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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
This is one of those ones that'll stay with me until I read it again (and again).
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A book about a man who is never as handsome as he is when he's making fun of someone else. And the family that suffers for it. (The mom who dreams of murdering them all doesn't help either.)
Reading this is like having somebody grip you at the neck and force you to watch all the bad parts from your childhood that you deliberately buried somewhere deep away.
Reading this is like having somebody grip you at the neck and force you to watch all the bad parts from your childhood that you deliberately buried somewhere deep away.
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
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:
Yes
This is a strange book. My knowledge of Australian based or influence literature is very lacking. The writer, Stead, was born down under but the book takes place in Washington. So really what is it? It reads like magic realism, but it’s not really. In some ways, Stead reminds me of Angela Carter with a slightly less dark and gothic. Then again, it reminds me of a more tragic version of Monty Python.
Then again, another turn, it reminds me life.
The novel tells the story of Louie who lives with her father and stepmother who can and cannot stand each other. Henny, the stepmother, knows what drives Sam and herself, while Sam is far less sympathic though at first he might come across as more sympathy.
There are so many layers to this book, just as so many types of children scurry across its pages. But the writing is so rich and wonderful. There are great truths hidden the diatribes that spew forth from the mouths of the characters.
In many ways, it is what the Last Station should have been, far more realistic, far less romantic, and far more real. Far more female, if I can say that without being accused of being sexist. And it is in that instance, it conveys the truth of life. The truth of being the eldest, the truth of marriage, the truth of a bad marriage.
Then again, another turn, it reminds me life.
The novel tells the story of Louie who lives with her father and stepmother who can and cannot stand each other. Henny, the stepmother, knows what drives Sam and herself, while Sam is far less sympathic though at first he might come across as more sympathy.
There are so many layers to this book, just as so many types of children scurry across its pages. But the writing is so rich and wonderful. There are great truths hidden the diatribes that spew forth from the mouths of the characters.
In many ways, it is what the Last Station should have been, far more realistic, far less romantic, and far more real. Far more female, if I can say that without being accused of being sexist. And it is in that instance, it conveys the truth of life. The truth of being the eldest, the truth of marriage, the truth of a bad marriage.