This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

I put down All the light we cannot see a couple of weeks ago as it wasn't doing it for me, read a sports book in the meantime but something was nagging me to go back to it. I'm ashamed to admit now that I am closing in on the end and it is actually a brilliant book, I cannot fathom what it was that had me so luke warm on it at the beginning. Perhaps it took the war to reel me in.

Swiper the fox wrote: »

I put down All the light we cannot see a couple of weeks ago as it wasn't doing it for me, read a sports book in the meantime but something was nagging me to go back to it. I'm ashamed to admit now that I am closing in on the end and it is actually a brilliant book, I cannot fathom what it was that had me so luke warm on it at the beginning. Perhaps it took the war to reel me in.

Currently a third of the way through it and I'm similarly underwhelmed. Appreciating the writing, which is incredible, but the narrative is slow and ponderous.

Had no intention of quitting on it but encouraging to hear that it eventually justifies the hype.

Am reading Wolf Hall. Some of the writing is a little unusual but it's very enjoyable

This morning I'll be starting Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels

Birneybau wrote: »

Started 'Heroes Of The Frontier' by Dave Eggers the other night, one of my favourite writers.

Thanks, thats one to add to the list. In my opinion he still hasn't topped "A Heartbreaking Work", but then again, not many writers could.

Finished a re read of Porno Irving Welsh's very funny follow up to the brilliant Trainspotting.

ahlookit wrote: »

Birneybau wrote: »

Started 'Heroes Of The Frontier' by Dave Eggers the other night, one of my favourite writers.

Thanks, thats one to add to the list. In my opinion he still hasn't topped "A Heartbreaking Work", but then again, not many writers could.

I really enjoyed 'The Circle', almost read it twice in a row.

Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey

eire4 wrote: »

Finished a re read of Desmond Wilson's Democracy Denied. A concise but quite brilliant anti- establishment analysis of the war in the northeast of Ireland between 1969-1994.

Is that the country known as Northern Ireland?

Finished Unravelling Oliver and I'm a bit on the sidelines about it. The message is an important one.. that we, as adults, are shaped by our childhood experiences. However, the characters never came to life for me, they were too 2 dimensional and underdeveloped for me. It's readable but I wouldn't rave about it.

Finished 'All the light we cannot see' and found it to be a pretty frustrating experience.

Although it has a great premise, vivid characters and wonderful prose, the pacing and layout almost drove me insane. Ordinarily I don't mind books which tell more than one story at a time and will readily shift from one to the other at the author's discretion, but this was too much.

Bouncing between two, three or sometimes four different narratives in short, succinct chapters is one surefire way to kill suspense and the book seemed to be forever teasing me with cliffhangers before heading off in an entirely different direction.

I thought the author juggled these narrative strands quite deftly and the way everything tied in together is testament to his storytelling ability, but I just couldn't abide being dripfed tiny morsels of plot over increasingly lengthy intervals.