E’s Reviews > Empire Falls > Status Update
E
is 65% done
overall great so far, though a few inconsistencies popped up
myles is a pushover but he starts arguments with the police officer in every interaction going out of his way to be an ass? also tells owner of his restaurant how he'd like to kill her cat
jeanine represents vanity, coping with finiteness of life via reliving youth
— Jun 05, 2026 05:34PM
myles is a pushover but he starts arguments with the police officer in every interaction going out of his way to be an ass? also tells owner of his restaurant how he'd like to kill her cat
jeanine represents vanity, coping with finiteness of life via reliving youth
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mrs whiting's motivations for keeping miles in empire falls poorly flushed out miles not using his implied leverage in their relationship is an odd miss too
the john voss (or however it's spelled) situation feels like an odd poorly resolved bolt-on
the daughter oscillating from completely clueless to 'oh haha i'm just playing a joke you know i've had other lovers before' and all rational and pragmatic at the end is also very incongruent
also felt like the book dragged on at the end, esp having an epilogue to cover things that we already know happened
straight man was better written. felt like this one just had a lot of bolt-on tropes / checkboxes that may be required for more literary awards. still good overall like 4/5. but just messier than id expect given straight man + this had won a pulitzer prize
also - Russo has a habit of really spelling out any meaning gleaned from the book very explicitly and also repeating things multiple times to keep the reader afloat...found this a bit odd for a pulitzer novel