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A review by louloureadsbooks
The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox
Did not finish book.
Dnf at p.74. 1 star for what I've read.
I found this weird (not the good kind of weird, like Susanna Clarke's Piranesi, or Alan Garner's Treacle Walker) and disappointing.
This book definitely casts a feeling when reading it but it's not for me.
It seems slow and all over the place. Perhaps it gathers and culminates into something that makes sense and is exciting but I don't care to put the immense effort in to find out. I can't even summon the interest to read the last few pages.
On a slight tangent, I wish publishers wouldn't plaster gushing comments by other authors and newspapers all over books. In my experience it's often false advertising. It doesn't ever make me want to read the book. The synopsis is what makes me want to read a book. Invariably the gushing quotes are at odds with my reading experience, so much so that I wonder of we've even read the same book. Guardian reckons this book 'ranks alongside His Dark Materials'. Hmm well, that's their opinion and they're entitled to it. My opinion is, the first 74 pages bear no resemblance to HDM, if they did this would be a totally different review and wouldn't have been a dnf.
I found this weird (not the good kind of weird, like Susanna Clarke's Piranesi, or Alan Garner's Treacle Walker) and disappointing.
This book definitely casts a feeling when reading it but it's not for me.
It seems slow and all over the place. Perhaps it gathers and culminates into something that makes sense and is exciting but I don't care to put the immense effort in to find out. I can't even summon the interest to read the last few pages.
On a slight tangent, I wish publishers wouldn't plaster gushing comments by other authors and newspapers all over books. In my experience it's often false advertising. It doesn't ever make me want to read the book. The synopsis is what makes me want to read a book. Invariably the gushing quotes are at odds with my reading experience, so much so that I wonder of we've even read the same book. Guardian reckons this book 'ranks alongside His Dark Materials'. Hmm well, that's their opinion and they're entitled to it. My opinion is, the first 74 pages bear no resemblance to HDM, if they did this would be a totally different review and wouldn't have been a dnf.