Atreyd59 said
deannafrances - I am glad to see someone else was reading the same book I was!!!
I think we all read the same book. We just didn't feel the same way about it.
I started to think maybe everyone was so enamored by the fact of a free read and author's online discussion that some of the prose & content wasn't viewed for the value it was.
I taught literature for 35 years in high school and college. The prose in this novel was lyrical. I became very emotionally involved in the story and with the characters because of the way the lyrical style moved me. We may not all value it the same. We might not all have an appreciation of a particular style or the experience to understand a certain kind of literary work, but it still can be considered excellent to others. It seems that you could have voiced your dislike in a way that didn't suggest your reading was the only reading. I have no problem with your disliking the novel. I do have a problem with your sounding as if your view is the only view.
Overall the content I agree was a bit more than I would have ever read. I found the writing style very difficult to follow; short of reading it out-loud and repeatedly. The content was very heavy & intense to say the least. The back and forth between sections (chapters?) was confusing, as several folks mentioned before. I would have liked to see individual chapters "delineated" clearly
so you knew which part you were following.
I won't say I hated the read, but I sure did not find it to be pleasant at all. Thanks for putting up the truth & giving reviewers another look at what parts were not "up to expectations".
And who is to say what "the truth" is. I respect your right to an opinion. Please don't call me a fool for disagreeing or suggest that I am pandering to an author or publisher just because they gave me a copy. That doesn't seem fair to me.
I loved this book and talked about it passionately to everyone around. I understand the areas of criticism that you mention. That is your choice and your likes and dislikes. I just don't find them objectionable. Lucky for us both that there are many, many great books for us to choose from. We don't have to like the same things. We do need to be sensitive to views of others, however. Thank you.
Betty
"Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are" is true enough, but I'd know you better if you told me what you reread. ~François Mauriac
