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    <user id="277316">
    <name><![CDATA[Carrie]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Glasgow, The United Kingdom]]></location>        
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      <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <read_at>Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Nov 01 13:38:30 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Nov 09 05:36:10 -0800 2007</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[I put off reading this book for two years after receiving it as a gift. I had asked for it, but I had trouble reading The French Lieutenant's Woman in 85 and The Collector in 98, so quite expected it to be a difficult read. Who knows why I accepted Steve's challenge to read it, but I managed to make it through to the end in just a few days.  My hands hurt holding 650 pages, but it was a real pageturner. Just when you think you might have it sussed, it takes a different direction. The story kept my interest, but I have to admit some disappointment in the writing. Maybe I have been editing too long, but I found myself wanting to criticise him throughout. I found all of the sex descriptions tedious and unimaginative. I noticed after reading the forward that he had edited these for the later release to compensate for the lack of nerve he had in 1953 when he wrote it. Perhaps he should have left it alone. The end was a bit anticlimactic, but I don't know how I would have done it any differently. Maybe knock off the last couple of pages. I know this is a well-respected book and is included in quite a few must read lists, but it didn't get top marks for me. Still, it was worth the energy I put into the experience and I was able to finish it*, so I will give it a four.<br/><br/>*Since I have been ill, I have had huge difficulty reading anything. Earlier this year I started reading two books, both of which I was enjoying, but was unable to hold the content in my brain long enough to finish either.]]></body>
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