About book Lola Bensky (suhrkamp Taschenbuch) (German Edition) (2012)
I received this novel from NetGalley.The writing in this novel is its high point, clever writing and engaging dialogue, and that seems to be where the praises end.This novel seems to follow the life the titles namesake, as a journalist during the turn of the rock and roll century, yet the flashbacks and unnecessary additions to her interviews drag this novel out, and lulls the Reader into a state of "what am I reading?". The constant reminder that Lola's parents are survivers of concentration camps during Nazi Germany quickly gets old snd starts to take away from the initial story.This is a good novel to read if you are a fan of rock and roll, but be aware, the story really doesn't build or progress, it seems to circle back onto itself with no twists or turns, but it is good for a little light reading. This is a quick, light and easy read but I do have some qualms. Admittedly, what first attracted me to this book was the cover (we all judge a book by its cover every now and then). It shows a twenty-something girl with thick, long eyelashes and has that “retro” 50s, 60s look. I love fashion and style from that time and I had to pick this book up because of that. Then I read the description. It had lots of familiar names: Jimi Hendrix, Mama Cass, Monterey Pop Festival. As a music lover, especially music from the 60s, namely 1967, the “Summer of Love,” there was no question—I had to read this book now. Lola Bensky, a rock music journalist from Australia, is the main character and struggles with her Jewish heritage and her weight. All of this sounded like a very interesting mixture. What I noticed right from the start was Brett’s voice: Very sharp, blunt and short sentences, almost in a juvenile way. She has many witty one-liners, but, unfortunately, that is all the praise I have for this book. The hard, short sentences do not flow nicely and oftentimes run into sudden pauses that completely cut short the thought process the reader might be having. At times I felt my mind wandering and had to reread a sentence or two. The way in which Brett writes became very dull and difficult to follow because it did not flow nicely. I thought this was her debut novel, an author still struggling to find her voice. When I found out it was not her debut, then I resigned to the fact that this is just how she writes. And that’s okay. As far as the actual story, I found it quite boring. When she describes all these rock stars, she is very cliché. For someone like myself who is mildly knowledgeable about the musicians of the time, it was hard to read all the stereotypical over-documented accounts of Hendrix’s clothes, or Janice Joplin’s raspy voice, even Mama Cass’s weight! For someone less knowledgeable I can see how this would be okay and would give a nice overview of these people. For me, it made the story dull. Lola herself is not a very loveable person. In fact, she is annoying at times. I struggle when the main character is not lovable because I want to relate and be a part of their life for the duration of their story. The heart of the theme of this book wildly surrounds her weight, her “fatness.” She even compares her weight to Mama Cass, saying that Mama Cass is fatter than she is. I realize her point, and again, some people may relate more than I do, but I don’t think this theme was hashed out correctly. It made me feel quite bothered, actually. I cringed when I saw the word “fat” used so many times on one page! We learn a lot about Lola’s past, especially her parents and how they survived Auschwitz. Between the weird accounts of her father and her painstaking relationship with her mother, I can see how she would feel less than beautiful about her weight, but I am not sure the actual point Brett is trying to make. I would venture to say that Jimi Hendrix was one of the main characters, as he pops up quite a few times—in random spots in the story, too. I think he is a hero in Lola’s eyes. At one point, Lola has a vision of him in a car accident, and then all of a sudden it’s over and seemingly has nothing to do with the plot moving forward. I’m not too fond of these quick and pointless reveries. Perhaps I missed the purpose, but otherwise it doesn’t fit in well. I wonder why Lily Brett would use him as a sort of protagonist. Perhaps she is a huge fan? In any case, I thought that was interesting.Maybe I missed the mark on this novel but I really couldn’t take home anything of value. Nothing really happened. Overall, it was a nice read (whenever something is nice, we can usually agree that we can take it or leave it) and read it on the train to and from work. A good "pass the time" book. I gave it 2 stars because while it's not the best story in the world, this was the first actual printed book I picked up in awhile (avid Kindle reader here!) and it felt good to touch and smell a book. The content and story was okay and even though I went on and on about how it doesn't flow nicely, it's not bad writing, just not what I prefer. Would I recommend this book? Probably not.
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Fun and fascinating look into a girl and her cool grownup world as a rock journalist
—IshIsh
a must for any lovers of the 1960's NYC music scene
—Alferrr
