Scan barcode
A review by nyamh
Our Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas
3.0
I reeeeeeealllly don't know how I feel about this book. One thing I can say that I don't like is the cover, its incredibly misleading as to the books theming and tone. I know you should technically never judge a book by its cover but we all do to some degree. Also the blurb further misleads you making references to the cottingley fairies, which actually are only talked about for around three pages. This was actually one of the things bar the cover which drew me in so I feel a bit cheated in that regard.
I do love the setting as its where I'm from so it was fun recognising some of the places that were described and really being able to picture exactly where the characters were in each scene. I also enjoyed when the character was walking on the beach or knitting, it was actually kind of soothing. However there are massive sections of the book devoted to banal debate and discourse which at many times nearly had me putting the book down for good. I ended up skim reading these parts and sort of picking and chosing bits that were interesting. Over all though I will say the book is technically well written, but I actually feel it would be more suited to a novella of no more than 200 pages or a collection of short stories than a 400+ page book.
Over all I would say don't buy this book new but if you can find it second hand (like I did) for £1 or less, pick it up and give it a go - just pick and chose the bits that are interesting to you.
I do love the setting as its where I'm from so it was fun recognising some of the places that were described and really being able to picture exactly where the characters were in each scene. I also enjoyed when the character was walking on the beach or knitting, it was actually kind of soothing. However there are massive sections of the book devoted to banal debate and discourse which at many times nearly had me putting the book down for good. I ended up skim reading these parts and sort of picking and chosing bits that were interesting. Over all though I will say the book is technically well written, but I actually feel it would be more suited to a novella of no more than 200 pages or a collection of short stories than a 400+ page book.
Over all I would say don't buy this book new but if you can find it second hand (like I did) for £1 or less, pick it up and give it a go - just pick and chose the bits that are interesting to you.