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2.78 AVERAGE
2.78 AVERAGE
The Life of Elves was an interesting read by Muriel Barbery.
I was totally ready to read this book, and then I lost all interest once I got two chapters in. The plot of the book sounded so exciting! It was going to be a thrilling adventure! But, it was quite the let down for many reasons.
1. This book is actually going to be two books, but it could have just been one big one.
2. You should be able to read a sample of this novel before you get it - the writing style was definitely not my favourite. I had a hard time reading it (it was translated from french, so maybe that's why?). The style was strange and didn't benefit the novel at all. You can tell the author tried really hard to make an interesting book, but it fell really flat.
3. The chosen words are beautiful, but it just drags on and on and on and on and on....explaining is great, don't get me wrong, but too much makes a boring book. I felt like I read three chapters and only moved forward two minutes into the entire story.
I kept avoiding this book because it bored me, so I just trucked through it. I wouldn't recommend it personally, it's not a book for me! People who love flowery type explanation in books will like this one.
Two out of five stars.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
I was totally ready to read this book, and then I lost all interest once I got two chapters in. The plot of the book sounded so exciting! It was going to be a thrilling adventure! But, it was quite the let down for many reasons.
1. This book is actually going to be two books, but it could have just been one big one.
2. You should be able to read a sample of this novel before you get it - the writing style was definitely not my favourite. I had a hard time reading it (it was translated from french, so maybe that's why?). The style was strange and didn't benefit the novel at all. You can tell the author tried really hard to make an interesting book, but it fell really flat.
3. The chosen words are beautiful, but it just drags on and on and on and on and on....explaining is great, don't get me wrong, but too much makes a boring book. I felt like I read three chapters and only moved forward two minutes into the entire story.
I kept avoiding this book because it bored me, so I just trucked through it. I wouldn't recommend it personally, it's not a book for me! People who love flowery type explanation in books will like this one.
Two out of five stars.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
A 'beguiling fairytale', as quoted by the NYT, should be everything I dream of reading and more. Well frankly I wish I had read the full review before starting because the review goes on to pretty much say over written and confusing which is what I found this book to be also. The start is intriguing, then it all gets a bit too wordy and what starts off as magical magical realism turned into a bit of a nightmare for me as it went on. By then end I was furious with myself for not giving up half way. Not for me, too much vague flowery prose over actual world building and scene setting. Frustrating because it could have been ace, and indeed some people may love it, alas I am not one.
Barbery writes a beautiful sentence, but this book was just not good. I have no idea what it was about or what happened
It was a weird prose, no doubt one of the weirdest novels I've ever read, but in a good way. I thought it was going to be more like...fantasy LOTR type.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Disappointed. I wanted to like this book but the story moves so slowly and it is only in the final 40 pages or so where anything happens. Not very magical. Pretty writing but that's about it. 2/5 stars.
Really wanted to like this one, and initially I did. I enjoyed the verbosity, the sense of mystery, and there were also some nice turns of phrase and amazing scenes. (The one in which an old lady literally fought her way through a supernatural tornado with nothing but a clog, rosaries-turned-walking stick and sheer power of will was my absolute favourite and I actually read it several times before moving on. :D)
Unfortunately, there were also parts of this book that I did not enjoy as much (if at all), and they kept piling up until it was too much to bear. I stopped reading right before a grandiose battle, when I realized I cared nothing for any of the shallow characters, and wouldn’t mind if the antagonist won. At that point I was also starting to tire of the prose, perhaps because of the increasing amounts of dialogue which wasn’t exactly the author’s forte, in my humblest of opinions. Last but not least, most of the mysterious allure kind of vanished as things were being explained, and it turned out that the girls wereyet other special snowflakes , which basically reduced the whole story to yet another standard fantasy (except weirder).
Unfortunately, there were also parts of this book that I did not enjoy as much (if at all), and they kept piling up until it was too much to bear. I stopped reading right before a grandiose battle, when I realized I cared nothing for any of the shallow characters, and wouldn’t mind if the antagonist won. At that point I was also starting to tire of the prose, perhaps because of the increasing amounts of dialogue which wasn’t exactly the author’s forte, in my humblest of opinions. Last but not least, most of the mysterious allure kind of vanished as things were being explained, and it turned out that the girls were
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Me encanta Muriel Barbery. Me enamoré de La elegancia del erizo y también me gustó Rapsodia Gourmet, pero esto... La vida de los elfos tiene cosas que me han gustado (frases para subrayar, pasajes poéticos), pero la mayor parte del tiempo la he pasado pensando que todo era un caos incoherente y que no me estaba enterando ni de la mitad: cosas que no se explican, ambigüedades, galería de personajes con la que te pierdes porque además algunos tienen nombres similares... Y remátalo todo con la forma en la que está escrito. La escritura de Muriel Barbery siempre ha sido algo más compleja de lo habitual, poética, florida, etc.; pero aquí se le va de las manos hasta cotas imposibles y hace que pierdas el hilo de la historia. Llegas a un punto de "¿Pero qué estoy leyendo?". Y así durante todo el libro. Es agotador.