The language on display here is alone worth the price of admission. Like a thick jungle underbrush, it is dense but beautiful, teeming with life and filled with ferocity. The characters can sometimes be ciphers, but part of that is style and it doesn't ultimately detract from the emotional heft of the book. I really loved this and want to read more of her work. ( )

4.4/5 ( )

Apparently, based on the reviews, this book is very polarizing, but I thought (other than one bad chapter) it was excellent. It probably was a 4.5 star book for me, but I'm going with rounding up.

The book examines a marriage in two parts. Fates tells the story of the husband, Lotto. Furies tells the story of the wife, Mathilde. Saving the best for last, Mathilde's story is the more compelling of the two. Once I started the Furies section, I couldn't put the book down until it was done.

This book strikes me as what you'd come out with if [b:Gone Girl|19288043|Gone Girl|Gillian Flynn|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397056917s/19288043.jpg|13306276] and [b:The Marriage Plot|10964693|The Marriage Plot|Jeffrey Eugenides|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328736940s/10964693.jpg|15668403] had a baby. The characters are drawn and revealed in a sophisticated way, but it has some of the darkness and elements of surprise that I don't usually associate with literary fiction. Groff's writing style is sophisticated - - partly in the words she uses, but what I really respected was how she handles the passage of time. This story is not told in a linear way, but for the reader, it is extremely seamless. I never had to think about where we were in time or strain to pick up the thread of the story, yet it is moving between time periods. It just seemed so effortless, but I can't imagine that it actually was.

There was one self indulgent chapter where Groff shares a play written by Lotto in the middle of the book to reveal something. I have no idea what she was revealing at the time I read it - - and it was slow and boring. If I went back and re-read it, I'm sure it foreshadowed something or revealed something about the characters, but I'm honestly just not that interested to put myself through reading it again. But one boring chapter? Hey, I'll take it.

If a reader wants to be critical, I think they could find some other issues with this book - - but I felt that Groff did a tremendous job of creating believability where one might have skepticism, and by the end, I was so intrigued I was quite happy to play along. My inner critic was definitely shut down by the story telling, the interesting characters, the creative telling of the story, and the suspense. When I read the reviews of others, the critical ones, I can nod and say yes, yes that's true. But while I was reading it, I didn't care one whit.

( )

If it were not for the back half of this book "The Furies," I would have either not finished this book or rated it about a 1 or 2 star read. It is the back half that makes this book incredible.

The narrative is told in two halves- Lotto's a failed actor former womanizer turned successful playwright and Mathilde his exercising, loving wife.

Lotto has his own perspective, his own story, and as well written as it was, there were just parts that I blanked through. I kept asking myself, how did this get on so many top of 2015 lists- including Amazon's number 1 pick? None of my close friends had read it, so I didn't have a good source. I kept reading in reviews- a stronger 2nd half. I plowed through the last 1/4 of Lotto's narrative and had one "oh crap" moment.

The reviewers were right, not only is the 2nd half stronger, but it made me want to re-read the first half all over again. That is a sign of a great writer. The second half is Mathilde's story and I will not spoil it, but even the first two chapters made my jaw drop a little. I tore through her story because it was so interesting. It made the whole book!

Ultimately, this book is about narrative, perspective, and secrets that husbands and wives tell and do for each other. Ways story is told, details withheld, and other things that happen in relationships. For example, in a non spoiler way, Lotto keeps telling a story about a leech on his leg at parties. The problem is it isn't his story, but Mathilde never corrects him or shames him. Why is more fun than the story.

I wound up loving this book, as much as one can. I more than likely will not read it again, but I am glad I read it through. Throughout it is well written, with some flow problems, but the story is what grabs. ( )

I picked this book up as one of my challenges was to read a book with abstract art on the cover and this was the best fit on my shelves.
The book is divided into two sections 'Fates' and 'Furies'. The narrative voice is husband, Lotto, in the first section giving an account of his early life and then his marriage to Mathilde. At times I struggled with the style of prose in this section and I see another reader has described it as 'abstract', how apt and I think that is a very good description. Try as I might, at times by rereading, there were several occasions where I still could make no sense of the concise sentences.
Like many others I preferred the 'Furies' section where we learn an alternative perspective on their passionate marriage and Mathilde is fleshed out through her own voice rather than that of the adoring Lotto.
My daughter has lent me Matrix to read so I must read it sooner rather than later. ( )