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A review by okevamae
The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom
2.0
Ugh. The things we do for book club.
I've read and enjoyed both Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, so I thought maybe this one would be okay. But Albom's been leaning REALLY heavily into the Christian fiction thing, and all the annoying cliches that go with it. Specifically bad were the cliches about atheists - because in Christian fiction and movies are the only kinds of atheists who exist are (a) the kind who have lost a loved one and don't believe in God because they're angry at him, but in the end they come back around, and (b) selfish, gluttonous monsters who only care about themselves. That's not just obnoxious, it's downright offensive.
If I hadn't been reading it for a book club I'm about to be leading (and therefore a part of my job) then I would have DNF'd. Instead, I slogged through the audiobook (which was narrated by the author, who wasn't terrible at it, but wasn't exactly good either.)
Bright side - it'll be a crash course in finding interesting things to say in book club about a book I didn't like.
1.5 stars, rounded up to 2 only because it wasn't relentlessly awful.
I've read and enjoyed both Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, so I thought maybe this one would be okay. But Albom's been leaning REALLY heavily into the Christian fiction thing, and all the annoying cliches that go with it. Specifically bad were the cliches about atheists - because in Christian fiction and movies are the only kinds of atheists who exist are (a) the kind who have lost a loved one and don't believe in God because they're angry at him, but in the end they come back around, and (b) selfish, gluttonous monsters who only care about themselves. That's not just obnoxious, it's downright offensive.
If I hadn't been reading it for a book club I'm about to be leading (and therefore a part of my job) then I would have DNF'd. Instead, I slogged through the audiobook (which was narrated by the author, who wasn't terrible at it, but wasn't exactly good either.)
Bright side - it'll be a crash course in finding interesting things to say in book club about a book I didn't like.
1.5 stars, rounded up to 2 only because it wasn't relentlessly awful.