The Fortress of Solitude : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Good idea, good first half, ruined second half
Review: I enjoyed this book, half of it anyway. The first half is a lyrical, poetic description of a lonely boy, Dylan, trying to grow up under less than ideal circumstances. He has to put up with many harsh realities in his young life, none of which were of his doing. He has no mother, he lives in a less than ideal area, he goes to mostly rotten schools (until high school), he has some mean kids to contend with, etc. He does have a great and wonderful friend who has his own share of problems and who deals with them far less well than Dylan does. This part of the book flowed easily and had a kind of beauty to it, even in the pain that it spoke of. Then.......we get to the second two hundred pages and WOW!! what a difference. Dylan grows up and tells his story, but what a mess the writing is and how muddied the prose has become! Where is the editing? This part goes on and on with endless and pointless descriptions. Its actually a chore to read whereas the first half was a pleasure. When you get to the end you wonder what did you just read? I think the author should have ended the book with Dylan getting on the bus to college. Then he could have added a 5 page epilogue tying up the loose plot ends. Then the book might have had some meaning and would have not left the bitter taste that it does by all the endless and boring meaningless pages of irrelevent descriptions. Too bad!! The descriptions of the music of the times, the games, the culture are wonderful but the author needed help to tie it all together. I guess he didnt get that help. This could have been great, I wanted it to be great, but sadly its not.

Rating:
Summary: Definition of trying to write the award winner...
Review: I have all of Lethem's books, some of his McSweeney's writings and other tidbits (Kafka Americana) and have been absolutely enthralled with every book. Motherless Brooklyn was probably my least favorite, only because it fell victim to the same thing this book does: writing like the award board is looking over your shoulder.

Now, I can't say a truly bad thing about "Fortress..." It is a fantastically explained walk through a neighborhood through the eyes of one of its most interesting residents. That added to Lethem's remarkable blend of comic timing and sensibility will always make for a good read. The problem is, what attracted me to Lethem was the snapshot quality of his stories and books. Girl in Landscape jumps right in, shows you what is going on and you pretty much have to fend for yourself about the details. In Fortress... the details aren't just laid out, they are hammered down with a ballpeen hammer until you feel like you HAVE to understand them. This jump from snapshot to epic chronicle feels pushed, almost as if he felt he had to write this much to exorcise something or to prove to the critics that he can be a serious author.

I read Lethem's article in the New Yorker which was more or less Cliff Notes on this book. I can honestly say I enjoyed it more, and reccomend that over the book. At least until the Pulitzer is announced. Then I will say "I told you so."

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing and slow
Review: Lethem has been one of my favorite authors for years - my autographed first edition of Amnesia Moon is one of my prized possessions. I have always found wise themes, effortless metaphor and entertaining prose in his work. I waited for this novel to come out and read many breathless reviews about its profundity. I'm sorry to say I was very disappointed with this book. As a 36 year old music fan growing up around the same time as Lethem and his protagonist in a city (not Brooklyn) split with racism, I recognized the time, place and vibe of this story all too well. I was very curious to get Lethem's point of view on our shared, often misunderstood, coming-of-age era. What I found was many descriptions of period stuff and a protagonist whose most interesting stories come from other people's lives and actions - not his own. The first half of the book was better than the second although I read the whole thing waiting for something to happen to/with Dylan. The story drifted along as Dylan just watched things happen around him. Cut to 15-20 years later and, sadly, nothing has changed. And though there are plenty of pages describing this nothing, nothing continues to happen and the protagonist continues to live vicariously and offensively through other people's experience. Dylan becomes only an annoying 30 something stereotype who needs to get therapy, get over his childhood trauma and deal. He doesn't. While reading this book I wondered where the storytelling suspense, insight and maturity of the earlier Lethem had gone. This book seems self indulgent. I hope the author gets back to crafting good stories again soon and lets Brooklyn go.

Rating:
Summary: Ramblings of art student with nothing to say.
Review: I don't know how to describe this book. You can't really due to the fact there is no content. Just ramblings of someone trying to sound observant; an example:

"The long tilted slabs or the one sticking-up moonlike shape or the patch of concrete or the shattered pothole that always filled with water."

That decription reminded me of the conversations I used to have in highschool when I was high on pot.It is just a sidewalk. Who cares?
And the story which is billed as "coming of age" reads like a story of people who never grew up. I don't understand how this book even got published. It is that bad. I felt ashamed for even checking it out from the library. I read another review that commented on the obvious lack of editing. I don't know how you could edit this work. Its not worthy of anyone's time or talent.
One star is too much.....

Rating:
Summary: What happened to editing?
Review: This book is everything in the kitchen sink and more. It lacks narrative structure, fluidity, restraint, cohesion. It seems Lethem found himself drowning in material and lost focus. The second half of the book falls completely to pieces. The choices the author made verge on the ludicrous. Critics may call it post-modern, but post-modern is not synonymous with messy. Sure Lethem mixes genres, but is that really a virtue? Only if the result stands on its own as something unique and compelling, and this does not. The book does hold together and does not deserve the praise its been getting. The excerpt in the New Yorker was the best part. Read that and save yourself the expense of buying the book.

Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment....
Review: Don't believe the hype. Johnathan Lethem has many strengths as a writer but they are not on full display within the pages of Fortess of Solitude. The book is a mediation on the lonliness and isolation which plaugues every one of the main characters in this book as they each deal with the changes happening within their Brooklyn neighborhood. Brooklyn is treated more like a character within these pages than the people that in habit it. If you're expecting much in the way of character development or a less than easily foreseeable plot you'll be waiting. None of the potentially interesting characters develop beyond the limits of Lethem's narrative, which is too exposition heavy. The final 200 pages jump and peter way it's way out. Instead do yourself a favor--check out Craig Clevenger's riviting 'The Contortionist's Handbook'.

Rating:
Summary: Though a bit slow at times, this is a compelling read
Review: Jonathan Lethem loves language and it shows. Writers who use beautiful descriptions and show a deep understanding of words can make any story more interesting. This is certainly true of THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE. While the book seemed slow and too deliberate in some places, the author's skill kept me reading. Lethem's MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN might deserve the description tour de force, and GUN, WITH OCCASIONAL MUSIC showed lots of imagination.

I'm usually not interested in stories of boys growing up, but Lethem made me pay attention to this one. There are reminders here of everything from THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY by Michael Chabon to Steve Kluger's LAST DAYS OF SUMMER --- about growing up in New York in the '50s, '60s and '70s, friendships, and figuring out the codes of childhood.

We meet Dylan Ebdus, who is adored by his mother, at the age of five. Unfortunately the mother, a potentially major character, leaves the scene fairly early in the book. Alexander Ebdus, Dylan's father, is a slightly obsessed artist who for a long time never seems to know he has a son who could use his attention. Alexander ends up as a cover artist for science fiction paperbacks, which makes him more interesting to me --- in part because, while there is no Hugo for "Best New Artist," an award Alexander wins, I'm very familiar with the Hugo Awards and there is even one in my house (though it's not mine).

Dylan seems to slide through much of life. Mingus, the aware hip black kid, befriends him. This takes courage --- Dylan doesn't have anything unique to offer, and in their neighborhood in Brooklyn, black kids have the edge on things that are hip and cool. Time and again, their friendship saves Dylan from uncomfortable situations. He soon develops an odd fascination with becoming a superhero, taken over by Mingus; it's a strong subplot that gives a slightly otherworldly feel to this otherwise straightforward story.

Lethem does a very nice job of mixing the real world with his imaginary one. I often stopped to try to remember a record, an event, or a school before realizing that that one wasn't real. There are markers along the way of musical and political events. I thought Lethem's markers of funk music and graffiti tagging were a little too superficial in the scheme of black and white differences in the last fifty years. This isn't to say that Lethem's story is stereotypical. However, Dylan succeeds while Mingus is doomed; Dylan is encouraged to go to a magnet high school (even as his father seems oblivious to it all), but Mingus slides by and falls into drugs and oblivion, in no small part thanks to his father's drug habits.

When Lethem writes at his best, he takes you completely into his fictional world. The "Liner Notes" section, which brings you up-to-date, is wonderfully written, albeit too long. But you believe you heard all those R&B and soul songs that Barrett Rude Jr. sang with "The Subtle Distinctions" (I love that name).

However, I never quite got a handle on Dylan. I saw much of him through a scrim, never quite connecting. Dylan doesn't seem to develop much definition over the years. He has few passions or strong beliefs. I was compelled to read every beautifully written word, although I don't think I've ever met a character who seemed so lost about his life. The book trails off at the end, confused like its main character. I read all 450 plus pages in two days. I'm just not completely sure why.

--- Reviewed by Andi Shechter

Rating:
Summary: Valiant, first Half
Review: I consider Mr. Lethem the standard bearer for insightful, historic novels. I just wanted to say that the first part of this book made me relive the time of my childhood and the anxieties I went through. The characters are like those I grew up with and the problems they are challenged with ring true. I believe the first part of the Novel up to and including 'Liner Notes' is the finest writing I have read in many years. There was like a song beat within the dialogue that drove you forward. I can't describe it any better.
Having said all that, after 'Liner Notes', the beat went away and I felt like I did not have the same urgency. I do think the pace change was intended to indicate the changing nature and ambiguity of Dylan's memories of his past but it became a chore to read the rest.
Mr. Lethem, I really liked the book but I felt like you were trying to answer all the questions about Dylan and his past when your readers would have been served by their own conclusions.

Rating:
Summary: Lethem Is An Incredible Wordsmith.
Review: This book is a swift, entertaining read that draws you in to a culture that Lethem describes to a tee (Brooklyn from the 70's forward).
Dylan and Mingus, the two central characters of "Fortress" (any question that music plays a major role in this book)are the conduits for a study of the politics of gentrification, the art of hip-hop and the deep values of friendship. And anyone who grew up in the era of the late 70's will spend the first half of this book reliving all the joys, and all the troubles, that went along with the aftermath of the radical racial politics of the 60's, when the two cultures were both never so closer (by way of efforts at harmonious integration) and never so apart (the battle of punk vs. rap music, and abstract art vs. grafitti).
Needless to say, the bond of the two boys is reignited by events that form the 2nd half of the book - where lives have changed dramatically, yet the love they have for each other is even more important. Lethem injects an additional art form into the mix in the second half (comic superheros) that would have destroyed an effort by a lesser artist - but not only does Lethem pull it off, he vaults into a class of young American writers (think Michael Chabon, who oddly and fittingly enough has penned a blurb here) that know how to take a plot deivce and bend it to meet their needs. And he does so brilliantly.
Lethem wrote "Motherless Brooklyn" a few years ago, and caught my attention with his clever wordplay, his knowledge of the importance of various musical genres and his ability to draw characters who earn, rather than beg for your attention. He has fulfilled that early promise in an incredible way with "Fortress".

Rating:
Summary: A Blossoming Friendship in Brooklyn
Review: Jonathan Lethem's FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE is a graceful and lyrical look at the friendship between two boys, Dylan and Mingus who are, respectively, white and black. A radical departure from MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN in tone, FORTRESS examines not only the effects the two boys have on each other but how those internal ties begin to be eroded by the other main character of the book, Brooklyn. As the neighborhood around the boys changes, especially in terms of racial composition, so do they, in often very tragic ways. I think Lethem has broken new ground here for himself, and I hope he continues along this path.

Pick up this book and discover a talented writer who just keeps getting better.