Matthew WeinerBesprekingen

I was a little naive, a little naively over-alienated, when I first wrote this review, so I’ll try to re-do it now. I don’t watch many TV show seasons, and so far I’ve not wanted to watch more than one of the same show, which certainly includes this one. It’s okay though, and I think it’s easy to be overly alienated from it, from being overly naive before. (Which, of course, would be an excessively 1960s stance to take, lol.) I don’t watch much TV and even fiction isn’t a majority of my books like it is for most people. “Mad Men” is a semi-romantic story, a type of personal drama, (like horror without the horror), and not a straight romance like “Downton Abbey”, a romantic drama. Downton sells you the idea of its goodness, and so it’s easy to buy into that and over-credit it, and take the most token and convenient or insubstantial concession to realism or reality to be enough, if that’s your predisposition, like it was for me. But the Men sell you a much more semi-compromising idea of themselves, and it’s easy to just see that and point and shout, You’re Not Good, and scream again and run away like a child. But is Grantham’s Downton really such a better place, such a different place? It supposes itself to be different. It supposed itself to be better. But what substance is there in a supposition, necessarily?

After-note: “If you were going to go into law and force people to listen, I’d listen to you now, but if you’re an ad man and you want people to voluntarily like you, (scoffs), are you really a man, O my son?”

It was certainly a cynical show—or a cynical time; life precedes art. But, that being said, and although comparing to naively to the idealized past/Earl of Pansypants propaganda, necessarily distorts, still: it’s not exactly the show I’d watch to get a sense of the positive potential of prosperous people, you know.

This book came out at the worst time for a book like this to be released. We are in the midst of the #metoo movement where movie execs, actors, and other people in show business are being revealed to have done and said things completely inappropriate (putting it mildly).

In the midst of this come Matthew Weiner, creator of Mad Men with a book about stalking an underaged girl. While not unheard of in the writing world with such hit books as You or Diary of an Oxygen Thief, it is just really bad timing right now.

If we attempt to push the timing aside, Heather, the Totality is still an ok novella (more on that later).

The book centers around 4 characters- Mark- Heather's father, Karen- Heather's mother, Heather, and Bobby- Heather's stalker. The bulk of the book is about Mark and Karen's relationship as Heather grows up to be a teen. As time moves forward, Mark and Karen's relationship begins to get tense as Heather gets older.

The other portion of the first half of the book is Bobby's upbringing and his imprisonment. He has a rough life and becomes more and more psychotic as he grows older. He is arrested for rape and attempted murder after becoming obsessed with a woman.

The back quarter is what happens when these 4 characters come together. Bobby is working construction outside of Mark and Karen's apartment and begins to notice Heather.

It is difficult not to spoil this book because the first thing that will be noticed is how short it is. In print, it is 145 pages. My ebook version had it shy of 100. It reads more like a novella than a full novel. It is very short, especially for a storyteller like Weiner.

While the premise is about the stalking, the bulk of the book is about the prequel of what is to come. I think the reader would be surprised how little the book is about Heather and Bobby.

What I did love about the book was the ending. I will not talk about it, but what would be interesting to pay attention to is how Mark reacts. He does not know Bobby's thoughts, so pay attention to how things play out.

I gave this one 3 stars. I really was hoping for more, but I think the mindset with the #metoo movement and the shortness of the book worked against it.

*I want to thank NetGalley for the advanced readers copy. I received it free in exchange for an honest review.*

Mark and Karen are well-to-do parents of Heather. Heather is their main focus, from the day she was born. There is a steady competition between the two parents for Heather's love and regard.
Bobby is born into a world of drugs, booze and a mother who could care less about him. Bobby is an individual who is beyond being normal.
These people intermix during the novel.

This was OK. Not really much substance, but not really that bad.

There is much packed into this short novel. Without many quotations, the reader is spared most dialogue. It reads much more like a friend telling you a story, leaving only those details that move the plot forward.

It begins with Mark and Karen, a Manhattan couple who are wealthy by most standards but not so much that they don’t still feel competitive with those around them. We find out just enough of their personalities to get a sense of them. Eventually, they have a daughter, Heather, who becomes the center of their lives, especially Karen. As Heather grows into a teenager, she is described as beautiful and very empathetic.

The story cuts to another family focused on a young man named Bobby. He is raised by a drug-addicted mother. As he grows older, he becomes more prone to violence, narcissism, and sociopathy, eventually landing in prison. Upon his release, he finds work with a construction company.

As the reader alternates between the worlds of Bobby and Heather, their upbringings and personalities are juxtaposed. Their two worlds come together when Bobby begins working on the building where Heather and her family live. Upon seeing Heather, Bobby becomes violently infatuated, seeking opportunities to spy on her.

The novel builds the suspense from the start with elements of foreboding, pulling the reader along to what feels like an inevitable ending. I loved the stripped-down, pithy nature of Weiner’s writing.

Very strange "book." It's very short and contains no dialogue. The narration centers around Heather, the daughter of two parents who are obsessed with her. If the story had been fleshed out, it might have been good. As it stands, it's just weird. Don't bother reading it.

A fun set. In the larger volume of photographs, a lot of the photographs seem to be printed too darkly--one can barely make out the actors. The book of interviews was interesting, but I wish more of the interviews had been with the people who designed the "look" of the show. The interview with the costume designer was very short--I really wanted to read more about what she had to say.

Fumo negli occhi:Marzo 1960. A tarda sera, in un bar di New York, Don Draper, direttore creativo dell'agenzia pubblicitaria Sterling Cooper, si sforza di trovare un'idea per la nuova campagna pubblicitaria del marchio di sigarette Lucky Strike, in difficoltà a causa del crescente impatto sull'opinione pubblica delle ricerche che dimostrano i danni del fumo per la salute. Più tardi, Don si reca a casa della sua amante Midge, pittrice, e passa la notte con lei.
Babilonia: Alla Sterling Cooper, Don deve occuparsi di promuovere il turismo diretto a Israele. Nel frattempo, Roger Sterling riceve la visita in ufficio della moglie Mona e della figlia Margaret. Mentre le due sono impegnate dal parrucchiere, Roger ne approfitta per intrattenersi con la sua amante, Joan: l'uomo sta pensando di chiedere il divorzio per stare solo con lei, ma a Joan non piace avere un legame stabile. (fonte: Wikipedia)

Mark und Karen Breakstone haben spät geheiratet. Bald kündigt sich Nachwuchs an, die Tochter wird auf den Namen Heather getauft, und die kleine, wie es scheint, recht perfekte Familie lebt ihr von materiellen Sorgen freies Leben in Manhattan. Doch das Dreieck Vater-Mutter-Kind ist labil. Heather, das von allen vergötterte Mamakind, verändert sich, als sie in die Pubertät kommt, sie wendet sich von der Mutter ab, die das nicht verkraftet.
Parallel erzählt Matthew Weiner das Schicksal von Bobby Klasky, Kind einer drogensüchtigen Prostituierten, geboren in die Hölle hinein. Sein Lebensweg führt ihn nach einer Vergewaltigung ins Gefängnis, wo ihm der letzte Rest von Menschlichkeit abhanden kommt. Als sich die beiden Geschichten kreuzen, kann es nur zur Katastrophe kommen. Und im Mittelpunkt steht, ohne es zu wissen, Heather.

Soap opera used to sell Sex, Cigarettes and Alcohol.
Overall terrible.

This felt more like an outline for a movie script rather than an actual novel. I kept hoping for more. Disappointing, at best.

I rarely rate books this low but I was NOT a fan of this work. The book was more along the lines of a long short story but it could have been developed into so much more.½

This was a bizarre novella about a man coming to terms with his unsatisfying role as a father and husband in mid-life. I listened to this book on audio and almost gave up on it because of the flat narration and boring storyline. Halfway through (which is about an hour in), it picks up as a potentially threatening character is introduced. The story takes a strange twist at the end, which almost made the story worth listening to. But not quite.

A peculiar book. Flat, affectless prose that is entirely expository. No dialogue. Perhaps it's a grim satire of #richpeopleproblems and a depiction of a life lived entirely on the surface, like a Facebook feed rendered into brief passages, sometimes with prose that is awkward and clunky. Weiner's prose lacks any sort of grace or beauty. This is fine, if we're meant to read the novel as a satire of privileged, helicopter parenting and the valorisation of youth in its particular form--that of the white, upper-class teen girl. This is like if Tiqqun's Preliminary Materials for a Theory of the Young-Girl was understood on a surface level and turned into a parody novel.

Or maybe the real horror of the novel is the male gaze and how it works to produce violence. That is, both the gaze of the adoring father and the obsessed creep exists on a continuum.

Except I'm not sure if that was what Weiner was intentionally commenting on or if I'm meant to read into the novel in this way.

(UPDATED to add that I did not know that Weiner was accused of sexual harassment until a few minutes ago, when I started looking up news on the book. Ugh. I think this article does a good job of capturing the problem with the book and its creator: "Heather needs to be an object for her father to be a hero." https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/11/14/16628456/matthew-weiner-heather-the-total... )

Capitolo 6 Nella prima stagione della serie americana AMC, che si occupa di Starling Cooper, un'agenzia pubblicitaria a New York nei primi anni '60, i rappresentanti del Ministero del turismo israeliano chiedono all'agenzia di preparare una campagna pubblicitaria per Israele per incoraggiare il turismo Per il giovane stato. Come parte del lavoro congiunto con gli israeliani, vengono discusse questioni quali l'istituzione dello Stato di Israele, il libro e il film Esodo, Israele e ebrei americani, l'olocausto, il comunismo, i kibbutzim, la cattura di Eichmann.

What’s it about?
Mark and Karen Breakstone marry late and get their little daughter Heather. Mark is quite successful and the perfect little family lives a comfortable life.
Years have passed and Mark is struggling: Jobwise he hasn’t made much progress recently. Heather is growing up and getting more independent – but this hurts Mark less than Karen. What Mark really bothers is the strange views and attention that construction site worker is giving to his daughter…

How was it?
This short novella doesn’t know which story it wants to tell. But when there are only 125 pages the author should decide: Is it the development of the relationship between mother and daughter, father and daughter, daughter and construction site worker, construction site worker and father…? It is not bad, not at all: It just feels more like a sketch for a bigger novel. (Or when I learned Matthew Weiner had developed “Mad Man”, I felt like it could also be the synopsis of a TV series or a movie.)

Weird book. Read it. Strange people in this book.

Like a lot of other people, I really miss watching Mad Men. It’s the rare kind of show that you can watch over and over, analysing the characters and their intentions, getting something different each time. So when I heard that Matthew Weiner, creator of the show, had a novella coming out… fangirl screaming occurred. When the book arrived from the kind, cake-loving people of Allen & Unwin, I just had to marvel at it. It’s a beautiful hardcover with a clear/gold dustjacket covering (I presume) Heather’s sepia toned face. It’s showy, yet mysterious.

So what about the story inside? Even though the book is slim, this really wasn’t the kind of book I’d read in one setting. You know how after an episode of Mad Men, you would need to let things sink in before you analyse Don’s or Pete’s motives? This story is like that. In a few words (and often without the aid of dialogue), Matthew Weiner tells the reader quite a lot. It’s also what he doesn’t say or spell out that increases the allure of the Breakstone family. Karen and Mark are a bit of an odd couple, but initially you as the reader hopes they’ve found true love. But when their daughter Heather enters their life, she becomes their reason and sun to orbit around. It’s not about Karen and Mark anymore, it’s Karen or Mark working hard to win Heather’s affection. It’s a competition. But is Heather really the golden child they’ve made her out to be? Certainly someone else thinks so. How far will the Breakstones go to protect Heather?

The juxtaposition of Heather’s indulged, golden childhood is put into contrast against that of Bobby, someone who had nothing. As both Bobby and Heather grow up, one must ask what is the impact of nature versus nurture? To what degree is it acceptable to helicopter parent? Karen and Mark become shells of themselves after Heather’s birth, doing everything for the sake of her. Karen gives up her job to be a full time mother and the resentment (even though she didn’t particularly like her job) increases as Heather enters her teenage years. She finds herself increasingly lonely. Mark is upset that his job hasn’t made him super-wealthy to care for Heather and he’s jealous about the time Karen and Heather spend together. He wants his daughter to shine a light on him and he wants to protect her fiercely. Who is wrong and who is right? Ultimately the decision is left to the read to make the moral judgement, which I know some people won’t like. Generally, I would sit in that camp, but I know that Matthew Weiner likes to explore the shades of grey of morality (hi, Don Draper) so I was expecting it. I enjoyed the sparse writing style and connecting clues to understand the Breakstones better. Overall, Heather, the Totality is a fascinating read that asks more questions than it answers. I enjoyed reflecting on the book afterwards nearly as much as reading it!

Thank you to Allen & Unwin for the copy of this book. My review is honest.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

Concise, incisive study of a privileged marriage and rebellious teen daughter on a collision course with a working-class psychopath.½

A strange, quick read that runs head-long where it needs to go.

Heather, the Totality by Matthew Weiner is a short so-so debut novel.

Mark and Karen Breakstone live a very comfortable life in Manhattan and have an adored daughter, Heather. Heather is beautiful, intelligent and empathetic. After Heather is born, Karen devotes all her time and attention to her, leaving Mark out. Mark resents Karen's over-protectiveness and feels he has to compete in order to spend a small amount of time with Heather. Tensions between Mark and Karen escalate. Heather grows up and is aware of their strained relationship.

In stark contrast to the lives of the Breakstones, Bobby Klasky grew up in an unstable home, living in poverty with a drug addicted mother and her series of boyfriends. He grows up with a cruel, violent streak, and exhibits the traits of a psychopath. After he spends some time in prison, Bobby joins the work crew that is remodeling the penthouse in the Breakstone's building. He notices Heather and becomes obsessed with her.

Heather, the Totality has some underlying potential that make me believe it could have been a much better novel if Weiner had chosen to broaden his plot development and flesh-out his characters. The truncated length, almost a novella, and attenuated plot made it a fast read, but not particularly a compelling one. The narrative is written in third person with no dialogue, which doesn't help. While reading I found little reason to care about these people.

This is not a psychological thriller or even a dark look at the class divide. Yes, there are people from two different socioeconomic levels depicted, but, uh, one is a psychopath. Class differences do not definitively correlate to a destructive personality disorder that could be found in people from any background.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Little, Brown, and Company via Netgalley.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/11/heather-totality.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2182032975

People in a 1960s advertising office drink a lot and have a lot of sex.

There are entire episodes that don't even have Peggy in them. Whatever.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: A
Music: B

Enjoyment: C plus

GPA: 2.6/4

Factions vie for control of a 1960s ad agency.

The seven-episode season feels a little rushed, especially since the end is coming and they actually have to do things with their "story." On the other hand, it's a lot better than stalling out and filling time in a 13-episode season.

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: A
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: B

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 3.0/4½

People in a 1960s advertising office drink a lot and have a lot of sex.

The directing pushes a lot, and takes every opportunity to be arty. The story's barely there, though. There are some really great moments throughout, but most of the time it feels like it's stalling. I mean, the "story" arc that gets the most screen time is about Don having an affair. Six seasons in, if that is still all this character is going to do, then why am I still watching him?

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: B
Pacing: C
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: B
Music: B

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 2.8/4½

A 1960s ad agency struggles to be successful.

Its big moments don't top season three, but it's pretty consistently strong.

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: A
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: A
Music: B

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 3.1/4½

People in a 1960 advertising office drink a lot and try to have sex.

It's pretty easy to get into while you're watching it, since so much is done well. But I'm not itching for more.

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: A
Music: B

Enjoyment: C plus

GPA: 3.0/4