The Interestings

by Meg Wolitzer

'Every summer we sit like this. We should call ourselves something.' Ash Wolf said. 'Why?' said Goodman, her older brother. 'So the whole world can know just how unbelievably interesting we are?' On a warm July night in 1974 six teenagers play at being cool. The friendships they make this summer will be the most important and consuming of their lives. In a teepee at summer camp they smoke pot and drink vodka & Tangs, talk of Gunter Grass and the latest cassette tapes; they also share their dreams and ambitions, still so fresh and so possible. But decades later not everyone can sustain in adulthood what had seemed so special in adolescence. Jules Jacobson, an aspiring comic actress, has resigned herself to a more practical occupation; Cathy has stopped dancing; Jonah has laid down his guitar and taken up engineering. Only Ethan's talent has endured. As their fortunes tilt precipitously over the years, some of them dealing with great struggle, others enjoying extraordinary wealth and success, friendships are put under the strain of envy and crushing disappointment.
Against the backdrop of a changing America, from Nixon's resignation to Obama's new world, Wolitzer's panoramic tragicomedy asks how 'the Interestings' can be happy with being anything less than brilliant?

• ISBN10: 1594488398
• ISBN13: 9781594488399
• Publish Date: 9 April 2013 (first published 1 April 2013)
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Imprint: Riverhead Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 480
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

I'm a little emotional right now, but I am also feeling really wistful and introspective. This book spans 37 years in the life of a group of friends, who met one summer at a little arts camp in Vermont. From that first summer, their lives became intertwined and over the years, their friendships would change, from time to time, and their paths would diverge and then converge again, but they would always be friends.

This book pleased me in so many different ways. I really liked was how the story was non-linear. It started and jumped back and forth in time, giving me little crumbs that I could do with what I would in my own head. I found myself so invested in these people's lives and with each clue, I tried to guess what had happened or what would happen. I shed tears for these people, real tears, embarrassed myself in public, tears. I delighted in the fact that I was taking a walk down memory lane. In an almost Forest Gump way, the history of the times (the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s) were playing out in the background of the story and I would get that "ooh I remember that" rush (although I am slightly younger than the main characters). I also found myself relating to how your life and your friendships evolve with becoming a parent and age.

Right now I am starting a "slow clap" for Wolitzer. Kudos, Meg Wolitzer. Kudos!

[lovelybookshelf]

Originally posted on my blog, A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall:

"The only option for a creative person was constant motion - a lifetime of busy whirligigging in a generally forward direction, until you couldn’t do it any longer."

The end of any major, shared experience, especially one which coincides with the end of adolescence, is bound to induce some degree of ennui. In The Interestings, Meg Wolitzer has shown how this impacts the lives of six friends. Time and time again, the author shows how well she understands the creative personality type, especially as these characters grapple with the varying levels (and definitions) of success among them.

I took to Wolitzer's writing immediately, her intuitive and compelling perceptions of her characters' unfolding lives. Her storytelling is delivered in a way I found captivating: Time spiraled forward, overlapping slightly, circling around again, then moving forward and repeating. It reminded me of the Spirograph kits that were so popular when I was a kid (and incidentally, during the time these characters were at camp).

One especially touching moment for me was when Jules was straightening the house before her friend Ash came to visit. Jules's mother realizes that she is doing so because she's embarrassed by the modest home. Then Jules notices that her mom has made that realization, that she may have caused embarrassment where there was none before. Multiple impressions of the same moment; readers are treated to this kind of depth throughout the novel.

My only grievance was the undercurrent of petty jabs toward one particular political leaning (for the record, not one to which I belong). These subtle derisions were part of the general narrative, not attached to a particular character or enhancing the story. They were usually easy to dismiss. But there was one aimed at Reagan in his Alzheimer's-stricken old age that I felt was such a low blow, even the beautiful writing around it couldn't temper its ugly spirit.

The Interestings is a fully fleshed-out, character-driven novel, and a long one at that (just shy of 500 pages). I found the characters' lives realistic and fairly interesting, but for the most part, the storytelling itself is what kept me engaged.

I received a copy of this book through a giveaway held by Riffle Fiction. A review was not requested or expected; I did not receive any compensation for this honest review.