Künstlers in Paradise by Cathleen Schine
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Mamie Kunstler and her family fled Austria as a young girl just after the Anschluss, arriving in Santa Monica to start again in safety. In 2020, her grandson, Julian Kunstler arrives at her home in Venice, just before the pandemic begins, looking for a new start of his own. As the lockdowns begin, Mamie shares her stories with Julian, who begins reevaluating his spoiled, naive view on the world around him.
This book is my book club's March pick.
I don't really like giving "bad" reviews, so maybe take this one as a "this one wasn't for me."
First of all, we all lived through the COVID lockdowns. If you're going to make me read about them, it has to be good. This wasn't. It talked about the boredom, and tried to be all navel-gazing about it. But I don't need to hear that. I was there. I know how boring it was. So reading about how boring it was, was really boring. I remember the Zoom seders, the social distancing. I don't need them to be explained to me in excruciating detail.
There were some interesting moments and stories told by Mamie. But instead of focusing on these, the story focused on Julian and the mundane, boring details of everything. There was so much potential - with themes of survivor's guilt, adjusting to a new life, grasping to hold on to a gone world and that cognitive dissonance; but no. We get spoiled rich kids and name dropping.
And don't get me started on how unlikable just about every character but Mamie was.
But maybe this book just wasn't for me. Maybe you'll like it?
I think the bottom line is, and I hope you do take this home: spend as much time with your grandparents as you can. They're not here forever. And you'll miss them when they're gone. Trust me.
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