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3.51 AVERAGE


For me, such a flat, nothing story. I get that the book is meant to glorify the mundane and there are authors with a real knack for that. Admittedly, the main character is believable and well written, even if I dislike him greatly. But then most of the story follows him going to random people's houses to fix computer problems- and it's just so boring and pointless. It confuses me what the author was trying to achieve. Ditto with the family dinner scene and the whole Brink subplot. It didn't help that its attempts at humour I found terrible. Yeah so in short, a novel that goes nowhere, says nothing and then just ends. Thank god it's less than 200 pages!
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Just really bland and boring

This is the first Anne Tyler I've read in some years and, while her writing still engages, at best I can describe this as inoffensive.
It's really not much more than a short story, and as such works well - but it' doesn't really have the chops as a novel.
The characters are beautiful, although Micah's career as an IT guy is unconvincing.
It's an easy quick read.

"Might be just what the Doctor prescribed" skrev en recensent i någon av alla tidningar som lyft Anne Tylers nya. Hen syftade på den coron:iga världsordningen, samt på bokens lugna litenhet. Med andra ord: i vanliga fall hade recensenten gärna klagat på seg- och meningslöshet, men resignerade inför att viss läsning passar vissa tider.
Fast jag vet inte jag... För mig passar den här typen av läsning rätt ofta. En mänsklig (läs: felande) karaktär lever ett mänskligt (läs: felande) liv, utan direkt dramatik eller hänryckande händelser. Så länge det är bra skrivet, och med ett hjärta bultande i grunden, trivs jag.
Å andra sidan: jag minns att jag upplevde The Blue Thread (den enda andra bok jag läst av Tyler) ungefär på samma sätt, men tycker omedelbart mer om Redhead (titeln är bedårande när en får veta vad den betyder!)... Så lite kanske tiderna spelar in? Dock inte nödvändigtvis tiden vi lever i, utan tiden det tar att läsa: den här boken är föredömligt kort. Inte som i "lätt- och snabbläst" (även om jag uppskattar sånt också), utan som i "lagom koncentrerad".
Och Micah, huvudpersonen, är lagom mänsklig (läs: lagom felande). Förmodligen knyter jag an lite extra till romanen tack vare vissa likheter mellan mig och honom - men då de inte är direkt smickrande avstår jag att gå in på dem...
Så, nu blev kanske någon nyfiken på att läsa, seg och meningslös intrig till trots ;-)
Just what the doctor prescribed.
funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
emotional reflective relaxing slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A story as odd as its “fussbudget” protagonist. Yes, the perfect is the enemy of the good. But surely there’s more we need to consider.

Loved the character, Micah. He is a loner and pretty well set in his ways. He gets through life by being predictable. Although he has relationships, none ever seem to last. This is a quirky story, taking place in Baltimore. I found myself rooting for Micah and hoping that he would discover true love by the end of the book.