Skippy Dies in Around the World in 80 Books

May 18, 2011 Katie rated it really liked it

Shelves: male-author

A very good book. The characters are all so real. They are stumbling through life trying to be happy, or trying to be successful, or trying to be loved, or trying to be good, making both selfish and selfless decisions along the way. I didn't really love the book until the last 100 pages or so, but there are a lot of really beautiful moments at the end of the book.

Maybe four stars, maybe five. I keep changing my mind. ...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Astrid Lim rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dysfunctional-family, tragedy, europe, culture, contemporary, campus-life

I had mixed feeling about this book. I love the setting- a Catholic Dorm School for boys in Ireland. And some of the characters are also fun- most of them are 14 years old boys- the nerds, the so called womanizer, the bullies, etc. The mystery surrounding Skippy's life - including why he dies- is also intriguing. But the plot - like most British lits - is quite slow and dragging. And also, the subplot about the lives of the teachers (and most adults in this book) is pretty lame. So... 3 stars, i ...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Rachel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I made the mistake of choosing this book to read after Infinite Jest. I think my head was still doing circles. It took me about halfway to start really appreciating the humor and honesty in this novel, but once I did I really enjoyed it. Now I want to read the first half again to see what I wasn't getting! ...more

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