A Visit from the Goon Squad

A Visit from the Goon Squad - A review

In this book, Jennifer Egan presents a fresh and engaging literary context, pushing the boundaries of some of our greatest fears. (While in a totally different approach, you can also see some of our most visceral fears explored in My Heart Hemmed In by Marie NDiaye):

Story or stories?

In A Visit From the Goon Squad (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2011), each chapter tells a unique story with its own protagonist and dilemmas. However, as you continue reading, these seemingly random narratives gradually intertwine, culminating in a surprising, nearly overwhelming unity.

Excruciatingly Surprising

It's like traveling through time, observing various small moments with varying importance and significance, which helps us understand the characters. The story is filled with unexpected, almost absurd situations that create an engaging pace.

The surprises go way beyond the story itself, though. From interesting PowerPoint slides to text messages with many abbreviations that make them almost incomprehensible, Egan does everything to make the reader feel the characters' world.

Protagonist?

A Visit from the Goon Squad doesn't feature a traditional protagonist. The originality of this narrative is reflected in how each character takes the spotlight at a particular moment and place. Time continually shifts as that merciless squad passes through, obliterating our perceptions of ourselves.

In this book, time serves as the true protagonist.

A good story with many layers

Touching, shocking, hilarious. Many argue whether A Visit from the Goon Squad is a novel or a collection of short stories. I don't think it matters, really.

This is the perfect story (or stories) for those who like a good, unexpected story. A Visit from the Goon Squad already has a sequel, The Candy House, which was released in 2022. Here's the review.

Comments

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