The Fortress of Solitude

Posted on 02 July 2018 by Jonathan Lethem

From the prize winning author of Motherless Brooklyn, a daring, riotous, sweeping novel that spins the tale of two friends and their adventures in late 20th century America.This is the story of two boys, Dylan Ebdus and Mingus Rude They live in Brooklyn and are friends and neighbours but since Dylan is white and Mingus is black, their friendship is not simple.This is the story of 1970s America, a time when the simplest decisions what music you listen to, whether to speak to the kid in the seat next to you, whether to give up your lunch money are laden with potential political, social and racial disaster This is also the story of 1990s America, when nobody cared any.This is the story of what would happen if two teenaged boys obsessed with comic book heroes actually had superpowers they would screw up their lives. New Download The Fortress of Solitude By Jonathan Lethem For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Fortress of Solitude depicts a world in which there is no such thing as a responsible adult It might be deemed a coming of age novel except its two central characters, Dylan white and Mingus black , whom we meet when they are both twelve, never grow up even though by the end of the novel they are both in their thirties Ironically the impoverished Brooklyn neighbourhood where they live does grow up, does become a responsible adult by the time Dylan is in his thirties, it has become gentrifi Fortress of Solitude depicts a world in which there is no such thing as a responsible adult It might be deemed a coming of age novel except its two central characters, Dylan white and Mingus black , whom we meet when they are both twelve, never grow up even though by the end of the novel they are both in their thirties Ironically the impoverished Brooklyn neighbourhood where they live does grow up, does become a responsible adult by the time Dylan is in his thirties, it has become gentrified Both Dylan and Mingus have been abandoned by their mothers Both are brought up by maverick fathers on the same street in the 1970s Dylan s safety in the largely hostile black neighbourhood is constantly menaced though his friendship with the streetwise Mingus offers solace and even a little protection.Whether you love or hate this novel will depend largely on whether or not you warm to Lethem s virtuoso highly detailed prose style Sometime...Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography cclapcenter.com I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP it is not being reprinted here illegally Soon after opening CCLaP in the summer of 2007, one of the first books I had a chance to review was what at the time was Jonathan Lethem s latest, You Don t Love Me Yet and as long time readers remember, I found that book to be a nearly unreadable pile of horsesh t, so bad in fact that it served as Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography cclapcenter.com I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP it is not being reprinted here illegally Soon after opening CCLaP in the summer of 2007, one of the first books I had a chance to review was what at the time was Jonathan Lethem s latest, You Don t Love Me Yet and as long time readers remember, I found that book to be a nearly unreadable pile of horsesh t, so bad in fact that it served as the inaugural entry of my old Too Awful to Finish essay series, a series I eventually shut down again because of it being just too damn mean And that s when I started hearing from all of Lethem s fans, telling me that I should give this grad student panty moistener another chance, that I had simply picked the wrong book of his to start out with Read The Fortress of Solitude instead all these academes argued...I finally finished this thing It s pretty good, but the first half is so much better than the second half There is some real magic amidst the nostalgia in Lethem s story of growing up in Brooklyn in the 70s But the whole beginning seems like it s leading up to some great climax, and that climax never comes As the main character grows up an exagg...Video review epic tale of gentrification and crushed hopes, The Fortress of Solitude is one of the densest books I ve ever read, each page packed with lives and dreams and misery It s depressing as fuck and cra...I FINALLY FINISHED THIS BOOK WHAT YEAR IS ITI half expected to find that Jonathan Lethem is one of those authors that readers either love or hate, but was surprised by how mad the people who hate him are Personally, I fall into the former camp those who love Mr Lethem s work Let me explain why.Jonathan Lethem creates the most absurd scenarios possible and then crafts ingenious narratives around them To describe a book like Fortress of Solitude to someone not already familiar with Mr Lethem s work requires a lot of qualification To I half expected to find that Jonathan Lethem is one of those authors that readers either love or hate, but was surprised by how mad the people who...Storytelling has changed It used to be that stories unfolded slowly, sometimes even lethargically, until rising to the climactic finish Think about the classics you like most likely slow start, strong finish These days, stories begin at a rapid pace, but seem to lose momentum by the end When I think about recent popular titles, even ones I ve thoroughly enjoyed, this disappointment...What a shit storm This is one of theplodding books I have engaged in my time as a reader It ranks up there with one of the only other books I have abandoned, Updike s Rabbit, Run Updike and Lethem also hold the distinction of being some of t...Well, this is the one If you only read one book this year, read this one It s devastating, brilliant, all those things the blurbs say it is.Midway through Fortress has been sitting on my shelf for over a year A recent trip just returned to NYC, Manhattan, and a dip of the toe into Brooklyn DUMBO and W Burg mostly helped elevate this book to the top of the list Hours of plane time from the left to right coast and back again makes for some serious reading time Indeed, Fortress has thus far lived up to it s reputation, both among GoodReaders and the Lit World in general Finished The second half was in fact better then the firs Midway through Fortress has been sitting on my shelf for over a year A recent trip just returned to NYC, Manhattan, and a dip of the toe into Brooklyn DUMBO and W Burg mostly hel...

English
02 July 2018

Jonathan Lethem