My father is an English teacher, and he reads books (shocking, I know). Sometimes he really likest the books he reads, and so he makes me read them too. For my own good. Sometimes I really like them, as much as he does. Sometimes I... don't. This is one of those times.
I read this recently under the best possible circumstances (on vacation in California with a friend), so I know for a fact that my own moodiness couldn't have affected my perception of the book.
And I like the book. I do. It's just really... dense. I couldn't decide whether the prose was beautiful or frustratingly annoying, or both. It seemed I had to reread every sentence twice just to get the meaning. And while that probably says something about my own reading level, I find that I just don't care. I believe prose can be both beautiful and effortless. Fahrenheit 451, for example, took my breath away. The only reason I reread passages in it was because they were so beautiful. Not confusing or dense.
The characters, though. The characters were very well-done. And I am a sucker for a good character. Which is the biggest reason I like this book.
On the other hand, there's no plot to speak of, the prose is frustrating (though at times lovely), and the read overall is surprisingly dense for such a short book.
So I give it 3/5 stars.
2 comments:
Walden by Henry David Thoreau.
-Vicky
Okay, when I put that comment, all that you posted was the title, so...yeah. The real comment still ties in with previous comment though. I find myself having to reread passages of Walden also because it is just dense and I don't understand it, and in your words "he's a whiny little b****". Lol. It's true though. Hope you read books that aren't so dense. Find a trashy romance novel and relax :)
-Vicky
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