Carol’s answer to “I have been struggling with reading this book for two years now. I just don't get it. It has been r…” > Likes and Comments
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It felt like his writing was too contrived to me. His turns of phrases were sometimes brilliant and sometimes ridiculously superfluous.
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It felt like his writing was too contrived to me. His turns of phrases were sometimes brilliant and sometimes ridiculously superfluous.
The writing is SUPERB. The man can WRITE. His turns of phrase and use of vocabulary are almost bar none. It's so refreshing and lovely to read. I think of his writing and something like.... :::shudder::: Twilight and it just makes me angry. He's so amazingly skilled and I normally would love reading the book for this alone and yet.... well, we'll get to the negatives in a bit.
I like the concept of the different worlds - IE the fae/metaphysical realm with the human realm. Obviously, that's why I'm reading it - it's my style in terms of dealing with the fairy world in some form or fashion
The kind of magic-realism comparisons to Marquez I see and I like that as well.....
What I don't Love (SPOILERS):
I really don't care about any of these characters at all except Aunt Cloud.
Daily Alice seems spoiled in the beginning and now that she's found out her sister and husband slept with one another 3.5 times, it's all good with her??? I get loving your sister and husband so much that you will forgive all....Okay.... I guess it's the WAY in which it happens... and this bizarre somewhat incestuous naked-childhood-fairy-romping between her and Sophie with Auberon photographing.... what on earth? But I took it at face value that it was just something special in their family dynamic and it really didn't bother me till the scene between her and Sophie about Sophie being pregnant.
Violet - just this shrinking flower. There doesn't seem to be any strength in her at all anywhere. She marries a dude 30 years older than her so he can 'protect' her and I'm supposed to somehow dig that? Okay... and the way she handled August... I don't know... not impressed with Miss Violet. Boring... shrinking violet.... great, you can see fairies... whatever.
Smokey - Okay, I was willing to go along with his journey. I was interested in it... interested in seeing how the marriage and his life would unfold... then I find out he's slept with his wife's sister 3.5 times. I mean, I don't have a problem with books that deal with cheating, and love triangles and lust and meandering relationships.... as long as I find it believable and I UNDERSTAND the motivation.... no clue here. None. Blah.
Sophie - she is this kind of cool character you root for initially.... until, again, it's revealed she sleeps with her sister's husband. I can even understand that as she admits she was jealous of their happiness and was envious. I get that.... I really do.... but.... the bla·sé way in which it's revealed and discussed? Huh? She just confuses me now. And the whole let my cousin seduce me when I'm half asleep and dreaming... I was willing to just accept that as well. Besides it's not like you don't see it coming from the family tree in the front of the book. lol.
It looks - as I've scanned ahead - that the next generation will take over the narrative now... I'm having a hard time caring.
Anyway, anyone else have the same annoyances? Don't spoil the rest of the book for me, please, but at this point I don't know that I want to read on. The characters just don't seem 3 dimensional to me at all. I don't feel what they feel, I don't understand their motivations... I don't care. And yet his writing is beautiful. And yet while it's beautiful... it's not at all charming like Jonathan Strange and Dr. Norrell....
Anyway, it's the craziest book so far because I haven't yet encountered something with these kinds of positives and negatives....