From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
Quite mixed feelings on this one. I enjoyed how evocative of the 80s the book was. The playful use of language to reflect how Jason is a budding poet and a person with a speech impediment was clever and added to the richness of the overall work. I also found the depiction of fighting parents awkwardly realistic.
On the downside, the story itself was a bit bland for David Mitchell. I know it's an outlier in his usual body of work, but the coming of age narrative just didn't strike a spark for me. ...more
On the downside, the story itself was a bit bland for David Mitchell. I know it's an outlier in his usual body of work, but the coming of age narrative just didn't strike a spark for me. ...more
Hmm. This has been well reviewed from some pretty reliable sources, and I loved Cloud Atlas, so I had high hopes. Maybe too high. Maybe if I had never heard of this book or David Mitchell, I would have loved it. But probably not. Don’t get me wrong, there are parts of this book that are genius. There are lines in this book that describe a feeling, thought, motion that is completely off the wall, completely unique, strange and unusual. But dead on. And those parts are wonderful. I also loved the
...more
This English novel, told from the perspective of a teenage boy whose stutter sets him apart from easy socializing and makes him a great observer, immerses the reader in the world of his small town and the even narrower social system of his peers. It is powerful and evocative in its setting and characterization, and in the suffering of the narrator. There are some events that seem a little contrived, but I went with them gladly, because they added to the power of the story.
British coming of age novel in which the reader can't help but to sympathize with Jason Taylor, our stammering, 14 year old narrator who is bullied at school and has other troubles at home. Though this could have been terribly depressing, the humor along with Jason's perseverance to overcome his issues resulted in an uplifting and enjoyable novel.
...more
Jan 14, 2008
Rachel
marked it as to-read
Dec 05, 2008
Nicole Oswald
marked it as to-read
Sep 02, 2010
Terina
marked it as to-read
Oct 15, 2010
Kris Springer
marked it as to-read
Mar 08, 2015
Kate Mulley
marked it as to-read
Jun 06, 2015
Dana
marked it as to-read
Jul 01, 2016
Kathy Wheeler
marked it as to-read
May 22, 2017
gremlinkitten
marked it as to-read
Dec 25, 2018
Jonathan Laughlin
marked it as to-read
Jul 05, 2019
Julie
marked it as to-read
Feb 19, 2020
Kari
marked it as to-read
Oct 04, 2022
Angela
marked it as to-read
