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A review by trisha_thomas
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
1.0
This book was more of a great struggle through torture than enjoyable reading.
I kept trying to marry the Title "The children's Book", to the storyline. I even tried marrying what the flap said about a child being found in a museum gets to see the secrets of a family as a outsider and stranger and these hidden secrets are told in the Mother's story books.
What? Did the person who wrote the info on the cover even read the book?
First, it's a story of 4 or 5 different families and their friends. WHich means, you have about 15-20 (or 30) different people to keep track of. Each family also has more kids as the story continues, and those kids have more kids or their friends. The gaps between talking about one group and learning their adventure meant that by the time I went to another person's story, I had to try to remember who's family they belonged to and who their friends were (and their story so far) because the authoer didn't give an intro to refamiliarize yourself with them. And, the shift to them didn't happen with each chapter heading but in the middle of chapters (and most times in the middle of paragraphs!)
This book had little to do with Children's stories. A better title, to warn anyone who tries to read it might be "the Sexual Escapades of 4+ families"! The pointless sexual situations all through-out the book were, more often than not - tasteless and unnecessary. I was tired of hearing girls of 11-16 ~ that all they wanted was sex! Really?
If I had known what I was getting into before reading this book, there is no way I would have started it. But, since I have this need to finish what I start, I skimmed the last 100 or so pages just to call it done.
Awful. I'm glad I can move on to another book.
I kept trying to marry the Title "The children's Book", to the storyline. I even tried marrying what the flap said about a child being found in a museum gets to see the secrets of a family as a outsider and stranger and these hidden secrets are told in the Mother's story books.
What? Did the person who wrote the info on the cover even read the book?
First, it's a story of 4 or 5 different families and their friends. WHich means, you have about 15-20 (or 30) different people to keep track of. Each family also has more kids as the story continues, and those kids have more kids or their friends. The gaps between talking about one group and learning their adventure meant that by the time I went to another person's story, I had to try to remember who's family they belonged to and who their friends were (and their story so far) because the authoer didn't give an intro to refamiliarize yourself with them. And, the shift to them didn't happen with each chapter heading but in the middle of chapters (and most times in the middle of paragraphs!)
This book had little to do with Children's stories. A better title, to warn anyone who tries to read it might be "the Sexual Escapades of 4+ families"! The pointless sexual situations all through-out the book were, more often than not - tasteless and unnecessary. I was tired of hearing girls of 11-16 ~ that all they wanted was sex! Really?
If I had known what I was getting into before reading this book, there is no way I would have started it. But, since I have this need to finish what I start, I skimmed the last 100 or so pages just to call it done.
Awful. I'm glad I can move on to another book.