Motherless Brooklyn

Rating:
Summary: Phosphorescent prose
Review: A happy follower of Lethem's books since day one, I was pleased to hear that yet another novel was in the works, of course. Lethem is so prolific -- kind of like a '60s pop star, putting out an album or so a year -- that the mossy-menthol taste of "Girl in Landscape" was still lingering in my mouth when an advance copy of "Motherless Brooklyn" landed in my lap. I suppose I shouldn't be at all surprised to discover that not only is this easily Lethem's most mature pure-prose, it is also his least self-conscious book to date and -- very important -- it is the closest his novel-writing has come to the incredible compression and arcs of his great short stories (go get "Wall of the Sky, Wall of the Eye", right away, now. Scoot.). In "Motherless", Lethem has also created his nost compelling doppleganger (there are wonderful clusters of them throughout his work) in the form of the narrator, Lionel Essrog, a Tourette's sufferer, orphan, private detective, private genius and fully conscious and hyper-sensitive idiot-savant stuck in a gritty underworld. If I had to guess I'd say this must be Lethem himself to a tee: his obvious delight in obsessive-compulsive wordplay, the achingly poignant non-sequitur, a razor sharp eye for dimly-glowing emotional detail and flourescent-bright pop culture lynchpins.... aw hell, I can't do it like him. You get it. Rate it 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Lethem's best. Hands down.
Review: I've been a fan of Lethem's writing since I found a hardback copy of Amnesia Moon in a clearance catalog for a few dollars. I devoured it on a long bus ride, then sped through Gun, With Occassional Music, As She Climbed Across the Table, Girl In Landscape, his short story collection, and all of his other stories, like those in The Best of Crank! and Starlight 2 and the new novella with Kessel and Kelly in F&SF. I can say, unequivocally, that Motherless Brooklyn is his finest work. When I saw the blurb "This novel marks the coming of age of a major American writer." I was offended, as if his sf was the stuff of juveniles. But the statement is completely valid. The strength of characterization, the twisting and twisted plot, and the poetry of the prose, this novel is practically head and shoulders above everything he has ever written. Which gets me worried-please Jonathan, if you read this, don't abandon science fiction! If Lethem applies these talents to his sf in the future, he will become known as one of the great science fiction writers of the next century.

Rating:
Summary: He does it every time...
Review: Though not as philosophical and brooding as "Amnesia Moon", nor as rapid and cranky as "Gun With Occasional Music", "Motherless Brooklyn" manages to come out on top or very close to the top of Lethem's impressive heap. In portraying a would-be detective with Tourettes syndrome, Lethem has created a whole new rhythm and syncopation to his prose, a truly brilliant way to write a novel that comes from the viewpoint of man who cannot be still. The characters are unavoidably beautiful mirrors, fascinating character studies in a wonderful world of nostalgia and crime. But for one 7-page lull that dropped the otherwise breakneck pace of the prose, it was truly a book that I COULD NOT put down; rarely do I read books in one sitting. What can I say that has not been said before? Lethem is THE American original.

Rating:
Summary: Best read this year so far
Review: Forget about the plot. The characters are what matters here. William Gibson can build a world you can wander around, but Lethem brings you people whose heads you get into to see through their eyes and feel with their emotions. Wow

Rating:
Summary: fonebone sousamaphone
Review: Lionel Essrog's voice sank so deep into the farther reaches of my synapses that I found my brain reeling in Tourettic fever from it. I had to slow down reading, because the end was coming too quickly. The story, the characters, everything, had a satisfying, true resonance. This book goes beyond Lethem's others, which says a lot. It's a home run.

Rating:
Summary: Imagine Murakami crossed w/ Raymond Chandler.
Review: I am extremely lucky to have received an advanced copy of "Motherless Brooklyn". It has thus far been the best book I have read this summer. Lethem combines the two virtues of being the most readable and most imaginative American writer of his generation. His latest reads like his debut "Gun w/ Occasional Music" stripped of the surreal elements (ie. no talking kangaroos or 'babyheads') but still retaining the awesome prose and mindbending twists. Lethem really puts you in to the mind of a thirty-something wiseguy suffering from Torrette's who happens to be a lot smarter than anyone realizes. If you have ever wondered how a Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett novel would read if Haruki Murakami did the editing, then you really need this book.

Rating:
Summary: His best yet and this is one case where that means something
Review: I've read all of Lethem's books so far, so I was very excited when I received an advance copy of this. It is, at once, his most serious and humorous novel yet. It seems well-grounded in research and still manages to convey emotion in an impressive manner. It is strange that his last book (Girl in Landscape- the most easy of his novels to categorize as sci fi.) is followed by this one. There is no hint of science fiction at all. This shouldn't scare his fans away, though. The book is still packed with interesting verbiage and ideas. This is the best book I've read in two years.

Rating:
Summary: A treat!
Review: Jonathan Lethem excells again. Have you read more than good for you? Are you secretly bored by impressive bestsellers, not-to-be-missed Literature, top-notch thrillers, international supernovels? Make your brains smile again with MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN.

Rating:
Summary: Lethem's wildly inventive language makes it special
Review: Jonathan Lethem's National Book Critics Circle Award winning "Motherless Brooklyn" (MB) is both detective thriller and serious novel. It is also curiously cinematic and hence likely that some big movie studio will soon buy the rights to exploit to the full the "noir-ish" qualities of this eminently filmable thriller. All the elements you'd expect of a book of this genre are there - shady underground characters ranging from gangster bossmen to their threatening sidekicks, from the ambitious boss wannabee who tries too hard to the inevitable femme fatale who mysteriously disappears, etc, etc. The plot is chock full of suspense and never less than rivetting but these aren't what make MB special. The magic lies in Lethem's boldly inventive but risky way with language. That takes some courage but it works because the scatty prose pulsates to Essrog's Tourettish tics. Frank Minna and his boys may put him down and call him "freakshow" to his face but it's still Lionel Essrog, the underdog, who delivers and we hear ourselves rooting for him. Believe the hype. MB makes an incredibly gripping read and deserves all the praise heaped on it.

Rating:
Summary: four stars for the Tourette twist
Review: Otherwise, I would just give it two or three stars. But if Lethem does not have Tourette's, he still does an unbelievably authentic job of giving us its quirks - especially the stuttering, bizarre free association wordplay - in an eccentric and likeable character. I wish there had been another character I wanted to root for, however.

The detective storyline is pretty standard. What distinguishes it is its main character whose disorder threatens to defeat his attempts to solve a murder case at every turn. This may not be enough to keep some readers' interests, but if you're interested in psychological twists, this one is as impressive as any I've come across. I only wish the same originality had been given to the rest of the book.