Recursion by Blake Crouch

Discussion in 'TMB Book Club' started by Truman, Jun 20, 2019.

  1. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

  2. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    Through Book 1

    Just through the first part , which is a bout a fifth of the way. Im hooked , this is good.

    At first I thought Helena accidentally created this FMS disease. But after that first part, I think they just have people reliving their lives back in time?

    But are they current bodies just chilling in a tank in perpetuity? This shit is going to get wild. Cant wait to read more.
     
  3. BigRed

    BigRed Well-Known Member
    South Carolina GamecocksLos Angeles DodgersLos Angeles LakersAtlanta FalconsMontreal Impact

    Great book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Didn’t find it as good as Dark Matter, but it was very close.
     
    RonBurgundy and The Blackfish like this.
  4. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    I did a really shitty job updating as I went. I just got hooked in and kept reading. Perhaps it's recency bias but I liked this more than Dark Matter. Dark Matter was more of an action movie while this asked bigger questions about life/universe ect. Both were great imo.

    The ending seemed a little too easy. I wish it was a more ambiguous ended where he didnt quite know if he got back to the dead memory or not.

    To just have a quick epiphany and figure it all out within 10 min of overdosing seemed a bit too convenient for me.

    Otherwise loved it all and all the big questions of time, quantum physics ect
     
    RonBurgundy and BigRed like this.
  5. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    Just bought the audiobook. Starting this week.
     
    RonBurgundy, BigRed and Truman like this.
  6. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta BravesTampa Bay BuccaneersNashville PredatorsCalgary FlamesPoker

    Got my copy in the mail today, will start soon
     
    BigRed and Truman like this.
  7. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
    Donor
    Oklahoma SoonersMetal

    Starting today
     
    BigRed and Truman like this.
  8. rv12

    rv12 Cowabunga
    Donor TMB OG
    Tennessee VolunteersAtlanta BravesGreen Bay PackersColorado State RamsSneakers

    Finished last night. 7.5/10

    Similar to Truman, I found the ending to be too quick for what I was hoping. I became super invested in the story between Barry and Helena and was hoping for a way for them to both remember each other while erasing the dead memories but I did like how Crouch still kept it kind of ambiguous. The end of the world scenes are perfect for an adaptation and I feel like this will 100% get one - an 8 episode miniseries would be perfect.
     
    Fusiontegra likes this.
  9. rv12

    rv12 Cowabunga
    Donor TMB OG
    Tennessee VolunteersAtlanta BravesGreen Bay PackersColorado State RamsSneakers

    FYI Crouch did an AMA this week:
     
    Truman likes this.
  10. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    It's already been piked up by NF. FYI[/QUOTE]
     
    RonBurgundy and rv12 like this.
  11. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    Just finished Book 2, about 50% of the way through. Does it become difficult to keep everything straight?

    Loving it so far
     
    RonBurgundy and Truman like this.
  12. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    A little, but it’s not overly convoluted
     
    RonBurgundy and The Blackfish like this.
  13. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Got audiobook on Thursday and finished tonight. Very good. Gave it an 8.5/10.

    Felt like the pacing was a little wonky, and didn’t keep me as enraptured as Dark Matter did. Was very good otherwise. He’s a very solid plot writer who has great vision, but Crouch really doesn’t write deep characters. Aside from main guy, Helena and rest of cast were pretty shallow.
     
    BigRed, The Blackfish and Truman like this.
  14. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    I finished it the other day. Agree the characters are generally pretty shallow, but the plot was interesting enough to keep me very engaged. Not quite as engaged as Dark Matter, as cliche as it may be the wife/family aspect of Dark Matter was more emotionally impactful for me than the corresponding themes in Recursion were.
     
  15. Arkadin

    Arkadin inefficiently efficent and unclearly clear
    Donor

    That shit was a lot. Enjoyed it. Didn't know how they were going to end it and I didn't particularly love it but I don't have any better ideas

    Really good book
     
  16. jkun

    jkun UGA, United, Falcons, Braves, Tennis, Chelsea
    Donor
    Georgia BulldogsAtlanta BravesAtlanta HawksAtlanta FalconsChelseaAtlanta United

    enjoyed it, wasn't near dark matter quality to me, but kept me engaged and a good read.
     
  17. RonBurgundy

    RonBurgundy Well-Known Member

    Thinking about this book and why it didn’t connect with me as well as Dark Matter.

    Obviously as I mentioned, aside from male lead, other characters are very, very shallow and underdeveloped.

    I think the bigger issue was the book’s emotional climax happened way too early.
    the world fucking ends in a nuclear apocalypse.

    Even after you run that back and
    play Groundhog’s Day
    with the next section, it really loses the interest and emotional appeal from everything outside of that. If you are going to run that plotline, you need that to be the opening scene, a la Tomorrow Never Dies, then bring us up to speed on everything that happened to get to that point. Instead it came at ~60-70% of the way through. The last third falls emotionally flat and is thoroughly unsatisfying w/ “mini-climaxes” in the reveals to the resolution of the story. Meanwhile the denouement feels so weak by comparison because it is so far from the biggest climax of the story, among other issues with it.
     
  18. TimJimothy

    TimJimothy Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Kansas State WildcatsKansas City Royals

    Just got done with this book, and feel pretty much the same way.

    Overall, I think I like Dark Matter better. When I read Dark Matter, it was like nothing I had ever read. Reading Recursion, I had the feeling of already reading this general formula before. Still a very good book, and different enough from DM to be well worth the read. Big fan of Crouch.
     
    dcon79 and The Blackfish like this.