! I don't think I'd be interested otherwise, honestly. But wow. It's that bad? Interesting. Not that I don't trust you. You're probably right. I just gotta see!
Like Mario Puzo's The Godfather, this novel has the potential to become something better than the deeply weird work of prose that I staggered through. The Godfather's subject as a book was plastic surgery. (If you don't believe me, please re-read it.) Coppola's movie found the thread of an unforgettable family, filmed nearly as opera, with its absolutely essential music (not surprising, for a member of the Coppola family). As I read Night Watch, I kept thinking: should this have been an opera instead of a novel? Stay tuned!
I don’t know if I told you this but almost a decade ago I was thinking of doing a Pulitzer Prize project but it lost steam because I was reading them in chronological order and some of them I just can’t for the life of me agree with and I’ve found that I enjoy the Women’s prize and the Booker prizes much more, so I ditched that effort. Glad to see there are some still going the distance, I’ll watch from a distance 😂 nooo thank you hahahhaha. I did also become aware of a prize for adventure stories and I’m pretty hype on that. Our Hideous Progeny which is on my TBR this month is on its short list along with some other really fantastic sounding books that I don’t own 😢😂😂😂 . I’m trying to get free copies but I think are not out in the US yet 😂😂😂 ugh! All of my favorite prizes are from the UK. 🇬🇧
My original plan was to read them in chronological order but I abandoned that fairly quickly. I think being able to move around and follow my interests is better for me as a mood reader and allows me to get out of ruts. So far so good, although I am also allowing myself to take my time with this project.
I remember a Pulitzer finalist I found absurd when I first read it, "The Quick and The Dead" by Joy Williams. I had wished it had won just so people could hate in more! It seemed ridiculous. It actually is. Still. But somehow I came to love it for being such a daring mess, so heavily handedly "literary" and a honest to goodness hoot! And so I read more Williams and now she's one of my favorites. If this gives me that sort of experience, it's worth a try! But then again, sometimes a mess is just a mess. I do love how hated this appears to be, however. That's something right there! I probably would overlook it otherwise. If I just plain hate it? Well, I was warned!
I sort of want to buy the book and just throw it across the room every week or so, with all my life's frustrations piled upon it. Greg, you're so inspiring! 😍
I would suspect that the phase "follow the money" comes into play here! Which begs the question which publishing house has more influence on the judges and committes?
Hey Greg! I totally agree with your review, but I wanted to point one thing out, I think the photos actually are all photos of things (or the photos themselves) that are referenced in the book, so that directly enter in the plot. For example, the photo of the soldiers that you mentioned is actually, I believe, the photo that Dearhbla (sic? who knows/cares) keeps and describes of her kind-of son, hubby of Eliza. I totally agree that a lot of the historical details are useless and confusing, as well as with the rest of the review. Love your videos! Thanks!
Greg, I've been watching your videos for a while, and I think this is one of your very best! You have excellent skills at being well prepared in your videos as well as a heartfelt discussion about things that book loving people want to discuss and react to! Such a valued member of the book tube community. I read Night Watch soon after it won its Pulitzer because it was short and I got to my local library quicker than anyone else the day it was announced as the winner. My reaction was very similar to yours. How did this win the Pulitzer? The writing felt purposely obscure, as though Phillips wanted to keep the reader at a distance. The sexual assault is harrowing, and if it hadn't been a Pulitzer winner, that might have finished me off from reading. Many of the characters felt underdeveloped. Weed is supposedly an important character, but what did he do besides climb trees? Hexum is described as "the fearsome woman who runs the kitchen" on the book jacket, but I don't recall her doing anything to invoke fear. Papa was such a contrived character, I knew he would come back at the end to further spread his stink, and he did-ugh!! I'm reading through all the Pulitzers, and Night Watch isn't the worst. I ranked it 32nd out of the 37 that I've read so far. It is better than A Fable and Tales From the South Pacific for sure. But after watching your video, I may have to re-evaluate the others that I ranked it ahead of, maybe I ranked it too high. I did like the list of reasons why people from the time might be admitted to an asylum, such as "novel reading" or "political excitement", that was funny to me. Keep up the good work. You are a treasure!!
Thank you so much! That means a lot. I agree that the characters feel so slight--especially compared to how they are described on the dust jacket. I haven't read A Fable or Tales of the South Pacific yet, so I can't help you with your ranking--but I have heard from several people who said that A Fable was very boring. I'm not looking forward to that one. I don't have an official ranking (yet), but I think Night Watch would be around 39 out of 41 so far for me.
Loved the rant! There’s nothing like a good (always polite) Greg rant. I have not been a fan of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in the years, admittedly not that many, I have followed it. The secrecy is the thing that annoys me the most. But any prize year for any prize that has a pretty obvious agenda is bound to make me angry. This goes back to Margaret Atwood co-winning the Booker because a couple of judges thought she (not the book) deserved it and refused to play by the rules. Prize juries have to stay within the bounds of the rules for the prize. I think they should have been questioned about their finalists as they were so completely out of left field. Not that that would have changed the result this year, but maybe future juries might consider staying within the rules. Excellent video!
Thank you! I do think the Pulitzer and the Nobel need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. In both cases, it's especially difficult because they aren't JUST literature prizes, but something needs to change.
I have not read any of the books. I will read this one first, but I have a major pull to liking it having grown up in WV. I have many friends who visited the site of the book. The civil war is a major interest to me as well. Not many book are written about it. Which WV is an especially facinating place to look at the civil war, since they left Virginia during this time.
Wow !!!!! Your passion for the 'injustice' of this is so wonderful to hear because it proves how much you care about it. I now think that there is clearly a hidden agenda other than 'The Best Book Wins' therefore you or anyone else outside of that judging panel will not be able to make sense of it. For me, no point in taking part in a game you don't know the rules for ! Won't spend time in this next year. What a shame !
I do think the concept of 'best' is too broad and subjective, so I don't necessarily mind if a jury tries to establish criteria for how to choose a winner. I do think it gets messy as soon as those criteria turn into an agenda. It doesn't always happen, but when it does it gets frustrating.
It genuinely baffles me in the years when the juries (whether in Fiction or, what I tend to follow, Drama) almost seem to *punish* works that have achieved success with other organizations or, God forbid, audiences. It doesn't happen too often but when it does, it feels so counter to why these prizes exist in the first place.
Thank you for your video, I have the feeling that I would have the same opinion about this book as you. I really appreciate your sincerity about it, I don’t feel that you are suppose to be nice about it. That is why we watch this videos on UA-cam, right? To see different opinions about books. If I don’t like a book, I say it too. Night Watch and the way you feel about it, reminds me my reaction to Norwegian Woods by Murakami, uff I hate that book so much, that I don’t think I would pick another book from the same author ever. I felt much better when I learned that Mario Vargas Llosa share the same opinion like me. Again, thank you for your videos and sincerity, your channel is wonderful!!!
Once more, I agree with you. I started reading it and then left it after 50 pages, with the same gesture as in your video😂. I found it so ugly that it is making me reconsider my own Pulitzer project…. I might re-route myself toward the national book award or the booker…
Greg -- or anyone else who wants to comment -- I loved Lark and Termite so much; I still think about that book after all these years. What should I do about this one? I'm waiting for a hold to come through from the library, so I haven't invested any money yet. 🤷🏻♀️
I don’t think you lose anything by giving it a try-especially since you have liked Lark & Termite, which seems to be a very love-it-or-hate it novel given comments I’ve gotten. But just know that if you aren’t feeling it when you try it, you aren’t alone and you don’t have to continue-especially if you get a library copy.
@@AvAlanchian There's always a chance you'll like it more than me! I don't mean to say that no one should read Night Watch. It's definitely possible other readers will take to it. The Pulitzer jury certainly did!
I thought there was an interesting book hidden in here, but mostly feel the same way you do about it although no to the degree you did. I was certainly fed up by the end and forced myself to get through the last few chapters. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. Kind of crazy that my favorite book of the year North Woods wasn’t even a finalist.
I think they knew if they put any of the more "expected" winners as a finalist, either one would get picked or everyone would complain that they weren't picked but could've been. All of the options had to be lesser known to make sure that wouldn't happen.
I don't think there's as much of a problem with "expected" books winning as people think there is. Some of the best Pulitzer winners could be described as "expected" winners (The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mockingbird, Beloved, and, I would argue, Demon Copperhead, etc.). The problem is purely one of perception. People don't always like to do the expected thing. Why would a jury need to ensure that an "expected" book wouldn't win?
And this is why my own Pulitzer project is something I’m holding very loosely. I don’t want to read Updike and thanks to your review I don’t want to read this. Life is too short to read bad books!
Unfortunately, I had to read this b/c it won the Pulitzer. I have made a quest to read all of them, at 51 right now. AND, I agree with everything you said about it. One thing you didn't mention was that it was written with no quote marks, which drives me crazy!! For someone who graduated from Iowa, taught at Harvard, you would think she'd know that this "finished" product was far from it. It was like she threw out everything she was ever taught. And I'd like to know from the Pulitzer jury why they chose this book. What redeeming qualities ARE there? I mean, I guess I can vouch for the rape scene b/c I like explicit scenes that mirror real life. But everything else was terrible. As for other terrible Pulitzer winners: The Netanyahus, Overstory, Less, The Hours. And the worst one I ever read, 73's winner, The Optimist's Daughter.
Wonderful review, Greg. I read Absolution. I thought I would DNF it, but went back to it a few days after I stopped reading. I'm glad I did. It's not a Great American Novel, like So Big and To Kill a Mockingbird, but it's a good book. I saw an interview with Ann Patchett and she picked Absolution to win the Pulitzer. Tom Lake should have won the Pulitzer.
Damn interesting review... When you were talking about the depictions of SA and feeling physically ill, I have only ever felt that when reading Kent Hafuf's Plainsong... I HATED that book. The gratuitous violence against women, animals, and children, and the random sexualization of women at every turn was vile. I am still so gobsmacked that people rave about that book. It felt like I was reading an old predator's smut novel. Hated it with a burning passion. But I can easily tolerate depictions of violence in thrillers and other novels without feeling triggered. Plainsong is the only book I've read that has triggered a physiological response that mimics when I feel like I'm in danger of being SA'd.
I agree. I wanted to love it, but constantly checking the percentage of completion on my Kindle is not a good sign. I didn't hate it; I just thought, "OK, in a year, when anyone asks me about that, I can regurgitate what it's about as if it were a movie I watched on a plane."
I read this book several months ago when I saw it on the National Book Award long list. I am a huge fan of civil war historical fiction, so I gave it a whirl. I thought it was okay, if a little quirky and creepy, but I definitely do not think it was Pulitzer worthy. I absolutely agree with you about what the three finalists should have been. Absolution should have won because not only was it beautifully written, but it was thought provoking and heartfelt. It’s a book I keep thinking about.
Apropos of very little, The Washington Post is running a series about the National Book Award which turns 75 books this year. The first article is called " How the National Book Award Reflected 1950s America." It's by the writer Viet Thanh Nguyen. There is the article and then there are snarky mean comments in the comment section.
Greg, when I saw you fling (or is it hurl?) that book across the room and heard that thud, I thought I hope it doesn't hit Teddy. That would really hurt!
Wow. Thank you for this review. This is absolutely not a book for me and I'm glad I know that now, rather than finding out while reading. It's too bad that this was the winner. I wish we could understand what the judges were thinking.
I’ve been watching and waiting for the jury to say something, but I wonder if the Pulitzer requires them to remain silent. The only time we’ve gotten a statement from a jury member was when Michael Cunningham spoke out after the Board failed to choose a winner the year he had been on the jury-and that was a very specific circumstance.
I'm doing a similar project, but reading the booker prize winners, and oooh boy lemme tell you when I hit margaret atwood's the testaments, I wanted to flip that thing out into the bin after I finished it. basically, I feel the emotions and energies you're transmitting here, but appreciate just how eloquent and thorough your analysis is compared to me being like 'BAD PROSE! BAD DIALOGUE! BAD BAD!'
and I am someone who ravenously reads Brandon Sanderson novels, who might be one of the clunkiest writers of all time/space. like dude is so bad, he's a master of crafting some of the ugliest sentences I've ever read.
@@SupposedlyFun what a weird book it is, feeling more like a clunky YA novel meets sequel to the show (not the original book). Even more baffling that it somehow earned the co-win with one of the best books I’ve read in years.
@@trashcangoblin420OMG! Thank you for saying this. I hadn’t heard of Sanderson until I stumbled across his writing workshops online, which made me excited to look up his work… and yikes! I thought it was gawdawful. I couldn’t understand WHY he was supposed to be a good author. It was rambling and not well written at all. I was wondering what I had missed, but reading this makes me feel validated.
@@tedtalksrockoh friend! I feel you. Fantasy UA-cam (and fantasy readers) are obsessed with Sanderson but his writing is truly atrocious. Cool world building and interesting ideas sometimes but you have to wade through some miserable prose. Then if you start carefully looking you really begin to pick up some odd gender stuff (women in sanderson’s world - ouch) and political woo. It’s like a mass gaslighting - why! Yet I still read his stuff? Maybe my brain needs breaks lol 😂
I've learned a lot about book awards -- the Pulitzer in particular -- from this channel. A major takeaway is that the criteria for awards are even more arbitrary than I once thought. This unfortunately renders a prestigious award almost useless as a signal of whether to read a book.
I don't think I would say that awards are useless. I will always love a longlist as a tool for discovery--and following conversations around certain book prizes can help me decide which books I want to prioritize and which ones I can leave alone. I think there's merit in knowing that the process is not definitive at all, but it can still be useful.
@@SupposedlyFun I agree that if the award process raises awareness of the year's books it can be helpful for deciding what to read, even if the actual award winner is chosen for seemingly arbitrary reasons.
I would never have chosen Night Watch (which needed a strong edit,imo) but also would have never chosen Patchett or McDermott. My fave was North Woods which I thought I only liked until a second read convinced me it was definitely my book of the year. The myriad issues surrounding prizes and juries seems to be flummoxing many of us this year. Not just in the literary world, the Chelsea Flower Show courted some controversy with their now quite transparent judging system. So it goes...
I actually saw a bit of the Chelsea Flower Show when I was in Ireland but missed the controversy. I wasn't keen on North Woods, but I would have taken it as a winner.
Isn’t it sad when the majority doesn’t agree with the book - to me the Pulitzer should be something you enjoy and want to recommend to all your friends and are proud it was picked - 😮
The fact that you threw it across the room tells us all we need to know, Greg! You so rarely do that, it's obvious it has offended you greatly. I'm sorry you were so disappointed this year. A lot of what you were saying accounts for why I generally don't read any of the prizes. I don't need some secretive process or some judges I don't know telling me what great literature is. It's all so subjective. And it seems clear to me that each year there's a different agenda with the Pulitzer in particular. I hope you are reading something much better now ❤🧡💛💚💙💜
I am definitely reading something much better now, thanks! I can’t remember all the authors that have promoted a book toss, but I believe Jayne Anne Phillips joins John Updike, Ian Fleming, and Alexander Chee.
I read mostly history, but at least a couple times a year I look for fiction that moves, excites, and challenges me. And, of course, as a former middle school writing teacher, I look for fiction that is well written. Since the book was a prize winner, I had high hopes for Night Watch, but it is taking me FOREVER to slog through it! (I actually interrupted my efforts in order to read a history of Cold War espionage in the mean time). Having returned to it, I’m now 28 pages from the end, and I just don’t give a crap-not even a tiny fraction of a crap. I don’t care one iota about what happens to the characters or how the “plot” resolves. It has been exhausting giving this book the benefit of the doubt page after page after page. And the writing, frankly, is awful. “Word for word, and line by line, there is no one better”? Did we read the same novel, Tayari Jones? So many times, I mused that a bit of respect for readers’ comprehension process and standard sentence structure would have been kind. Is this author pretentious or merely unskilled? I can work through unconventional prose if there is an emotional or cognitive payoff, but it did not deliver. Proust, this is not. I was not familiar with all the controversy when I chose Night Watch, so I was not primed to dislike it. In fact, as a Civil War buff, I was looking forward to a story dealing with the decade following the war. But everything began to crumble by the time I reached Part II. Thank you for giving me permission to leave the last 28 pages unread and use the book to prop up a plant stand! A burden has been relieved. Carry on!
Thank you for such a detailed review! I put this book on hold when the prize was announced. Eric Carl Anderson already had me giving it the side eye after his review. I canceled the hold after this one. What a disappointing choice after a year of great books.
wow what a great review. one of your best. is it weird that the book sounds so bad i kinda want to read it lol. but i will read your recommendations first.
Tell us how you really feel about this book!!! Dang. What a difference a year makes. I think I will finish Demon Copperhead before sneaking a peak totally born out of curiosity of how Night Watch came to win. I am skeptical though with the trigger warning about the explicit depiction of the SA. I just finished an audio book The Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin with a disturbingly detailed SA scene in this story about an intersex teen. I think theses scenes do not need to be so graphic to get the point across. I knew little about the book other than a booktuber highly recommended it as an audio book. The narration was excellent but lowered my rating overall due to this flaw in my mind. Glad you are back home safely from your trip. It looks like you and Joel had a great time. Be well. ❤🧡💛💚💙💜 Happy Pride Month 🥰
Happy Pride Month! I hadn’t heard of The Golden Boy but I can definitely say that I’ve had my fill of explicit SA scenes for a good long time. Yikes. ❤️🏳️🌈🥂📚
I am not an expert in literature. I liked the book (except for the rape scene) because I believed the subtle messages I took from the novel tied it together for me. In that time period, to know that an asylum really did exist with compassionate policies is amazing and true! Some of the heroes of the story were the surgeon who helped the night watchman, the doctor who recognized serious trauma in “miss Janet”, and Dr. Kirkbride’s vision and design of this asylum. In so many books, those types of characters (in leadership positions) end up being the bad guys and this was a refreshing change. I also liked the way the individual threads throughout the book all came together at the end - with surprises along the way. Throughout the book, I felt the author gave us glimpses of what it was like - as a woman - to live in the wilderness during and after the war. For example, The old woman was unveiled as a smart resourceful woman, not the crazy lady who lived alone. She felt things and believed she had spiritual insights into the experiences of others - giving sage advice to the young girl. I am surprised you used the word HATE to describe how you felt about this novel. Maybe the subtle messages were hard for you to find. By the way, Tom Lake was one of the most boring books I have ever read!
A rare rant from you, up there with your loathing for Updike 😆Thank you, I'll pass on this one. I really wish the Pulitzer had more transparency. I'd love to see the reasoning of the jury. It does rather seem like the jury tried to finagle it so that Night Watch would win, pitting it against two interconnected short story connections - one of which is (from my understanding) only loosely linked with American life.
One thing I love about having the jury public-facing is that the Booker and the Women's Prize, et al, use the jurors to talk about why a book is so great when they release a video announcing the longlist and shortlist. The Pulitzer refuses to give you those moments. And you're right--given that story collections (linked and otherwise) have such a hard time with the Pulitzer, it does feel like stacking the deck to put two of them into the mix with Night Watch. That's a big reason why as soon as I saw the finalists, I knew Night Watch was about to win.
@@SupposedlyFun Yeah, same. When they made the announcement I thought, "It will be Night Watch, then." I've learnt all about how this works from you 😂 The Booker and the Women's Prizes are definitely more participant friendly. The Pulitzer is a bit more secret society, above the concerns of mere readers 😆
Question: should a Pulitzer prize book have general appeal? It seems like this prize is not a prize that is a prize for readers (per se) but for writers. It's more of a happy coincidence when it appeals to a broader readership. In other words, the prize committee has an internal logic that mostly evades outsider speculation. It's kind of a lottery :/
I think that’s the impression you might get from this year (and several other recent ones), but since the jury changes every year so does the interpretation of what type of book should win.
I don’t mind when the Pulitzer awards the prize to a book no one has heard off; but it has to be a good book. I can’t remember who it was who read and reviewed it on booktube last year? I do remember they didn’t like it. I don’t know why the Pulitzer does that and it’s not the first time. Who is on the judging panel? Are any of them under 90 yrs old?
Yiyun Li is an outstanding author & should def win a pulitzer one day, though unsure if she’d be ur cup of tea just from what you post on the channel (i think you said u didnt like/finish Where reasons end, that’s why im saying this haha not tryingto say like omg she’s so above you or anything 😂)
I read Where Reasons End for the BookTube Prize a while back and yes, I really did not get on with it. I can see why other people respond to her but as you say, she's probably just not my cup of tea.
Literary prizes can't be taken too seriously, imo they are simply another form of ranking by a specific group of ppl, similar to the way educators choose certain books to be featured in curriculums, or other titles to be banned. I shall never understand why some booktubers build their channel focusing on such rankings. However I do appreciate the immense effort you put in to analyze and close read Night Watch!
Well I’m glad you braved reading Night Watch so I don’t have to spend $30 bucks buying it! Thanks. I like your other choices for the prize. I’ve read two of the non fiction nominees, The Best Minds and Fire Weather. The Best Minds is so brilliant it was a joy to read, about a friendship between two neighborhood boys, one of whom, although stunningly intelligent, grows up to develop schizophrenia.l and the promise and problem of good intentions. Fire Weather is just plain disturbing about what we are in for because of climate change. But both are very good reads. I recommend them.
I'm interested in both of the nonfiction books you describe, but I think I'll wait until my election-year stress subsides (if it does) to try either one.
I had just started the audiobook of Night Watchman when I read that it was selected as Pulitzer prize winner. I was pleased because I am a recent fan of Jayne Anne Phillips. The book definitely didn't live up to Phillip's previous novels. Some of the themes had potential to be so much better than they were. Insane asylums were terrible places where women could be committed at the whim of their fathers/husbands.the book made it sound like this was a nice cozy place where some women stayed because they preferred it. That the hospital doctors fell in love with their patients was really icky. So yes, the book was a major disappointment to me and a misstep by the Pulitzer committee.
It's funny when the timing works out like that. I had just gotten Less from the library when it won the Pulitzer. I wasn't too keen on that one, either, though. And I do agree that this book's rosy portrait of asylums seems naive compared to what we've learned about them--especially given the inclusion of reasons someone could be committed (and how arbitrary they are) and the doctor falling in love with a patient (and that just being portrayed as normal), as you point out.
You fail to mention that it was longlisted for the National Book Award, a Best of the Year from the New Yorker, and received a star review from Kirkus. In all fairness . . .
I actually did mention that it was long listed for the National Book Award. The thing about the New Yorker is that their best books of the year list is like a hundred books long, so to me it loses a lot of meaning. And a lot of books also get started reviews from Kirkus each year. So to me, two out of the three aren’t really barometers of greatness.
@@SupposedlyFun It also received a rave in the WSJ by Sam Sacks, who chaired the Pulitzer jury. Which might have been some foreshadowing of its Pulitzer love.
@@duckylittledictum6149 That's fair! I don't mean to say that it's impossible for anyone to like Night Watch. I just really didn't. And while it wasn't completely unnoticed, it definitely felt like it came out of left field.
Well, all I can say is the only good thing about this book being chosen was that it led to this review. Angry Greg is fun to watch, especially since I wholeheartedly agree. (Imagine me interjecting "Yeah!" at various points in your rant. 😉 ) I think I've given up on awards lists, with a few exceptions they seem less and less reflective of the books I'd consider among the best of the year and want to spend my time with. I can't help wondering if the motivations of the judges are without prior bias. Are they rewarding their friends? (We all know that's what most cover blurbs are.) Are they getting a special "You scratch my back I'll scratch yours" from publishers? I don't know. Regardless, although I'll look at lists to see if anything catches my eye (and I'm looking forward to the Booker longlist, so I guess haven't given up completely), they're no longer going to determine my TBR.
I think the Pulitzer inadvertently supports questions like yours by hiding the jury until the prize is revealed. They say it’s to prevent campaigning for the prize, but somehow the juries for The Women’s Prize, the Booker, etc are public and don’t worry about this. It ends up working against them to be so secretive.
I had no interest in reading her work before this video… but this sprawling mixed media sebaldian murky book is up my alley. I can see it simultaneously being mind-opening as well as infuriating, and I definitely see the merits of your criticism as well - some of what you’ve described would drive me nuts. I definitely don’t think that some of your picks should have been a Pulitzer winner when the Pulitzer Prize is the most prestigious prize awarded to the best book on literary merits - Let Us Descend received lukewarm praise compared to her other titles that did not win and neither Tom Lake nor Heaven + Earth Grocery does not stray beyond the bounds of conventional fiction. I’m sure they’re all great books but like the Nobel, the Pulitzer is looking for something more. This is sort of like Faulkner - he didn’t win a Pulitzer until much later probably at least in major part because of how experimental his work was. Now, we look back and say - really, no Pulitzer for Faulkner until A Fable (looking forward to your reaction to that barely readable book)? There would be no Toni Morrison without Faulkner but he languished for years in obscurity. I think the Pulitzer judges have this in mind when looking at literature that has lasting literary impact and a writer’s writer often has more of that angle, even if the book is significantly flawed and difficult.
Noting your very valid story construction critiques - but how was it at the line level? Does she play with form and meaning when looking at it sentence by sentence? Powerful writing can sometimes be so attractive to a writer when judging that the issues with the story itself may be hidden.
I disagree that Tom Lake and Heaven & Earth aren't serious enough--but I also don't like dismissing books as "conventional" in the first place. I think Tom Lake has highly intelligent and nuanced things to say about life and family that would absolutely make it worthy of a Pulitzer. There's a subtly to it that makes it seem simple when there's a staggering amount of observation at work. And I think the Pulitzer has a precedent for recognizing that type of book with Olive Kitteridge, Breathing Lessons, etc. And Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is a sprawling story about community and empathy that feels resonant for this time, but also timeless. As for Phillips' writing, I would say that the sentences mostly feel tortured to me-worked within an inch of their lives. But clearly, the Pulitzer jury and Board thought differently.
I am so grateful for your breakdown on this. I only loosely follow the Pulitzer. I was on a mission to read them all but have been over them as a standard bearer after the years of no-award (no great American fiction, really?) followed by confounding ties. Last year they got it (mostly) right with Kingsolver but I still doubt their merit. No Black women in decades, so few diverse authors and diverse subjects. I worry that their loose and nebulous standards reinforces the notion that the Pulitzer is dated or their judges aren’t reading and recognizing some excellent and diverse, yet unrecognized works.
I do think the Pulitzer has put forward diverse voices and stories, but with curious blind spots. The lack of black women winners is a huge issue for me, but Colson Whitehead recently became one of the only two-time winners--so black men (at least, black men named Colson Whitehead) have had better luck. And while I didn't like Less, it's nice that such a gay novel won a major literary prize. Plus there are the recent wins for Louise Erdrich (a little too late, but I digress) and Viet Thanh Nguyen. But there's also a lack of Latinx winners. So there is some good diversity, but as I said there are curious blind spots.
I read Night Watch after it won, and enjoyed it, I found it interesting, but yes, it won't make my favourite reads this year and I'm not sure it was worthy of the Pulitzer Prize. If it hadn't won the Prize it wouldn't have really come to my attention at all. I'm not American and not invested in the prize at all but I take enough notice that I'll generally read the winner.
I had this on my TBR and it has been swiftly removed. I’ve often wondered why you’re so keen on the Pulitzer? It sounds to me like it’s a book award managed by a bunch of people who are well behind the times - and the views of us minions….
We will never fully agree with book prizes but they at least attempt to judge merits of books based on their criteria. Pulitzer just last year recognized Demon Copperhead and Trust, which are both really great. It’s a miss this year (or so they say, I haven’t read Night Watch myself), so we will then wait for next year. If we will not follow and support book prizes, it’s gonna be net negative for books that attempt to go beyond bounds of what’s currently popular.
I talk about my history with the Pulitzer a lot in my deep dive on Interpreter of Maladies. The short version is that Interpreter had been recommended to me, and the “winner of the Pulitzer Prize” stamp made me feel safe reading it. I loved it, and then tried a couple of other books with the Pulitzer stamp (in a time before social media book recommendations) and had similar success. That made it a prize I began to follow every year, and now here we are.
Authors who insist on using graphic depictions of sexual assault always make me very leery. I've read books that have included assault scenes that were not graphic at all and not exploitative and yet still managed to get across the gravity and horror of it in a way that felt like someone wanting people to understand what that experience can do to a victim. The more gratuitous and drawn-out it gets, the more it becomes clear that the author doesn't give a damn about victims, only shock value.
Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips is a masterful novel and fully deserving of the Pulitzer Prize. You are dead wrong. It's better than any of the other novels you mentioned, and yes, I've read many of the other contenders. You went in not liking the novel because it wasn't one of your favorites and thus read it hating it. Poor, poor review.
Actually, I didn’t go in wanting to hate it at all. I invite you to watch my reaction to the prize announcement as evidence. And as I say in this very video: I had hoped this would be a case where the Pulitzer pointed me to a great book I hadn’t read yet. That is not what happened.
🎶 noooobody does it bettttter 🎶 Of course I am referring to your book tossing skills. Well, the book sounds truly awful. If I weren't already convinced not to read it, knowing that one of my pet peeves is well-represented ("let me just randomly shoehorn in some stuff I found while researching but can't find a place for" info dumps) will do nicely.
I think book prize juries/boards who are supposed to be awarding for the best book, have to fiercely resist the temptation to give a lifetime achievement award. The Booker in the 90's/00's went through a phase of this when I was a young reader, Amsterdam by Ian McEwan and Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle won even though they are those respective authors worst books. For me I completely lost trust in the Booker and it is only in recent times I've come back to an interest in their longlist.
I think the most unfortunate thing about a book-prize-as-lifetime-achievement-award is that not only does it cheapen the experience for anyone following the prize, it can breed resentment for the author. I feel like I have to keep reminding people (and myself) that Louise Erdrich should have already been a Pulitzer winner at least once.
Yeah, I have no interest at all in this book, and you and Eric CA both having angry rants about it hasn't increased my interest! 😂 On the other two finalists, I've been somewhat interested in Yiyun Li's books (newest hadn't been on my radar, though), but haven't ever actually gotten to one, and I did just finish *Same Bed, Different Dreams* , which I did really enjoy, but I'm not sure is a Greg book, as like *Biography of X* it plays with alternate history (not so much SciFi; the most is a shadowy Google-esque company who's inserting AI and tracking type stuff into everyone's lives). The one Pulitzer winner I'm very interested in this year is *Liliana's Invincible Summer* by Cristina Rivera Garza, which won for Memoir/Autobiography. I'm guessing each category has a different jury deciding the winners?
Yes, each category has a different jury. My understanding is that the Board divides into sub-groups to select winners for all the different categories. I did read a different book of Yiyun Li’s a few years ago (Where Reasons End), and really did not like it at all. That’s kept me away from reading any of her other books, but maybe at some point I’ll try again.
Honestly, one of my least favorite books I have read. I felt emotionally manipulated without any payoff. I agree with so much of what you said. I liked the Pulitzer picks for non-fiction so much, it is a shame they went this way for fiction.
Just saw this on my TV and had to hop on my phone to leave a comment. This. This is why I love you so much, Greg. Such a well-tempered, thorough, sincere, apt, interesting analysis. Your videos often mention having a discussion, and it really feels like one, not like being talked at, particularly one point in the video where it sounded like you were responding to something we viewers just said. Makes it feel very immersive and real-time.
And while it was satisfying to see you toss that book (in a genuine and organic moment, not as performance), it was after very thoughtfully discussing what you consider to be wrong with it. In my mind, if not in a review, I probably would have mentally tossed it, slotted it into the "sh*tty writing" category for all the reasons you gracefully addressed. I probably would've been mad I'd wasted my time when I could've been reading something else. The time you have spent sharing your thoughts redeems and dignifies the entire topic, and it feels like a gift. I admire your ability to keep it classy 🎉
That is so sweet-thank you! I’m so glad the discussion vibe I always want comes across. I started my channel hoping it would be a way of having a conversation with people. Comments like this help keep going, even when it takes a lot of time and work to keep posting. Thank you! ❤️📚🥂
Haven’t read it. I have to be honest and tell you that any book that generates such a visceral reaction makes me curious.
same
Well, if you do read it I look forward to your thoughts! Maybe a historian will have a different perspective.
Me too! I didn’t like this one though, waste of my reading time.
Exactly!! Read it for yourself and make up your own mind! I did and really enjoyed this book in the end! It is not an easy read in the beginning because the author has to show the types of trauma incurred during wartime - not only for the soldiers but also for the families left behind. There are plenty of 5-star reviews on Goodreads. The ‘mixed reviews’ on this book made me want to read it more! It would make for great book club discussion, imho. I’m also a book-loving Texan and we can definitely think for ourselves 😊
@@joniheisenberg Thank you that is good to know.
Wonderful rant. If this book wasn't going onto your Pulitzer shelf, I could envision a book toss that would've sailed right through that window behind you.
Absolutely!
Great review Greg. Thank you, you put so much effort into the Pulitzer videos it is always entertaining and grestly appreciated. Go well.
Thank you so much! They are a lot of work but I love doing these Pulitzer videos.
Thank you for this really substantive review. I refuse to read books that have nauseatingly graphic scenes in them. As a teacher in Germany, I'm forced to teach state-selected books that are traumatizing to me and to my students. It's very disappointing that the Pulitzer prize committee chose a text that abuses the reader in this way. You work really hard to explain all the ins and outs of why this book was selected and to explain your own assessment. Very helpful.
Like you, I’m starting to worry if the Pulitzer is ok.
I was DOWN with Trust and DC sharing it last year, but with The Netanyahus, The Night Watchman, and now The Night Watch, we’ve had 3 dud years out of 4, and very worthy books have been excluded (Love Songs of WEB Du Bois *cough*).
Not sure what’s happening, but very grateful for your honest thoughts. Looking forward to your deep dive on the state of the Pulitzer in 2024…
I agree about those three duds! And going back further, there haven't been many winners that I've been excited about over the last decade. And far too many great books have been overlooked (Love Songs, Sing Unburied Sing, The Good Lord Bird, etc.).
I so appreciate your honesty. I read so many of the wonderful books that I thought were in contention for the prize. I haven't read Night Watch and probably never will now.
I wish I had liked it better! It's fun when a surprise winner ends up being a beloved book.
I’ve tried reading Pulitzer Prize winners. Too many of them, I just scratch my head, thinking, am I missing something? Apparently not.
There are a lot of good ones, too!
I just discovered your channel, coincidentally coinciding with my desire to start reading again. A Pulitzer Prize winner that everyone seems to universally hate had me curious so I had to read it for myself and figure out what was going on.
I'm only 30 pages in but this book is so overwritten and meandering that I've been tempted to abandon it already. I can do this though, it's a short book and I must know what the jury could have possibly been thinking (besides wanting to highlight a lesser known author, that is, as I'm sure there are far better choices out there).
what an amazing collection in the background!! im between homes at the moment so all my books are in storage. I used to love collecting books, mostly poetry and art books. I can't wait to get them back❤
It’s so hard not to have your books with you. Mine spent a lot of time in boxes when we moved to Montana until we settled in this house, so I get it.
When I think of all of the books that they must have read and considered, I really struggle to imagine how they agreed on this winner.
I don't get it either.
I haven't seen anyone give this a good review yet. I am envisaging a corner of the floor of your library where Night Watch, Rabbit Run and The Netanyahus live.
I've gotten some comments on this video from people who liked Night Watch, so there's that. I would love to just leave Gone With the Wind, Night Watch, Rabbit, and Netanyahus in the closet to think about what they've done, but I do keep them on the Pulitzer shelf--which is arranged chronilogically.
I have not read any of these books, but it's enjoyable to hear your analysis and criticism, Greg. I understand where you are coming from even though I don't literally understand from a firsthand experience yet (if that makes sense).
It makes sense! Thanks for watching.
Wow. Thanks for reading that book, so I don’t have to.
Happy to do it!
Night Watch drew me in and kept me interested up to a point but then it quickly had me asking, “What is the point you’re trying to make, Jayne Anne Phillips?” I enjoy historical fiction because it leads me off-piste down rabbit holes so the lists and photos, etc., were enjoyable for me although completely unnecessary and puzzling as to why they were included. The sexual assault scene was brutal and drawn-out to the point where I yelled, “Stop hitting me over the head with this!” Having read the excellent McBride, Woods, and Patchett books, I am left scratching my head as to why Night Watch was chosen as the winner.
p.s. When I finished the book, I felt like it had been a good read (for me) but only because I’d enjoyed going down those historical rabbit holes such as researching asylums of the period, post-Civil War conditions, etc. However, it was definitely not Pulitzer Prize material and I should have DNF’d it rather than turning it into a history project.
My curiosity about what everyone hates about the book has been piqued! I find unnecessary detailed SA scenes bothersome. I put in on a hold at the library for what I am not sure!!!!
I can see how it would make an interesting history dive, but I agree that as a novel it does not hold up.
In hindsight, we have Tayari Jones blurbing a rave for Night Watch, the Fiction jury chair Sam Sacks giving a positive WSJ review (he was also on the jury for The Netanyahus, so watch out whenever he's selected for one of these), and Michael Chabon proudly making a point of acknowledging lesser-known authors, which might have been the mandate of the jury this cycle. The three other books Chabon mentioned were The Ice Harp by Norman Lock, After World by Debbie Urbanski, and Dearborn by Ghassan Zeinnedine. I've only heard of Dearborn, which I thought could legitimately be a dark-horse contender for its topicality. Seems like the heavy hitters were penalized for being heavy hitters, just like the Booker jury did last year for Demon Copperhead, which still irks. It makes the exclusion of North Woods here even more gross and glaring. My library doesn't even have Night Watch in circulation. I'm not bothering to seek that nonsense out after I was burned with the unreadable Lark & Termite. I checked out Same Bed Different Dreams instead. Very weird, but I'm kinda liking it so far.
I've heard great things about Same Bed Different Dreams, but it feels like a book that does a lot of things I typically don't respond to, so I'm happy leaving it for others to enjoy.
Hey I'm 2/3rds into the novel and I'm enjoying it . I don't find it confusing at all.
I'm glad you're enjoying it more than I did.
@@SupposedlyFunNo you’re not.
@@sirreadsalot786why wouldn’t I be?
I didn't know that Chabon was on the jury, so this video was very informative. Do you have a link to that statement about the other books he liked? I have the deepest respect for this man, and while I didn't read Night Watch, there are so many people I respect who disliked it that I'm a bit surprised and disappointed.
Regarding the point about a "writer's writer," Yiyun Li, one of the nominees, is also somebody who is taught in writing classes a lot and is perceived as what you refer to as a "good literary citizen" in the community. However, even by her standards, the nominated book was the most obscure of her books. Interestingly, she will be on the Booker jury this year, so let's see how much of the Pulitzer mindset will be in this year's Booker.
Chabon posted the other books he liked on Threads. There's a link in the post from my website, or you can check his feed there.
I do agree that Yiyun Li fits a similar mold to Jayne Anne Phillips. Someone else pointed out that the nature of the other two finalists makes it feel like they were stacking the deck for Phillips to win, and despite Yiyun Li's reputation I do agree. The nature of this particular book--especially being a story collection--make it something that traditionally has a hard road to winning a Pulitzer.
Eric Carl Anderson did a similar review :)
I haven’t watched it yet because I didn’t want to be influenced by what he had to say. I’m going to try to catch up to his today.
This was brilliant, Greg! Thank you very much!🌷I’ve enjoyed all the books I’ve read following your recommendations, and I’m definitely not going to waste my time on Night Watch. By the way, I read The Netanyahus when it won the Pulitzer (I hadn’t discovered your channel yet😢) and wasn’t impressed. I actually found it rather annoying. So I’m glad I’m being saved from another disappointing (and this one even traumatizing) read. Totally agree on Tom Lake and The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store deserving the prize. I know you are of a different opinion, but I also wouldn’t have minded if North Woods had won. I have read Trust, but not yet Demon Copperhead, I think I’ll try and squeeze it in among my summer reads. I’m currently listening to Barbara Kingsolver narrating one of my favourites among her novels, Prodigal Summer. Great book and great narrator!😊📚
I would definitely have taken North Woods over this! I still need to read Prodigal Summer. Happy to have helped you avoid some trauma! I also found Netanyahus to be annoying.
And this is why we love you, Greg. The best part of this review hits at the 16:00 mark with your recitation of many other deserving books. I didn't realize it's been since 1988 since a Black woman won the Pulitzer. Good Lord. (Talk about being dragged kicking and screaming into the modern world.) That is baffling that Phillips doesn't classify this as historical fiction. What the hell is it, then?! And don't get me started on the sexual assault scene -- it's going to be a long, long time before that leaves my mind (if it ever does) which makes me furious because this was a DNF!
Thank you! Her only explanation was that she thinks historical fiction is "event-based" and her work is "character-based." That feels like an extremely narrow view of historical fiction to me.
Yes, I have read Night Watch through the Libby app, first as an audiobook, then as an ebook…so yeah, twice. It’s telling that Libby predicted I wouldn’t get the ebook for 18 weeks and it was available in less than three.
Night Watch has out-Netanyahued The Netanyahus!
Is this the worst Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction? No, I think the Updike books are worse, but Night Watch lives two blocks away.
There are definitely worse Pulitzer winners that I've read, but I agree that Night Watch is in the neighborhood with them!
Completely agree with the Updike books not deserving a Pulitzer. The worst.
Such a great video and throwing the book at the end made me howl with laughter 😂
Thank you!
So glad to see you talked about this! I tried reading the book and would have tossed it if it weren't on my eReader 😂 Thanks for reading it and sharing all your thoughts.
Thanks for watching!
Greg throws the book across the room. That says it all, folks.🤣
It’s an elite club! 😂🤣
I'm loving how many reviewers are hating this. Ha! I don't think I'd be interested otherwise, honestly. But wow. It's that bad? Interesting. Not that I don't trust you. You're probably right. I just gotta see!
@@JeffD.A There's always room for other readers to like it more than I did!
Like Mario Puzo's The Godfather, this novel has the potential to become something better than the deeply weird work of prose that I staggered through. The Godfather's subject as a book was plastic surgery. (If you don't believe me, please re-read it.) Coppola's movie found the thread of an unforgettable family, filmed nearly as opera, with its absolutely essential music (not surprising, for a member of the Coppola family). As I read Night Watch, I kept thinking: should this have been an opera instead of a novel? Stay tuned!
I don’t know if I told you this but almost a decade ago I was thinking of doing a Pulitzer Prize project but it lost steam because I was reading them in chronological order and some of them I just can’t for the life of me agree with and I’ve found that I enjoy the Women’s prize and the Booker prizes much more, so I ditched that effort. Glad to see there are some still going the distance, I’ll watch from a distance 😂 nooo thank you hahahhaha. I did also become aware of a prize for adventure stories and I’m pretty hype on that. Our Hideous Progeny which is on my TBR this month is on its short list along with some other really fantastic sounding books that I don’t own 😢😂😂😂 . I’m trying to get free copies but I think are not out in the US yet 😂😂😂 ugh! All of my favorite prizes are from the UK. 🇬🇧
My original plan was to read them in chronological order but I abandoned that fairly quickly. I think being able to move around and follow my interests is better for me as a mood reader and allows me to get out of ruts. So far so good, although I am also allowing myself to take my time with this project.
I remember a Pulitzer finalist I found absurd when I first read it, "The Quick and The Dead" by Joy Williams. I had wished it had won just so people could hate in more! It seemed ridiculous. It actually is. Still. But somehow I came to love it for being such a daring mess, so heavily handedly "literary" and a honest to goodness hoot! And so I read more Williams and now she's one of my favorites. If this gives me that sort of experience, it's worth a try! But then again, sometimes a mess is just a mess. I do love how hated this appears to be, however. That's something right there! I probably would overlook it otherwise. If I just plain hate it? Well, I was warned!
It is interesting that a mess can be lovable sometimes.
Great review!, thank you
Thanks!! 😊
Same. Finally read it. I could think of 2-3 that should've ranked above.
I guess there's always next year.
I sort of want to buy the book and just throw it across the room every week or so, with all my life's frustrations piled upon it. Greg, you're so inspiring! 😍
😂 It can feel very therapeutic!
I would suspect that the phase "follow the money" comes into play here! Which begs the question which publishing house has more influence on the judges and committes?
Time for a cinnamon bun book now, Greg.😁
Amen to that!
Hey Greg! I totally agree with your review, but I wanted to point one thing out, I think the photos actually are all photos of things (or the photos themselves) that are referenced in the book, so that directly enter in the plot. For example, the photo of the soldiers that you mentioned is actually, I believe, the photo that Dearhbla (sic? who knows/cares) keeps and describes of her kind-of son, hubby of Eliza. I totally agree that a lot of the historical details are useless and confusing, as well as with the rest of the review. Love your videos! Thanks!
Greg, I've been watching your videos for a while, and I think this is one of your very best! You have excellent skills at being well prepared in your videos as well as a heartfelt discussion about things that book loving people want to discuss and react to! Such a valued member of the book tube community. I read Night Watch soon after it won its Pulitzer because it was short and I got to my local library quicker than anyone else the day it was announced as the winner. My reaction was very similar to yours. How did this win the Pulitzer?
The writing felt purposely obscure, as though Phillips wanted to keep the reader at a distance. The sexual assault is harrowing, and if it hadn't been a Pulitzer winner, that might have finished me off from reading. Many of the characters felt underdeveloped. Weed is supposedly an important character, but what did he do besides climb trees? Hexum is described as "the fearsome woman who runs the kitchen" on the book jacket, but I don't recall her doing anything to invoke fear. Papa was such a contrived character, I knew he would come back at the end to further spread his stink, and he did-ugh!!
I'm reading through all the Pulitzers, and Night Watch isn't the worst. I ranked it 32nd out of the 37 that I've read so far. It is better than A Fable and Tales From the South Pacific for sure. But after watching your video, I may have to re-evaluate the others that I ranked it ahead of, maybe I ranked it too high. I did like the list of reasons why people from the time might be admitted to an asylum, such as "novel reading" or "political excitement", that was funny to me. Keep up the good work. You are a treasure!!
Thank you so much! That means a lot. I agree that the characters feel so slight--especially compared to how they are described on the dust jacket. I haven't read A Fable or Tales of the South Pacific yet, so I can't help you with your ranking--but I have heard from several people who said that A Fable was very boring. I'm not looking forward to that one. I don't have an official ranking (yet), but I think Night Watch would be around 39 out of 41 so far for me.
Loved the rant! There’s nothing like a good (always polite) Greg rant. I have not been a fan of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in the years, admittedly not that many, I have followed it. The secrecy is the thing that annoys me the most. But any prize year for any prize that has a pretty obvious agenda is bound to make me angry. This goes back to Margaret Atwood co-winning the Booker because a couple of judges thought she (not the book) deserved it and refused to play by the rules. Prize juries have to stay within the bounds of the rules for the prize. I think they should have been questioned about their finalists as they were so completely out of left field. Not that that would have changed the result this year, but maybe future juries might consider staying within the rules. Excellent video!
Thank you! I do think the Pulitzer and the Nobel need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. In both cases, it's especially difficult because they aren't JUST literature prizes, but something needs to change.
Spot-on review!! 👍🏼
Glad you liked it!
I read it and agree with you about almost all you said about it. My choice would have been “North Woods”😊
I have not read any of the books. I will read this one first, but I have a major pull to liking it having grown up in WV. I have many friends who visited the site of the book. The civil war is a major interest to me as well. Not many book are written about it. Which WV is an especially facinating place to look at the civil war, since they left Virginia during this time.
You should read Same Bed Different Dreams, I loved it and it deserved to be a finalist
I've heard great things about it. Not sure it's the type of book I usually enjoy, but maybe someday.
@@SupposedlyFun Same Bed Different Dreams is my favorite book of the year. It is very effective at what it was trying to do
Golden review and analysis. 🤎
Thanks so much!
Wow !!!!! Your passion for the 'injustice' of this is so wonderful to hear because it proves how much you care about it. I now think that there is clearly a hidden agenda other than 'The Best Book Wins' therefore you or anyone else outside of that judging panel will not be able to make sense of it. For me, no point in taking part in a game you don't know the rules for ! Won't spend time in this next year.
What a shame !
I do think the concept of 'best' is too broad and subjective, so I don't necessarily mind if a jury tries to establish criteria for how to choose a winner. I do think it gets messy as soon as those criteria turn into an agenda. It doesn't always happen, but when it does it gets frustrating.
It genuinely baffles me in the years when the juries (whether in Fiction or, what I tend to follow, Drama) almost seem to *punish* works that have achieved success with other organizations or, God forbid, audiences. It doesn't happen too often but when it does, it feels so counter to why these prizes exist in the first place.
Thank you for your video, I have the feeling that I would have the same opinion about this book as you. I really appreciate your sincerity about it, I don’t feel that you are suppose to be nice about it. That is why we watch this videos on UA-cam, right? To see different opinions about books. If I don’t like a book, I say it too. Night Watch and the way you feel about it, reminds me my reaction to Norwegian Woods by Murakami, uff I hate that book so much, that I don’t think I would pick another book from the same author ever. I felt much better when I learned that Mario Vargas Llosa share the same opinion like me. Again, thank you for your videos and sincerity, your channel is wonderful!!!
I hated it from the minute I picked it up. You gave me the right to throw it away and worry about Pulitzer's meaning.
I'm happy to have finished it so you don't have to! 😊
My shameful confession: This author (and book) was so unknown to me that I originally thought is was Jane Ann Krentz. And I was so confused...
I have also been guilty of that! I'm so glad I'm not the only one. 😂
Once more, I agree with you. I started reading it and then left it after 50 pages, with the same gesture as in your video😂. I found it so ugly that it is making me reconsider my own Pulitzer project…. I might re-route myself toward the national book award or the booker…
Greg -- or anyone else who wants to comment -- I loved Lark and Termite so much; I still think about that book after all these years. What should I do about this one? I'm waiting for a hold to come through from the library, so I haven't invested any money yet. 🤷🏻♀️
I don’t think you lose anything by giving it a try-especially since you have liked Lark & Termite, which seems to be a very love-it-or-hate it novel given comments I’ve gotten. But just know that if you aren’t feeling it when you try it, you aren’t alone and you don’t have to continue-especially if you get a library copy.
I’m in the same situation, I read Lark and Termite last year after Greg mentioned it. I really liked it so what do I do with Night Watch?
@@AvAlanchian There's always a chance you'll like it more than me! I don't mean to say that no one should read Night Watch. It's definitely possible other readers will take to it. The Pulitzer jury certainly did!
I thought there was an interesting book hidden in here, but mostly feel the same way you do about it although no to the degree you did. I was certainly fed up by the end and forced myself to get through the last few chapters. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. Kind of crazy that my favorite book of the year North Woods wasn’t even a finalist.
It's a frustrating end to what was a great year for American literature.
I think they knew if they put any of the more "expected" winners as a finalist, either one would get picked or everyone would complain that they weren't picked but could've been. All of the options had to be lesser known to make sure that wouldn't happen.
I don't think there's as much of a problem with "expected" books winning as people think there is. Some of the best Pulitzer winners could be described as "expected" winners (The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mockingbird, Beloved, and, I would argue, Demon Copperhead, etc.). The problem is purely one of perception. People don't always like to do the expected thing. Why would a jury need to ensure that an "expected" book wouldn't win?
And this is why my own Pulitzer project is something I’m holding very loosely. I don’t want to read Updike and thanks to your review I don’t want to read this. Life is too short to read bad books!
There are so many books out there to try to get to!
I will be reading it for my library book club, but I really want to read the other two finalists.
I look forward to your thoughts if you do read it.
Unfortunately, I had to read this b/c it won the Pulitzer. I have made a quest to read all of them, at 51 right now. AND, I agree with everything you said about it. One thing you didn't mention was that it was written with no quote marks, which drives me crazy!! For someone who graduated from Iowa, taught at Harvard, you would think she'd know that this "finished" product was far from it. It was like she threw out everything she was ever taught. And I'd like to know from the Pulitzer jury why they chose this book. What redeeming qualities ARE there? I mean, I guess I can vouch for the rape scene b/c I like explicit scenes that mirror real life. But everything else was terrible.
As for other terrible Pulitzer winners: The Netanyahus, Overstory, Less, The Hours. And the worst one I ever read, 73's winner, The Optimist's Daughter.
Wonderful review, Greg.
I read Absolution. I thought I would DNF it, but went back to it a few days after I stopped reading. I'm glad I did. It's not a Great American Novel, like So Big and To Kill a Mockingbird, but it's a good book. I saw an interview with Ann Patchett and she picked Absolution to win the Pulitzer.
Tom Lake should have won the Pulitzer.
Tom Lake has really stayed with me since I finished it. I'm so glad I read it.
@@SupposedlyFun Lara in Tom Lake and Selina in So Big are my two favorite novel characters.
Damn interesting review... When you were talking about the depictions of SA and feeling physically ill, I have only ever felt that when reading Kent Hafuf's Plainsong... I HATED that book. The gratuitous violence against women, animals, and children, and the random sexualization of women at every turn was vile. I am still so gobsmacked that people rave about that book. It felt like I was reading an old predator's smut novel. Hated it with a burning passion. But I can easily tolerate depictions of violence in thrillers and other novels without feeling triggered. Plainsong is the only book I've read that has triggered a physiological response that mimics when I feel like I'm in danger of being SA'd.
Oof, I didn't know that about Plainsong. I think I have a copy of it on my shelf. I may have to think about that.
I agree. I wanted to love it, but constantly checking the percentage of completion on my Kindle is not a good sign. I didn't hate it; I just thought, "OK, in a year, when anyone asks me about that, I can regurgitate what it's about as if it were a movie I watched on a plane."
I read this book several months ago when I saw it on the National Book Award long list. I am a huge fan of civil war historical fiction, so I gave it a whirl. I thought it was okay, if a little quirky and creepy, but I definitely do not think it was Pulitzer worthy. I absolutely agree with you about what the three finalists should have been. Absolution should have won because not only was it beautifully written, but it was thought provoking and heartfelt. It’s a book I keep thinking about.
Absolution is so beautifully written. I feel like the opening chapter is so good it could stand on its own as a short story.
Apropos of very little, The Washington Post is running a series about the National Book Award which turns 75 books this year. The first article is called " How the National Book Award Reflected 1950s America." It's by the writer Viet Thanh Nguyen. There is the article and then there are snarky mean comments in the comment section.
I haven't read it yet, but I saw that they had launched that project.
Greg, when I saw you fling (or is it hurl?) that book across the room and heard that thud, I thought I hope it doesn't hit Teddy. That would really hurt!
I knew he wasn't in the room when it happened! But I see the concern.
A discussion on what makes a book not a good book is an interesting one. If that makes things any better.
🥂 📚
Wow. Thank you for this review. This is absolutely not a book for me and I'm glad I know that now, rather than finding out while reading. It's too bad that this was the winner. I wish we could understand what the judges were thinking.
I’ve been watching and waiting for the jury to say something, but I wonder if the Pulitzer requires them to remain silent. The only time we’ve gotten a statement from a jury member was when Michael Cunningham spoke out after the Board failed to choose a winner the year he had been on the jury-and that was a very specific circumstance.
I'm doing a similar project, but reading the booker prize winners, and oooh boy lemme tell you when I hit margaret atwood's the testaments, I wanted to flip that thing out into the bin after I finished it.
basically, I feel the emotions and energies you're transmitting here, but appreciate just how eloquent and thorough your analysis is compared to me being like 'BAD PROSE! BAD DIALOGUE! BAD BAD!'
and I am someone who ravenously reads Brandon Sanderson novels, who might be one of the clunkiest writers of all time/space. like dude is so bad, he's a master of crafting some of the ugliest sentences I've ever read.
I haven't read Testaments, but I love Handmaid's Tale as it is. I don't want to mess with it.
@@SupposedlyFun what a weird book it is, feeling more like a clunky YA novel meets sequel to the show (not the original book).
Even more baffling that it somehow earned the co-win with one of the best books I’ve read in years.
@@trashcangoblin420OMG! Thank you for saying this. I hadn’t heard of Sanderson until I stumbled across his writing workshops online, which made me excited to look up his work… and yikes! I thought it was gawdawful. I couldn’t understand WHY he was supposed to be a good author. It was rambling and not well written at all. I was wondering what I had missed, but reading this makes me feel validated.
@@tedtalksrockoh friend! I feel you. Fantasy UA-cam (and fantasy readers) are obsessed with Sanderson but his writing is truly atrocious. Cool world building and interesting ideas sometimes but you have to wade through some miserable prose.
Then if you start carefully looking you really begin to pick up some odd gender stuff (women in sanderson’s world - ouch) and political woo.
It’s like a mass gaslighting - why!
Yet I still read his stuff? Maybe my brain needs breaks lol 😂
I've learned a lot about book awards -- the Pulitzer in particular -- from this channel. A major takeaway is that the criteria for awards are even more arbitrary than I once thought. This unfortunately renders a prestigious award almost useless as a signal of whether to read a book.
I don't think I would say that awards are useless. I will always love a longlist as a tool for discovery--and following conversations around certain book prizes can help me decide which books I want to prioritize and which ones I can leave alone. I think there's merit in knowing that the process is not definitive at all, but it can still be useful.
@@SupposedlyFun I agree that if the award process raises awareness of the year's books it can be helpful for deciding what to read, even if the actual award winner is chosen for seemingly arbitrary reasons.
I would never have chosen Night Watch (which needed a strong edit,imo) but also would have never chosen Patchett or McDermott. My fave was North Woods which I thought I only liked until a second read convinced me it was definitely my book of the year. The myriad issues surrounding prizes and juries seems to be flummoxing many of us this year. Not just in the literary world, the Chelsea Flower Show courted some controversy with their now quite transparent judging system. So it goes...
I actually saw a bit of the Chelsea Flower Show when I was in Ireland but missed the controversy. I wasn't keen on North Woods, but I would have taken it as a winner.
Isn’t it sad when the majority doesn’t agree with the book - to me the Pulitzer should be something you enjoy and want to recommend to all your friends and are proud it was picked - 😮
The fact that you threw it across the room tells us all we need to know, Greg! You so rarely do that, it's obvious it has offended you greatly. I'm sorry you were so disappointed this year. A lot of what you were saying accounts for why I generally don't read any of the prizes. I don't need some secretive process or some judges I don't know telling me what great literature is. It's all so subjective. And it seems clear to me that each year there's a different agenda with the Pulitzer in particular. I hope you are reading something much better now ❤🧡💛💚💙💜
I am definitely reading something much better now, thanks! I can’t remember all the authors that have promoted a book toss, but I believe Jayne Anne Phillips joins John Updike, Ian Fleming, and Alexander Chee.
I read mostly history, but at least a couple times a year I look for fiction that moves, excites, and challenges me. And, of course, as a former middle school writing teacher, I look for fiction that is well written.
Since the book was a prize winner, I had high hopes for Night Watch, but it is taking me FOREVER to slog through it! (I actually interrupted my efforts in order to read a history of Cold War espionage in the mean time). Having returned to it, I’m now 28 pages from the end, and I just don’t give a crap-not even a tiny fraction of a crap. I don’t care one iota about what happens to the characters or how the “plot” resolves. It has been exhausting giving this book the benefit of the doubt page after page after page.
And the writing, frankly, is awful. “Word for word, and line by line, there is no one better”? Did we read the same novel, Tayari Jones? So many times, I mused that a bit of respect for readers’ comprehension process and standard sentence structure would have been kind. Is this author pretentious or merely unskilled? I can work through unconventional prose if there is an emotional or cognitive payoff, but it did not deliver. Proust, this is not.
I was not familiar with all the controversy when I chose Night Watch, so I was not primed to dislike it. In fact, as a Civil War buff, I was looking forward to a story dealing with the decade following the war. But everything began to crumble by the time I reached Part II. Thank you for giving me permission to leave the last 28 pages unread and use the book to prop up a plant stand! A burden has been relieved.
Carry on!
Very convincing and detailed argument against Night Watch.
Thanks!
The book throw at the end was the cherry on top for me.
It's an elite club!
Thank you for such a detailed review! I put this book on hold when the prize was announced. Eric Carl Anderson already had me giving it the side eye after his review. I canceled the hold after this one. What a disappointing choice after a year of great books.
I held off on watching Eric’s video until after I posted my own, and I can finally watch his tonight!
wow what a great review. one of your best. is it weird that the book sounds so bad i kinda want to read it lol. but i will read your recommendations first.
If you do read it, I would be curious to see if you agree. But yes, I think there are better ways to spend your reading time.
Tell us how you really feel about this book!!! Dang. What a difference a year makes. I think I will finish Demon Copperhead before sneaking a peak totally born out of curiosity of how Night Watch came to win. I am skeptical though with the trigger warning about the explicit depiction of the SA. I just finished an audio book The Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin with a disturbingly detailed SA scene in this story about an intersex teen. I think theses scenes do not need to be so graphic to get the point across. I knew little about the book other than a booktuber highly recommended it as an audio book. The narration was excellent but lowered my rating overall due to this flaw in my mind. Glad you are back home safely from your trip. It looks like you and Joel had a great time. Be well. ❤🧡💛💚💙💜 Happy Pride Month 🥰
Happy Pride Month! I hadn’t heard of The Golden Boy but I can definitely say that I’ve had my fill of explicit SA scenes for a good long time. Yikes. ❤️🏳️🌈🥂📚
I am not an expert in literature. I liked the book (except for the rape scene) because I believed the subtle messages I took from the novel tied it together for me. In that time period, to know that an asylum really did exist with compassionate policies is amazing and true! Some of the heroes of the story were the surgeon who helped the night watchman, the doctor who recognized serious trauma in “miss Janet”, and Dr. Kirkbride’s vision and design of this asylum. In so many books, those types of characters (in leadership positions) end up being the bad guys and this was a refreshing change. I also liked the way the individual threads throughout the book all came together at the end - with surprises along the way. Throughout the book, I felt the author gave us glimpses of what it was like - as a woman - to live in the wilderness during and after the war. For example, The old woman was unveiled as a smart resourceful woman, not the crazy lady who lived alone. She felt things and believed she had spiritual insights into the experiences of others - giving sage advice to the young girl. I am surprised you used the word HATE to describe how you felt about this novel. Maybe the subtle messages were hard for you to find. By the way, Tom Lake was one of the most boring books I have ever read!
A rare rant from you, up there with your loathing for Updike 😆Thank you, I'll pass on this one. I really wish the Pulitzer had more transparency. I'd love to see the reasoning of the jury. It does rather seem like the jury tried to finagle it so that Night Watch would win, pitting it against two interconnected short story connections - one of which is (from my understanding) only loosely linked with American life.
One thing I love about having the jury public-facing is that the Booker and the Women's Prize, et al, use the jurors to talk about why a book is so great when they release a video announcing the longlist and shortlist. The Pulitzer refuses to give you those moments. And you're right--given that story collections (linked and otherwise) have such a hard time with the Pulitzer, it does feel like stacking the deck to put two of them into the mix with Night Watch. That's a big reason why as soon as I saw the finalists, I knew Night Watch was about to win.
@@SupposedlyFun Yeah, same. When they made the announcement I thought, "It will be Night Watch, then." I've learnt all about how this works from you 😂 The Booker and the Women's Prizes are definitely more participant friendly. The Pulitzer is a bit more secret society, above the concerns of mere readers 😆
Question: should a Pulitzer prize book have general appeal?
It seems like this prize is not a prize that is a prize for readers (per se) but for writers. It's more of a happy coincidence when it appeals to a broader readership. In other words, the prize committee has an internal logic that mostly evades outsider speculation. It's kind of a lottery :/
I think that’s the impression you might get from this year (and several other recent ones), but since the jury changes every year so does the interpretation of what type of book should win.
I don’t mind when the Pulitzer awards the prize to a book no one has heard off; but it has to be a good book. I can’t remember who it was who read and reviewed it on booktube last year? I do remember they didn’t like it. I don’t know why the Pulitzer does that and it’s not the first time. Who is on the judging panel? Are any of them under 90 yrs old?
I am starting to think that the Pulitzer’s old-school, secretive process is a problem and not a quirkily different approach.
Yiyun Li is an outstanding author & should def win a pulitzer one day, though unsure if she’d be ur cup of tea just from what you post on the channel (i think you said u didnt like/finish Where reasons end, that’s why im saying this haha not tryingto say like omg she’s so above you or anything 😂)
I read Where Reasons End for the BookTube Prize a while back and yes, I really did not get on with it. I can see why other people respond to her but as you say, she's probably just not my cup of tea.
Literary prizes can't be taken too seriously, imo they are simply another form of ranking by a specific group of ppl, similar to the way educators choose certain books to be featured in curriculums, or other titles to be banned. I shall never understand why some booktubers build their channel focusing on such rankings. However I do appreciate the immense effort you put in to analyze and close read Night Watch!
Thanks. I do think there's merit in tracking what is deemed as prizeworthy--not to mention fascinating, especially as it changes over time.
Well I’m glad you braved reading Night Watch so I don’t have to spend $30 bucks buying it! Thanks. I like your other choices for the prize. I’ve read two of the non fiction nominees, The Best Minds and Fire Weather. The Best Minds is so brilliant it was a joy to read, about a friendship between two neighborhood boys, one of whom, although stunningly intelligent, grows up to develop schizophrenia.l and the promise and problem of good intentions. Fire Weather is just plain disturbing about what we are in for because of climate change. But both are very good reads. I recommend them.
I'm interested in both of the nonfiction books you describe, but I think I'll wait until my election-year stress subsides (if it does) to try either one.
I had just started the audiobook of Night Watchman when I read that it was selected as Pulitzer prize winner. I was pleased because I am a recent fan of Jayne Anne Phillips. The book definitely didn't live up to Phillip's previous novels. Some of the themes had potential to be so much better than they were. Insane asylums were terrible places where women could be committed at the whim of their fathers/husbands.the book made it sound like this was a nice cozy place where some women stayed because they preferred it. That the hospital doctors fell in love with their patients was really icky.
So yes, the book was a major disappointment to me and a misstep by the Pulitzer committee.
It's funny when the timing works out like that. I had just gotten Less from the library when it won the Pulitzer. I wasn't too keen on that one, either, though. And I do agree that this book's rosy portrait of asylums seems naive compared to what we've learned about them--especially given the inclusion of reasons someone could be committed (and how arbitrary they are) and the doctor falling in love with a patient (and that just being portrayed as normal), as you point out.
You fail to mention that it was longlisted for the National Book Award, a Best of the Year from the New Yorker, and received a star review from Kirkus. In all fairness . . .
I thought he said it was longlisted for the National Book Award.
I actually did mention that it was long listed for the National Book Award. The thing about the New Yorker is that their best books of the year list is like a hundred books long, so to me it loses a lot of meaning. And a lot of books also get started reviews from Kirkus each year. So to me, two out of the three aren’t really barometers of greatness.
@@audreyh7892 My mistake Sorry.
@@SupposedlyFun It also received a rave in the WSJ by Sam Sacks, who chaired the Pulitzer jury. Which might have been some foreshadowing of its Pulitzer love.
@@duckylittledictum6149 That's fair! I don't mean to say that it's impossible for anyone to like Night Watch. I just really didn't. And while it wasn't completely unnoticed, it definitely felt like it came out of left field.
Well, all I can say is the only good thing about this book being chosen was that it led to this review. Angry Greg is fun to watch, especially since I wholeheartedly agree. (Imagine me interjecting "Yeah!" at various points in your rant. 😉 )
I think I've given up on awards lists, with a few exceptions they seem less and less reflective of the books I'd consider among the best of the year and want to spend my time with. I can't help wondering if the motivations of the judges are without prior bias. Are they rewarding their friends? (We all know that's what most cover blurbs are.) Are they getting a special "You scratch my back I'll scratch yours" from publishers? I don't know. Regardless, although I'll look at lists to see if anything catches my eye (and I'm looking forward to the Booker longlist, so I guess haven't given up completely), they're no longer going to determine my TBR.
I think the Pulitzer inadvertently supports questions like yours by hiding the jury until the prize is revealed. They say it’s to prevent campaigning for the prize, but somehow the juries for The Women’s Prize, the Booker, etc are public and don’t worry about this. It ends up working against them to be so secretive.
Wow, that’s a lot of hate for a very good book.
I'm glad you liked it more than I did. The nice thing about books is that we're all entitled to an opinion.
@@SupposedlyFun Agreed. And also agreed on the Pulitzer process …it’s why I prefer the Booker, love trying to predict and the read the long list…
I couldn’t agree with you more.
Thanks!
I had no interest in reading her work before this video… but this sprawling mixed media sebaldian murky book is up my alley. I can see it simultaneously being mind-opening as well as infuriating, and I definitely see the merits of your criticism as well - some of what you’ve described would drive me nuts.
I definitely don’t think that some of your picks should have been a Pulitzer winner when the Pulitzer Prize is the most prestigious prize awarded to the best book on literary merits - Let Us Descend received lukewarm praise compared to her other titles that did not win and neither Tom Lake nor Heaven + Earth Grocery does not stray beyond the bounds of conventional fiction. I’m sure they’re all great books but like the Nobel, the Pulitzer is looking for something more.
This is sort of like Faulkner - he didn’t win a Pulitzer until much later probably at least in major part because of how experimental his work was. Now, we look back and say - really, no Pulitzer for Faulkner until A Fable (looking forward to your reaction to that barely readable book)? There would be no Toni Morrison without Faulkner but he languished for years in obscurity.
I think the Pulitzer judges have this in mind when looking at literature that has lasting literary impact and a writer’s writer often has more of that angle, even if the book is significantly flawed and difficult.
Noting your very valid story construction critiques - but how was it at the line level? Does she play with form and meaning when looking at it sentence by sentence? Powerful writing can sometimes be so attractive to a writer when judging that the issues with the story itself may be hidden.
I disagree that Tom Lake and Heaven & Earth aren't serious enough--but I also don't like dismissing books as "conventional" in the first place. I think Tom Lake has highly intelligent and nuanced things to say about life and family that would absolutely make it worthy of a Pulitzer. There's a subtly to it that makes it seem simple when there's a staggering amount of observation at work. And I think the Pulitzer has a precedent for recognizing that type of book with Olive Kitteridge, Breathing Lessons, etc. And Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is a sprawling story about community and empathy that feels resonant for this time, but also timeless.
As for Phillips' writing, I would say that the sentences mostly feel tortured to me-worked within an inch of their lives. But clearly, the Pulitzer jury and Board thought differently.
I think Phillips won for her body of work rather than for her latest novel.
I do think the jury probably genuinely liked this novel, but it does feel like they also gravitated toward Phillips because of who she is.
Thank you for the review and no I wont pick it up. Im not good with violence in general - movies or books, - sad Pulitzer picked this one!
This book is nominated for my book club next year. Yowza. I'll come out against it!
😬😬😬
I am so grateful for your breakdown on this. I only loosely follow the Pulitzer. I was on a mission to read them all but have been over them as a standard bearer after the years of no-award (no great American fiction, really?) followed by confounding ties. Last year they got it (mostly) right with Kingsolver but I still doubt their merit. No Black women in decades, so few diverse authors and diverse subjects. I worry that their loose and nebulous standards reinforces the notion that the Pulitzer is dated or their judges aren’t reading and recognizing some excellent and diverse, yet unrecognized works.
I do think the Pulitzer has put forward diverse voices and stories, but with curious blind spots. The lack of black women winners is a huge issue for me, but Colson Whitehead recently became one of the only two-time winners--so black men (at least, black men named Colson Whitehead) have had better luck. And while I didn't like Less, it's nice that such a gay novel won a major literary prize. Plus there are the recent wins for Louise Erdrich (a little too late, but I digress) and Viet Thanh Nguyen. But there's also a lack of Latinx winners. So there is some good diversity, but as I said there are curious blind spots.
I read Night Watch after it won, and enjoyed it, I found it interesting, but yes, it won't make my favourite reads this year and I'm not sure it was worthy of the Pulitzer Prize. If it hadn't won the Prize it wouldn't have really come to my attention at all. I'm not American and not invested in the prize at all but I take enough notice that I'll generally read the winner.
I do have some questions about how the Pulitzer operates, and I'll get into them in a future video, but I will continue to follow the prize closely.
you tossed it!!!
🤗
I had this on my TBR and it has been swiftly removed. I’ve often wondered why you’re so keen on the Pulitzer? It sounds to me like it’s a book award managed by a bunch of people who are well behind the times - and the views of us minions….
We will never fully agree with book prizes but they at least attempt to judge merits of books based on their criteria. Pulitzer just last year recognized Demon Copperhead and Trust, which are both really great. It’s a miss this year (or so they say, I haven’t read Night Watch myself), so we will then wait for next year.
If we will not follow and support book prizes, it’s gonna be net negative for books that attempt to go beyond bounds of what’s currently popular.
I talk about my history with the Pulitzer a lot in my deep dive on Interpreter of Maladies. The short version is that Interpreter had been recommended to me, and the “winner of the Pulitzer Prize” stamp made me feel safe reading it. I loved it, and then tried a couple of other books with the Pulitzer stamp (in a time before social media book recommendations) and had similar success. That made it a prize I began to follow every year, and now here we are.
Authors who insist on using graphic depictions of sexual assault always make me very leery. I've read books that have included assault scenes that were not graphic at all and not exploitative and yet still managed to get across the gravity and horror of it in a way that felt like someone wanting people to understand what that experience can do to a victim. The more gratuitous and drawn-out it gets, the more it becomes clear that the author doesn't give a damn about victims, only shock value.
I definitely think this is a case where it tipped into shock value. I would have gotten the point with a great deal less detail.
Totally trust you and won't be reading this one... Lots of questions about the Pulitzer prize and board itself, and where we are going from here...
I am starting to think that the Pulitzer needs to update its process ASAP.
Didn’t get this award at all. Have read several positive reviews, still don’t get it.
I guess there's always next year.
Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips is a masterful novel and fully deserving of the Pulitzer Prize. You are dead wrong. It's better than any of the other novels you mentioned, and yes, I've read many of the other contenders. You went in not liking the novel because it wasn't one of your favorites and thus read it hating it. Poor, poor review.
Actually, I didn’t go in wanting to hate it at all. I invite you to watch my reaction to the prize announcement as evidence. And as I say in this very video: I had hoped this would be a case where the Pulitzer pointed me to a great book I hadn’t read yet. That is not what happened.
🎶 noooobody does it bettttter 🎶
Of course I am referring to your book tossing skills.
Well, the book sounds truly awful. If I weren't already convinced not to read it, knowing that one of my pet peeves is well-represented ("let me just randomly shoehorn in some stuff I found while researching but can't find a place for" info dumps) will do nicely.
It had been a while since I tossed a book in disgust! Jayne Anne Phillips joined John Updike and Joshua Cohen in a very exclusive club. 😂🤣
I think book prize juries/boards who are supposed to be awarding for the best book, have to fiercely resist the temptation to give a lifetime achievement award. The Booker in the 90's/00's went through a phase of this when I was a young reader, Amsterdam by Ian McEwan and Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle won even though they are those respective authors worst books. For me I completely lost trust in the Booker and it is only in recent times I've come back to an interest in their longlist.
I think the most unfortunate thing about a book-prize-as-lifetime-achievement-award is that not only does it cheapen the experience for anyone following the prize, it can breed resentment for the author. I feel like I have to keep reminding people (and myself) that Louise Erdrich should have already been a Pulitzer winner at least once.
Yeah, I have no interest at all in this book, and you and Eric CA both having angry rants about it hasn't increased my interest! 😂 On the other two finalists, I've been somewhat interested in Yiyun Li's books (newest hadn't been on my radar, though), but haven't ever actually gotten to one, and I did just finish *Same Bed, Different Dreams* , which I did really enjoy, but I'm not sure is a Greg book, as like *Biography of X* it plays with alternate history (not so much SciFi; the most is a shadowy Google-esque company who's inserting AI and tracking type stuff into everyone's lives).
The one Pulitzer winner I'm very interested in this year is *Liliana's Invincible Summer* by Cristina Rivera Garza, which won for Memoir/Autobiography. I'm guessing each category has a different jury deciding the winners?
Yes, each category has a different jury. My understanding is that the Board divides into sub-groups to select winners for all the different categories.
I did read a different book of Yiyun Li’s a few years ago (Where Reasons End), and really did not like it at all. That’s kept me away from reading any of her other books, but maybe at some point I’ll try again.
Honestly, one of my least favorite books I have read. I felt emotionally manipulated without any payoff. I agree with so much of what you said. I liked the Pulitzer picks for non-fiction so much, it is a shame they went this way for fiction.
I do think the Pulitzer did a great job on the nonfiction side this year.
I was sad that THE ART THIEF didn’t get any love. That book is exquisite.
@@matthewbrown7748 That did sound like a good book.