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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
medium-paced
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not the right book for me now. The main character is so, so passive. I loved the movie Carol but I couldn’t even make it to Therese meeting Carol before it was due at the library.
I read this book as the January pick for the book club my best friend Daphne and I started together. (It's called the Gouda Book Club. Daphne was determined to combine the 'book club' and 'wine and cheese club' concepts into one megaclub.)
I don't bond well with classics. I tend to find them boring and thematically archaic, and I often find the writing style grating. (I have a particular vendetta against modernism. Fuck you, James Joyce.) Nevertheless, I went into The Price of Salt with an open mind -- I really wanted to like it. Unfortunately, this classic was not an exception to the rule. I wouldn't say I hated this book; I just didn't really like it. It's not the kind of book I would normally like to read, and I would have DNF-ed it if I hadn't had to finish it for book club. Simply put, I found this book boring. The plot was a flop, and I didn't like the writing at all. It was often stupid and nonsensical, and there were several occasions where Highsmith went off on rambling tangents, all of which were complete gibberish but had just enough of a philosophical aura to come across as profound. You know how your English teacher tries to extract symbolism out of every detail in a book, when in reality, the curtain were just blue because the author likes the colour blue? Patricia Highsmith did the opposite; everything she mentioned has an assigned meaning, which she then went on to explain in explicit detail as if her blatantly obvious symbolism might have been lost on us. She also had a habit of bringing up her themes without even a hint of subtlety. There was such a problem with telling, not showing in this book, and it drove me crazy. I have no doubt that this book made an excellent movie; there are so many visual cues to do with costume and setting that come across as obnoxious in text, because Highsmith has to point them out to us, as opposed to incorporating them into the mise en scène. Every time she wanted to reference one of her core themes, Highsmith would make two characters have a conversation about it. It all felt so poorly handled.
Oh, also? Therese is 19, and Carol is in her 30s. No offense, but that's fucking gross. Carol is bored and confused, and so she manipulates the shit out of Therese, cashing in on her lover's naivety and devotion, and I hated it. I may have found Therese's two-dimensional understanding of Carol interesting, but I also found it fucking nasty. 0/10.
I don't bond well with classics. I tend to find them boring and thematically archaic, and I often find the writing style grating. (I have a particular vendetta against modernism. Fuck you, James Joyce.) Nevertheless, I went into The Price of Salt with an open mind -- I really wanted to like it. Unfortunately, this classic was not an exception to the rule. I wouldn't say I hated this book; I just didn't really like it. It's not the kind of book I would normally like to read, and I would have DNF-ed it if I hadn't had to finish it for book club. Simply put, I found this book boring. The plot was a flop, and I didn't like the writing at all. It was often stupid and nonsensical, and there were several occasions where Highsmith went off on rambling tangents, all of which were complete gibberish but had just enough of a philosophical aura to come across as profound. You know how your English teacher tries to extract symbolism out of every detail in a book, when in reality, the curtain were just blue because the author likes the colour blue? Patricia Highsmith did the opposite; everything she mentioned has an assigned meaning, which she then went on to explain in explicit detail as if her blatantly obvious symbolism might have been lost on us. She also had a habit of bringing up her themes without even a hint of subtlety. There was such a problem with telling, not showing in this book, and it drove me crazy. I have no doubt that this book made an excellent movie; there are so many visual cues to do with costume and setting that come across as obnoxious in text, because Highsmith has to point them out to us, as opposed to incorporating them into the mise en scène. Every time she wanted to reference one of her core themes, Highsmith would make two characters have a conversation about it. It all felt so poorly handled.
Oh, also? Therese is 19, and Carol is in her 30s. No offense, but that's fucking gross. Carol is bored and confused, and so she manipulates the shit out of Therese, cashing in on her lover's naivety and devotion, and I hated it. I may have found Therese's two-dimensional understanding of Carol interesting, but I also found it fucking nasty. 0/10.
emotional
tense
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:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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:
Yes
The beginning was a bit boring and I wanted to skip the first 100 pages but I'm really sad/happy right now. It's the first book, I have read, about two women in love with a happy ending. Sometimes Therese annoyed me but it didn't stop me from continuing reading it. I don't regret.
I loved this book. I'm still crying after the last chapter which was beautiful. The book and the film are different, but both perfect. I honestly can't choose which I love more. I sold my soul to both of them.
I loved this book. I'm still crying after the last chapter which was beautiful. The book and the film are different, but both perfect. I honestly can't choose which I love more. I sold my soul to both of them.