Look at Me: A Novel

This was a horrible novel. I am not a picky reader and generally enjoy any fiction novels that I pick up, but this was an exception. The premise sounded promising, and I pushed myself to read to about half way of the book and I couldn't continue -very rare for me because I don't like giving up on an author's hard work. It was far too ambitious in a negative sense, as if Egan wants to show off her knowledge or research of a variety of topics and tried to cram it all together into one book to show how clever she really is. I found it difficult to sympathize with the main character Charlotte, and found the character Z completely absurd, from his "spy" name to the bits of information of his past that are far too dramatic for my liking, especially his internal monologues and struggles. I really wanted to like this book, but got so frustrated that I had to hide it on my bookshelf and I am actually quite eager to trade it in to a second hand shop for something else. Truly disappointing. I am sure Egan is a fantastic writer, and at times I did see glimpses of it, but the plots in her story here need to be simplified. Less is more.

The first time I read this, I didn't like it as much as 'Goon Squad', but I liked it enough to want to re-read it. The first time, I didn't relate to the main character. Two years and twenty or so novels later, I deeply appreciated the awsome writing skills of Jennifer Egan. I also understood and related more to the characters. This is the first time that I have finished a book that I have tried to re-read.