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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
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:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Picked this up in the library and literally didn’t put it down until I was done. Fascinating, heartbreaking, and unforgettable.
Hauntingly beautiful. It read like found poetry to me. Her arrangement of the intimate short sentences told a story that will stick with me. Read it slow.
2.25 stars
This is interesting. However, I hesitate to rate it too highly because it is strictly derivative. If Scanlan had used the entries as epigraphs for some of her own words, I would be a little more generous. Because the book is interesting and even a bit moving at the end. It starts off feeling like the literary equivalent of ASMR and seems inconsequential, but then you actually get to know the diarist, in a way--but only through what Scanlan chooses to share from the original diary. So mostly what you get is a portrait of aging, loneliness, and the brief moments of joy that punctuate even the most mundane lives. And as a reader of poetry, I can't help but admire some of the individual phrases, as well as the connections that Scanlan creates by grouping those phrases. Yeah, I'm conflicted about this one.
This is interesting. However, I hesitate to rate it too highly because it is strictly derivative. If Scanlan had used the entries as epigraphs for some of her own words, I would be a little more generous. Because the book is interesting and even a bit moving at the end. It starts off feeling like the literary equivalent of ASMR and seems inconsequential, but then you actually get to know the diarist, in a way--but only through what Scanlan chooses to share from the original diary. So mostly what you get is a portrait of aging, loneliness, and the brief moments of joy that punctuate even the most mundane lives. And as a reader of poetry, I can't help but admire some of the individual phrases, as well as the connections that Scanlan creates by grouping those phrases. Yeah, I'm conflicted about this one.
Massive disappointment - I LOVED the premise and from the author’s note I thought I’d really get on with this. It just don’t work at all for me, it felt detached and didn’t convey anything
fast-paced
It's hard to rate someone else's diary. It was interesting to read snippets of a stranger's life and it's given me a need to find & collect diaries at auctions.
A profound literary exercise in concision, reconfiguration, memory, mortality, and empathy. An unshakeable emotional preservation of a book.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated