Trust Exercise: A Novel
Winner of the 2019 National Book Award for Fiction. In an American suburb in the early 1980s, students at a highly competitive performing arts high school struggle and thrive in a rarified bubble, ambitiously pursuing music, movement, Shakespeare, and, particularly, their acting classes. The outside world of family life and economic status, of academic pressure and of their future adult lives, fails to penetrate this school’s walls—until it does, in a shocking spiral of events that catapults the action forward in time and flips the premise upside-down. As captivating and tender as it is surprising, Susan Choi's Trust Exercise will incite heated conversations about fiction and truth, and about friendships and loyalties, and will leave readers with wiser understandings of the true capacities of adolescents and of the powers and responsibilities of adults.
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Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
257 pages
What’s it about?
This novel is written in three distinct parts. The first part of the novel is set in a performing arts school in the early 1980's. Mr. Kingsley is the head of the drama department and the students all revolve around him and his "trust exercises". I won't say more about the plot as it would give too much away.
What did it make me think about?
This ambitious novel made me think of another book I read earlier this summer- Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday. Both books are written in three parts. Both novels contain a story within a story and both are very smart novels. However, I enjoyed Asymmetry and I did not enjoy Trust Exercise. I just could not muster much interest in the characters...
Should I read it?
I would say this book is an intellectual trust exercise in itself. It would be a good book to read as a class or in a group as it has so many themes to discuss. However, I did not enjoy reading it at all. So for me- the book was just tedious. That is not to say that it is not a well-written, thought provoking book. All the critics loved it- so maybe you will love it as well. It just missed the mark for me....
Quote-
"Remember the impossible eventfulness of time, transformation and emotion packed liked gunpowder into the barrel. Remember the dilation and diffusion, the years within days."
"All of us , I think it is fair to say, fixate on things from our past, maybe wanting to change them."
"Because we're none of us alone in this world. We injure each other.
Why should another be injured by choices I made for my Self?
You're choosing for another when you make choices. We overlap. We get tangled. You can't help but hurt."
If you liked this try-
Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday
The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon
The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes
Driftless by David Rhodes
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
257 pages
What’s it about?
This novel is written in three distinct parts. The first part of the novel is set in a performing arts school in the early 1980's. Mr. Kingsley is the head of the drama department and the students all revolve around him and his "trust exercises". I won't say more about the plot as it would give too much away.
What did it make me think about?
This ambitious novel made me think of another book I read earlier this summer- Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday. Both books are written in three parts. Both novels contain a story within a story and both are very smart novels. However, I enjoyed Asymmetry and I did not enjoy Trust Exercise. I just could not muster much interest in the characters...
Should I read it?
I would say this book is an intellectual trust exercise in itself. It would be a good book to read as a class or in a group as it has so many themes to discuss. However, I did not enjoy reading it at all. So for me- the book was just tedious. That is not to say that it is not a well-written, thought provoking book. All the critics loved it- so maybe you will love it as well. It just missed the mark for me....
Quote-
"Remember the impossible eventfulness of time, transformation and emotion packed liked gunpowder into the barrel. Remember the dilation and diffusion, the years within days."
"All of us , I think it is fair to say, fixate on things from our past, maybe wanting to change them."
"Because we're none of us alone in this world. We injure each other.
Why should another be injured by choices I made for my Self?
You're choosing for another when you make choices. We overlap. We get tangled. You can't help but hurt."
If you liked this try-
Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday
The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon
The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes
Driftless by David Rhodes
First, the writing is excellent. There are three parts with distinct writing styles- all excellent. The plot of the first part is very difficult to get through, often angsty and painful to read. The second part takes on a different voice and I personally enjoyed that section the most. The last section felt excessive to me and also not enjoyable. My review is a bit vague as I have to avoid spoiling the book but I will say that the reality in the book shifts and shifts and my husband and I can't even agree on what takes place even in the abstract. It kind of makes me want to read it again and map it out, but I probably won't reread this anytime soon.
This is a 3.5 star rating from me. This is a great book for discussion groups, especially if you have a group of old theatre kids you can throw together. Plot and perspective shifts that force the reader to question their assumptions about characters and settings as the truth is refracted and ever-shifting. Not a pleasant book. Not a fun read. But interesting. I’m mostly glad it’s over.
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