Possibly it's not fair that I rate this book, as I was unable to finish it. I enjoyed it at first, but as the pages wore on (and on, and on) with noth...morePossibly it's not fair that I rate this book, as I was unable to finish it. I enjoyed it at first, but as the pages wore on (and on, and on) with nothing in them of forward motion or tension (I understood there was no plot and was willing to go with that, but I needed something, something -- please!), I lost interest. Another problem was that there was only one character (the woman boss with cancer) to care about at all. Even my own many years' experience of cubicle-ville failed to help me stay involved. My (unfair) judgment: A self-indulgent mess. I actually ended up stuffing it into a 1-800-GOT BOOKS pickup dumpster. (less)
As so many others have said, this book was not of the same caliber of Shriver's WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN or THE POST-BIRTHDAY WORLD. So, yes, from...moreAs so many others have said, this book was not of the same caliber of Shriver's WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN or THE POST-BIRTHDAY WORLD. So, yes, from that standpoint, reading it was a disappointment.
But what if we think about it differently? What if we think about it as Shriver's sixth novel, the one that came before KEVIN and POST-BIRTHDAY? What if we read it and look for those hints -- and they are certainly there, and in force -- of what it is to come from this writer? Read that way, DOUBLE FAULT is fascinating.
In this society of ours, we seem to prize most those people for whom skill and success appear effortless. But here is a writer who has spent decades at her craft and, slowly, book by book, became extraordinary. Isn't the path she followed creatively well worth our time and respect? (less)
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