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A review by harris39
N0S4A2 by Joe Hill
2.0
A great example of why I should probably not let other people's reviews sway me TOO much when it comes to selecting reading material. In truth, I had never had any interest in this book just on the basis of its stupid title alone. I know that's superficial, but come on. I still use full sentences complete with real OED words when I text (if I text), so there's no way a book titled NOS4A2 would appeal to me.
Mostly I picked it up because I saw it had a shockingly high rating here on GoodRead and most reviewers were slavering all over it and that piqued my interest. I figured it must be secretly far more clever than its doofy title would imply.
I find myself struggling to articulate my feelings about NOS4A2. I don't want to dismiss it as a "bad book", because I don't honestly think it is a bad book. It's not Literature with a capital L, that is for sure, but then again, it's not as though that was its aim so it seems unfair to knock it for not being something it never pretended to be. It's mostly fluff (dark and gory, but fluff nonetheless), which is fine, but I guess that's why I feel more than a little unsatisfied with it; it's not exactly the kind of book that will fill you (or at least, me) up.
NOS4A2 may be an excellent modern horror novel. Not to cast aspersions on the genre, but I don't read it so I can't judge it on those merits. All I can say is that whether it is a good book or not means little when it was just so very much not a book for me. I realize that people read for so many different reasons, and for many this was probably great fun and very entertaining. This helped me realize that if a book's writing doesn't strive to be luminous, the author isn't playing with the words and using them in a thoughtful, masterful way, then the book probably won't strike a chord with me. Writing is just such a huge component to any novel for me, and I just can't connect with a novel where I feel like the words have been carelessly scattered on the page like scrabble tiles spilling from a velvet bag. The writing is serviceable and there were occasional interesting turns of phrase that I appreciated, but I mostly felt like they were a vehicle for the story and nothing more and that meant I couldn't really connect with the book.
I also felt like the plot was way less compelling/gripping/thrilling than I expected. Even if the writing was a wash, I expected the story would be fastpaced and keep me invested. Instead, I found it a bit of slog and didn't really care how things resolved themselves, though I had some inkling of how they would. I had read some reviews that made it seem like the ending might be especially strong and offer some twist... maybe that prepared me for what was to come, but I wasn't especially surprised or shocked by how things turn out and I didn't really find the ending particularly noteworthy. There were a few moments that I found quite frightening and where there was a real sense of threat, but by and large, I just found this to be quite pulpy and not very titillating at all.
Ultimately, I feel like NOS4A2 is meant to entertain and it didn't really do that for me, which probably says more about who I am as a reader than what this book is. I knew from the first 50 pages that it probably wasn't going to be a good fit for me, but I persevered in the hopes that it would turn a corner and get better for me. In the end, I was like Vic circling around searching for the Shorter Way Bridge that would catapult me from where I was to a place where I'd find whatever was missing that would make this book fun. Alas, that never happened and those elements mostly remained lost to me.
Mostly I picked it up because I saw it had a shockingly high rating here on GoodRead and most reviewers were slavering all over it and that piqued my interest. I figured it must be secretly far more clever than its doofy title would imply.
I find myself struggling to articulate my feelings about NOS4A2. I don't want to dismiss it as a "bad book", because I don't honestly think it is a bad book. It's not Literature with a capital L, that is for sure, but then again, it's not as though that was its aim so it seems unfair to knock it for not being something it never pretended to be. It's mostly fluff (dark and gory, but fluff nonetheless), which is fine, but I guess that's why I feel more than a little unsatisfied with it; it's not exactly the kind of book that will fill you (or at least, me) up.
NOS4A2 may be an excellent modern horror novel. Not to cast aspersions on the genre, but I don't read it so I can't judge it on those merits. All I can say is that whether it is a good book or not means little when it was just so very much not a book for me. I realize that people read for so many different reasons, and for many this was probably great fun and very entertaining. This helped me realize that if a book's writing doesn't strive to be luminous, the author isn't playing with the words and using them in a thoughtful, masterful way, then the book probably won't strike a chord with me. Writing is just such a huge component to any novel for me, and I just can't connect with a novel where I feel like the words have been carelessly scattered on the page like scrabble tiles spilling from a velvet bag. The writing is serviceable and there were occasional interesting turns of phrase that I appreciated, but I mostly felt like they were a vehicle for the story and nothing more and that meant I couldn't really connect with the book.
I also felt like the plot was way less compelling/gripping/thrilling than I expected. Even if the writing was a wash, I expected the story would be fastpaced and keep me invested. Instead, I found it a bit of slog and didn't really care how things resolved themselves, though I had some inkling of how they would. I had read some reviews that made it seem like the ending might be especially strong and offer some twist... maybe that prepared me for what was to come, but I wasn't especially surprised or shocked by how things turn out and I didn't really find the ending particularly noteworthy. There were a few moments that I found quite frightening and where there was a real sense of threat, but by and large, I just found this to be quite pulpy and not very titillating at all.
Ultimately, I feel like NOS4A2 is meant to entertain and it didn't really do that for me, which probably says more about who I am as a reader than what this book is. I knew from the first 50 pages that it probably wasn't going to be a good fit for me, but I persevered in the hopes that it would turn a corner and get better for me. In the end, I was like Vic circling around searching for the Shorter Way Bridge that would catapult me from where I was to a place where I'd find whatever was missing that would make this book fun. Alas, that never happened and those elements mostly remained lost to me.