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3.28 AVERAGE
3.28 AVERAGE
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2014/06/2014-book-122.html
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thoughtful, chilling, and wry reflections on truth, freedom, and the responsibilities we have to one another.
Not nearly as profound as it thinks it is, The Transcriptionist is made up of well-written prose and a plot that is lackluster. The protagonist is three dimensional enough but her life and story just didn't captivate me. The main reason I kept reading was that Rowland does know how to write. Hopefully with her next novel, she'll find something more interesting to write about.
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Beautifully written, carefully thought out meditation on the media and journalism. The whole novel had a sort of surreal feeling to it. Though the novel is set in the early to mid 2000s, the main character lives in a boarding house, does not use a cell phone, and works with very dated equipment, which contributes a sense of being outside of time. This book might not have a dramatic enough plot for some, but the meditative nature of the central mystery drew me in, and I am actually keeping this book instead of passing it on, as I know I will enjoy reading it again.
I'm not sure how to explain this book other than to say it's about bigger ideas than the life of a big-city paper transcriptionist who feels like a ghostly presence in her own life. The afterword by the author explains that she, like her character Lena, worked at the New York Times as a transcriptionist during the morose months surrounding 9/11. The novel, she says, is not about 9/11, but it's about the losses that stemmed from it, big institutions taken down and the advent of technology and the demise of old-style news reporting that led over the years to a sense of community amongst its readers. I liked this novel; it's a spare and extremely gloomy book, so let that be a caution if you might not be in the mood, but it will stick with you for a while. I hope more people read it.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A strange little book that I think will stay with me for some time. Lena is a transcriptionist for an NYC newspaper. She is shocked when they run a story about a woman who got into the lion's cage at the zoo and was mauled to death because she had met that woman just a few days earlier. An interesting, if someone convoluted novel.
Disclaimer: I received an advance copy to review from NetGalley.
Disclaimer: I received an advance copy to review from NetGalley.