The interestings is the us novelist meg wolitzers 10th book, a long novel concerning the unfolding fates of a group of friends from teenagehood to middle age. The interestingss inclusive vision and generous sweep place it among the ranks of books like jonathan franzens freedom and jeffrey eugenides the marriage plot. Meg wolitzers ability to take a moment, whether it be a campfire surrounded by 15yearold girls or a first kiss, and spin it out into a dozen different directions across multiple lives is the true genius of the book. This knowing, generous and slyly sly new novel follows a group of teenagers who meet at a summer camp for artsy teens in 1974 and survive as friends through the competitions and realities of growing up. Apr 30, 20 i enjoyed the marriage plot but that book is really divisive. Ash and ethan have a son who is diagnosed with autism, and ethan struggles for the rest of the novel with his inability to love his child. The interestings, by meg wolitzer the new york times. A novel 9781594632341 by wolitzer, meg and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. I love meg wolitzers the interestings because its sprawling and beautifully written and it opens at a summer camp.
The interestings by meg wolitzer goodreads share book. To round out the trifecta of main plot points, we get a sudden, super dark turn toward depression, nearlyfatal accidents, cancer, and mental disabilities. Jun 17, 2016 the initial episode of the interestings based on the novel by meg wolitzer is an intriguing opening to a drama full of compelling characters with stories of their own to tell. Mar 19, 20 the book opens at the summer camp as the six protagonists, all of whom are given a voice in the novel, determine to make their lives different from and matter more than others lives. Well help you set the scene then build characters, describe them, name them, and work out how they fit together in an interesting story. The story follows a group of six friends who meet at a summer camp for the arts camp. Apr 21, 20 in the interestings, jules jacobson poses a broader question, asking herself what the boys now men and girls now women she has lionized since her teens, and emulated throughout her adult. The interestings is an ambitious, decadesspanning novel, and it touches on plenty that is grave. Mar 25, 2014 the interestingss inclusive vision and generous sweep place it among the ranks of books like jonathan franzens freedom and jeffrey eugenides the marriage plot. It follows six characters who meet at summer camp in 1974 up through the presentalong with, to varying degrees, new friends, new relationships, and family members. But while the language isnt too tricky wolitzer is no james joyce, thankfully, the jumping back and forth between time frames can be hard to follow. The interestings, by meg wolitzer six teens at a summer arts camp dub themselves, only somewhat ironically, the interestings in meg wolitzers novel of the same name.
Im a really great plot twist guesser but this book messed with my head in the best way. The interestings, by meg wolitzer the washington post. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of the interestings by meg wolitzer. Like virginia woolf in the waves, meg wolitzer gives us the full picture here, charting her characters lives from the selfdramatizing of adolescence, through the resignation of middle age, to the attainment of a wisdom that holds all the intensities of life in a single, sustained chord, much like this book itself.
Meg wolitzers ninth novel, the interestings, is the story of a group of friends who met as teenagers and traces their lives into adulthood. The moment joan castleman decides to leave her husband, they are 35,000 feet above the ocean on a flight to helsinki. Meg wolitzers the interestings has been a millions favorite, so were excited to hear about her next book, belzhar, a young adult novel inspired by sylvia plath. Aug 21, 20 the interestings is the us novelist meg wolitzers 10th book, a long novel concerning the unfolding fates of a group of friends from teenagehood to middle age. The interestings reminds readers to pause amidst their crowd of dear ones and try to imagine the farflung futures of these. As they find their places in life, the six deal with their downfalls, prejudices, fears, and insecurities. Not since ive listened to the goldfinch, have i been so wholly absorbed in a book. The book comes out on september 30 and follows a 16yearold grieving at a boarding school for fragile teenagers, where she and her classmates discover an alternate world. But as they reach adulthood, even though the characters are, for the most part, rather chilly, especially teenaged protagonist jules, things begin happening so fast that the book becomes a lot more fun to read. The story follows a group of six friends who meet at a summer arts camp.
Were considering expanding this synopsis into a fulllength study guide to deepen your comprehension of the book and why its important. Mar 12, 2020 the interestingss inclusive vision and generous sweep place it among the ranks of books like jonathan franzens freedom and jeffrey eugenides the marriage plot. Plot generator our aim is to inspire you to write your own stories, using common genres and themes. The interestings is beautifully descriptive without being flowery and she paints new york through the times of these friends, with clear knowledge and insight, peppering the story with real events. The interestings, by meg wolitzer life goes on summer after summer meg wolitzers the interestings follows a group of teens who meet in the 70s at an artsy summer camp and remain. Popular interesting plots books goodreads share book. The interestings, by meg wolitzer meg wolitzer captures lives that are utterly real and yet still, as the title promises, irresistibly interesting in a way that real life rarely is. Julie jacobson gets the part of the primary narrative voice during much of the novel. Joans husband, joseph, is one of americas preeminent novelists, about to receive a prestigious international award, and joan, who has spent 40 years subjugating her own literary talents to fan the flames of his career, has finally decided to stop.
The story follows a group of six friends who meet at a. It follows six characters who meet at summer camp in 1974 up through the presentalong with, to varying degrees, new friends, new relationships, and. The interestings is a book of great depth and insight. The whole story was so interesting and compelling which is what made the twist so good it was so. The interestings is a book that makes you think outside the box when it comes to your creative ambitions. The interestings is warm, allamerican, and acutely perceptive about the feelings and motivations of its characters, male and female, young and old, gay and straight. For these reasons, the interestings can be slow going. The summer that nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. Julie jules jacobson introduces us to the interestings in the first few pages of the novel. Apr 18, 20 the interestings, the new novel by meg wolitzer, arrives with an endorsement from the estimable author of the marriage plot and middlesex, stating that, like virginia woolf in. To seal the promise, they call themselves the interestings.
Its a truly great novel about friendship, and how it deepens and changes over the years david sedaris, conde nast traveller a breakout book allison pearson. The interestings is not pieced together with the most captivating of plots, by any means, and im sure many readers will not enjoy this book the way i did. You can get a headache trying to think about the interestings on a straight timeline, so let us break it down for you first, we get a glimpse of our main cast as teenagers at spiritin the woods, the summer camp that ends up being the formative moment for a lot of what happens later. In my eyes, though, eugenides can do no wrong, and ill read anything he writes, so im perhaps not the best judge.
Meg wolitzer rides the feminist waves the new yorker. The interestings s inclusive vision and generous sweep place it among the ranks of books like jonathan franzens freedom and jeffrey eugenides the marriage plot. In the interestings, jules jacobson poses a broader question, asking herself what the boys now men and girls now women she has lionized. The interestings, by meg wolitzer six teens at a summer arts camp dub themselves, only somewhat ironically, the interestings in meg wolitzers novel of. The interestings, by meg wolitzer life goes on summer after summer meg wolitzers the interestings follows a group of teens who. Nov 08, 2019 at first i didnt like this book, finding the six interestings to be rather shallow and even a bit snotty. The point is for you to tell the story differently. This summary of the interestings includes a complete plot overview spoilers included. The most remarkable thing about this book, to me, is the author meg wolitzers clearly amazing ability to observe human behavior. Its also a strong mix of dialogue and narration, so the reading rhythm changes all the time. We meet the group of friends selfdubbed the interestings at an arts camp catering mostly to kids from new york city.
Overcoming ones demons is the major theme of the novel the interestings by meg wolitzer. Kent, slated by teri terry, ashes by aleatha romig, all the truths by rina kent, and al. The central character is jules, who is jealous of her friends lives. The interestings, the new novel by meg wolitzer, arrives with an endorsement from the estimable author of the marriage plot and middlesex, stating that, like virginia woolf in.
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