Two couples -- businessman Bobby Rose and his artist wife, Carole Ridingham; his partner, Coleman Snow, and Snow's wife, Ruth Farr -- have gone on ...
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reviews
Feb 01, 2012
karen
rated it: 
wow.
so i finished this book today and rather than start the new book i brought for the subway ride home, i just started this thing all over again.
it's really good.
that's why it astounds me that there are so many one- and two-star reviews on here. this is good stuff, guys! i was talking to tom fuller about it today, telling him how many people called this book "confusing" or "boring" or saying that they just didn't get it. and tom fuller, bless hi More...
so i finished this book today and rather than start the new book i brought for the subway ride home, i just started this thing all over again.
it's really good.
that's why it astounds me that there are so many one- and two-star reviews on here. this is good stuff, guys! i was talking to tom fuller about it today, telling him how many people called this book "confusing" or "boring" or saying that they just didn't get it. and tom fuller, bless hi More...
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Jun 30, 2009
Colleen
rated it: 
I'm not quite finished with this book (maybe 30 pages left) and I'm trying to decide whether or not I care enough to finish it. The author gives you an inkling of what happens, but doesn't actually give you the full information until almost 200 pages in. At that point I was just reading to satisfy my own need to know I was right and experiencing a growing sense of aggravation with the storyteller. Also, there are two parallel stories, one of which has the mystery. In the other, I feel like there
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May 07, 2008
Julie
rated it: 
I finally finished. Technically, it has taken me 4 years to read it. I purchased this book for a college literature class, and it was the only book we did not get to. Based on how much I liked my professor's other choices, I thought i would really like this book too. Over the last few years I intermitterntly started reading it, but it was difficult to get into, and I would get bored and pick up something else. I finally forced myself to finish it. I did not like it.
Maybe I was More...
Maybe I was More...
Oct 01, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
If I was going only on personal taste and you could do half stars I'd give it a 3.5. Beautifully written, puzzling, messy, intriguing, insightful, disorienting, unfinished, uncommitted, frustrating -- a little convoluted for my taste. The woman can write. Not a book for everyone, not always an easy read, but beautifully written. Personally I wish it had stayed with the walking tour.
Apr 09, 2009
Alison
rated it:
I begin with the modest aim of writing a nice review of Davis's very nice book, but I find my intentions and memories of the book--and particularly my belief that I've understood Davis's aims--riddled with uncertainties. Which is, I think, how Davis would have it--so I'll leave it at that. A pleasure, and a puzzle.
Jul 08, 2011
Sassy
rated it:
This book is surprising. It combines two seemingly disparate genres in an interesting way. It's one of those books where you have to let go of needing final clarity on exactly what happened. Everything is open to interpretation.
Nov 06, 2009
Darrin
rated it: 
I'm a huge fan of Kathryn Davis, and this doesn't quite measure up to Hell or Versailles, in my opinion, but if you like beautiful writing, this should satisfy you.
Aug 20, 2010
Linda
rated it:
The first third of this book was a struggle, but it did improve - only to deteriorate at the end. It is either a mystery or a fantasy - not sure which.
Jan 04, 2008
Pamster
rated it:
Maybe five stars? I loved The Thin Place as well. She seems to only tell stories in completely extraordinary ways. I can't wait to get to the rest of her books. This is about 2 couples on a walking tour, a bunch of shit that may or may not have happened, and an unreliable narrator years later piecing it all together, who may be losing her mind in this weird scary fucked up future. There's also some Welsh myth stuff. One thing bothered me - there was this Asian character who seemed to be wri
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May 17, 2011
Leslie
rated it:
When reading Kathryn Davis's novels--this is the second I've encountered--I always feel a bit dazed. The writing is gorgeous and I sometimes sense a little bit of Virginia Woolf, but as much as I wanted to love this book, I see that's taken me two weeks to finish a relatively short novel...and that should tell me something.
Sep 04, 2010
Sholeen
rated it:
sometimes her writing leaves me a bit confused, but in a good, sort of beautiful way
Jul 20, 2009
alyssa
rated it:
i loved this book even when i started to question it because i believed there was an "aha" coming, but it never came. now i am at the end and can't figure out if i'm not as keen as i thought and missed something, or if my preconceived expectations led me astray. davis is always alluding to references that go right over my head, though, so maybe the clue i needed was in the tale of Manawydan. anybody know this welsh hero guy? i'd love to get the scoop.
Jan 15, 2010
Giovanna
rated it:
When I finished the book I was maybe less clear on what it was about than when I was halfway through--and yet, I continued to be completely intrigued by the characters and settings and how much was real and how much wasn't. Clearly not everyone's cup of tea (most people in my book group were put off by the unclear ending, and, I think, felt it was overly experimental, more of a writing exercise).
Jun 17, 2008
Gretchen
rated it:
The writing style was at time intriguing and at times off putting. I couldn't wait to finish the book this afternoon, i had been enjoying the story and was looking forward to it coming together. But I was left with a "huh" feeling that other reviews have mentioned and feeling like i missed something major. Enjoyed it enough to try another book by the same author...
Apr 17, 2008
John
rated it:
I enjoyed The Thin Place more, but this had a much more experimental storytelling aspect; the whole thing kind of comes across as a painting viewed with smudgy glasses. You never get an entirely clear picture, which is totally frustrating sometimes, but I think that was more or less the point.
Jan 04, 2009
Airielle
rated it:
I tried and I tried, but I just could not do it. I really did not like this book. I have read about 3/4 of the book, but decided not to finish it. I'm moving on to something else.
Dec 02, 2007
Pamela
rated it:
Sort of pretentious writing style, but interesting enough the keep reading...right up to the disappointing ending. Leaves you with a "huh?" feeling. Or maybe I just wasn't interested enough by the end to get it?
Feb 03, 2008
Amanda
rated it:
Bizarre and unsettling, this is a book I liked the first time but loved the second. The post-apocolyptic world she creates is intriguing and hard to reconcile, which is why I feel haunted by it.
Jan 04, 2012
Margaret
rated it:
While Davis is a smart and interesting writer, I never learned to love this book. Who knows, one day down the road I may give it another try.
Mar 06, 2007
ali
rated it:
Not as good as the thin place. the plot is all over the place but her language is amazing.
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