Julie's comments (member since Aug 29, 2007)

Julie's comments from the SDMB - Straight Dope group.

Hmm. I thought I had replied to this.

We agree more than we disagree, I think. Will you be inclined to pick up anything else by Grossman? I think I would be inclined to avoid him. The book isn't aging well in my memory.

(spoilers ahoy!)

I ended up giving this book 3 stars, but I think it's a bigger failure than that. It's fundamentally flawed to me because it borrows from a genre (fantasy) that it doesn't need to borrow from, leading to a clunky plot that disguises more than it illuminates.

The story is a very simple one. A young man with no purpose is whisked away into a life he only dreamed of. He finds too much privilege and ends up dissolute and aimless. The end.

Yes, more happens, but this is the thrust of the novel, and it's a story that could have been told, has been told, better with just a college or club or other setting that introduces Quentin (the assumed protagonist) to a world where he's an outsider incapable of adapting.

By throwing in magic, Grossman wastes time that would have been better spent actually living the lives of Quentin and his cohort. Instead, they remain vague and archetypal, while Quentin sulks and mopes and is generally annoying. Magic is just a stand-in for money as the young magicians simply act like trust fund babies.

To me, fantasy is either about world building or it's about crafting a scenario that is somehow impossible in the real world. Grossman does neither, leaving me feeling that the fantasy aspect is tacked-on and pointless. It doesn't serve any organic purpose; it's just a dress-up costume that the plot is wearing.

As I write this, I can feel myself talking myself into less than 3 stars, but I'm going to leave my rating as it is and see how I feel in a week or two.

I think you read faster than I do, so I'd better get my butt in gear! :D

I have a copy from my library. I'll give it a shot.

I'm another who read the first book and loved it but stopped after four. The fourth book really just grossed me out. Actually, anything that didn't involve Paul directly turned me off.

Years later, I feel just incredibly turned off by the series, rather like how I now feel about Thomas Covenant.

jsgoddess

I finished Turkey yesterday with Bastard of Istanbul.

At least ten minutes or only ten minutes? Because the latter makes me feel all twitchy at the thought.

Just getting sympathy is enough. :D

I didn't get a single book.

I always get books.

My husband always gets me books.

My mother often gets me books.

Others get me books.

I didn't get any.

Now I feel all cranky. What's Christmas for if not to give and receive books?

Pam, does your list include isbns? If so, you can import the list.


As for me, no new goals. I'm going to continue, slowly, working on the around the world challenge. Otherwise, no real changes.

Well, I have it from the library, so I'll go ahead and try to read it. I put in the effort of carrying that enormous thing a couple of blocks already! :D

I love Kaye's mysteries, but I've never read her other work. I'm in.

I loved We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Anna. Thanks for the recommend. Unsettling but not scary, but very much up my alley nonetheless.

I'm a bit of a floozy with my ratings. Easy like Sunday mornin', that's me. :D

I'm not big on jewelry usually, but those pendants sound charming.

This book isn't (well, at least within the first 90 pages) a "big" story so far. Smaller and quirkier, though it's spanning more time than I expected and is set in Istanbul and a couple of cities in the US. It makes me laugh on one page then makes me roll my eyes on the next.

I'm about 75 pages into The Bastard of Istanbul. I picked it up while browsing at the branch library and, wow, I can't decide if I like this book or not. Some things in it are extremely appealing, and then I want to smack everyone.

Woot! Thanks, Pam!

Wuthering Heights is probably about due for a reread, but I didn't find it scary. Just depressing.

No, I haven't read any other Shirley Jackson, yet. I'll move it on up the queue!

Julie

Exceedingly gross parts are no good for me. I get pretty nauseated pretty quickly.