A Visit from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan

I'm already conflicted by this book, so I'm taking the lazy way out and merely listing my reactions as I posted them on Goodreads:

"This seems too clever for its own good. I kind of hate it so far. I'm sticking with it, but find the encapsulation of a subject's life in a single paragraph annoying. Is this just one stream of consciousness intertwining characters together in what amounts to short stories? Fine, if it resonates." 05/28 page 85

"And just that quickly... I've been horn-swaggled into thinking this might be without merit. The "X's and O's" chapter - a (the?) Scotty chapter - is amazing. Jonathan Franzen said (or wrote - don't have the original source) that a writer should write in the third person unless a distinctive first-person voice offers itself. I hoped that these short stories intertwined would resonate and Scotty's first-person narration of meeting an old friend, his isolation, etc., certainly has resonated with me."

This is a deeply-flawed work of genius. I rank Egan in a club with Paul Thomas Anderson, David Foster Wallace, and Lev Grossman (to name a few).

In all of these, my admittedly amateur critique sees brilliance in prose indelibly marred by something else- too clever technique (Wallace, Egan), overlong (Anderson) or derivative (Grossman).

All of these artists have equally indelible gifts, all of them having the prose and insight to quickly establish a human condition.

I'm so confused I don't know whether to rate this a 1 star or 5 star. So, 3.

The Master

Once again, Paul Thomas Anderson has made a flawed work of genius. Freddie Quell is a WWII vet, psychologically damaged before he even went to war and currently spends his time drinking solvents and cleaners during and between various jobs. He stumbles upon "the master's" (Lancaster Dodd's) vessel before it embarks upon a seafaring, brain-washing voy-ahj. Lancaster Dodd is to L. Ron Hubbard as Charles Foster Kane is to William Randolph Hearst.

"The Master" has a great premise, brilliant cinematography, and acting performances for the ages. It also has surprisingly good pacing for a movie that my friend Shawn accurately described as having "no plot, I mean NO plot."

The flaw is that I don't ever get a connection with the characters. I never truly felt why Lancaster Dodd and Freddie Quell need each other. I suppose Freddie seems to benefit by having a direction for awhile, but the whole thing is so ambiguous that it's hard to tell.

Quell, played by Joaquin Phoenix, and Dodd, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, have an early scene for the ages wherein Dodd engages Quell in "informal processing," which involves an interrogation apparently designed to confront the person being processed rapidly and quickly before delusion can set in so that the subject comes to some truth about him/herself. Amy Adams also gives an amazing performance as Dodd's wife, Peggy.

This movie's strong points make it hard to fault this movie. My brain was excited at the end, yet this was betrayed by the involuntary shoulder shrug that occurred as I relieved myself in the theater bathroom, focusing on one point in the urinal.

You should see this movie. 99% of the reason is for the "informal processing scene" and 1% is to get that toilet reference (do it for me).

IMDB page