PJ
asked:
What is with this author and long-winded sentences? Is it just me? How can people put up with sentences like this? "Later, when it turned out Penn and Rosie were going to have to catalog for doctors in a focused, specifics-filled way a life they were living by more of a skin-of-their-teeth/seat-of-their-pants/bundle-of-their-nerves approach, they were glad for the formative moments that coincided with birthdays..."
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This Is How It Always Is,
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Rhonda Banford
I think it was written exactly as Rosie and Penn thought things in their heads. They are complex characters with non-linear ways of thinking--other related thoughts intruding upon their initial thoughts and needing to be expressed, and multi-descriptors to flesh out the nuances of their thinking. Notice that the children's language is much simpler, as children's language is apt to be. I loved the long, involved sentences--even if I had to go back and re-read them a time or two.
Liz Busby
I listened to this book on audio and maybe that's why sentences like this didn't bother me. They flow in a very poetic way out loud. If you're having a hard time, I recommend the audio.
Jenny Roth
The writing is gorgeous! In literature, there's no such thing as a run-on sentence so long as it has rhythm. Once you master a craft, you get to break the rules.
Min
No, it isn't just you. As I was reading the book, I sent examples of sentences that drove me nuts to a friend of mine (a librarian, who is extremely well-read and very intelligent). Frankel's sentences too often run on far too long (one ran on for nearly the entire page!) and, thus, become too difficult to parse.
To people who haven't yet read this book, if the sentence in the example above annoys you, definitely avoid this book as it's representative but far from being the worst offender.
To people who haven't yet read this book, if the sentence in the example above annoys you, definitely avoid this book as it's representative but far from being the worst offender.
Becki
I like it, actually... I think it has a "spoken word" feel.
Taylor
I read it as a stream-of-consciousness. I often do this myself, so maybe that's why it didn't bother me, but I definitely noticed it too.
Gloria Meske
I too listened to the audio version, and the long winded sentences were one of my favorite parts of the book! Her descriptions of situations via this style of writing was very interesting and funny at times.
Abigail
Um, the whole theme of the book is how rambling, untidy, never-ending life is. The sentence structure parallels that theme. If you don't like it, fine. But it *is* good writing because it enhances the story. Easy and good aren't the same thing...
Laura
Listen to the audiobook! I doubt it will bug you in that format.
Liz Sulak
Too many grammatical errors, also.
Alice
I'm so glad I'm not alone thinking this! It took me a long time to get into this book because of the poor sentence structure. It seemed to get better in the second half of the book, but that could just be because I got used to it.
I was also so frustrated by the misuse of the word 'which' that I had to note it down - "Rosie had taken out her phone and dialled the nine and the one in which tiny, tiny blink of time Cindy pulled up, got out of her car, and came to understand what had transpired in and instant." And: "Which approach worked just fine until Nicky Calcutti."
I was also so frustrated by the misuse of the word 'which' that I had to note it down - "Rosie had taken out her phone and dialled the nine and the one in which tiny, tiny blink of time Cindy pulled up, got out of her car, and came to understand what had transpired in and instant." And: "Which approach worked just fine until Nicky Calcutti."
Peggy
Yes, but the book was so good, I hardly noticed. Try reading James Joyce's novels, which are classics. I'm accused sometimes of being a grammar police, but sometimes I can forgive the errors because I am engrossed in the story.
Mary McBride
I loved it.
I believe it is like a stream-of-consciousness type of expression. It fits in with the way I think.
I believe it is like a stream-of-consciousness type of expression. It fits in with the way I think.
Cassie Roxanne
Definitely not just you. It bothered me a lot and I started skipping through paragraphs (which I hate doing) as I was starting to get so irritated! Did anyone notice some grammatical mistakes as well? Makes me think that the book wasn't edited at all.
Andrea
I listened to this on audio and loved the language and long sentences. They had a beautiful rhythm and made the characters come alive.
Cheryl
I listened to this on audible. I thought the prose was poetic.
Dani Creates
In the audio book the long sentences seem to work.
Cathy Hildreth
Thank you! Glad I am not the only one! I loved the book but struggled with that exact sentence!!!! It took awhile to get accustomed to her writing style!
Juliette Triozon
This is definitely long but it's so well written, has a nice ring to it, is poetic. I just love her creative writing!
Dee Pontuti
Best book I’ve listened to in a long time,
Andrea
It was a 4- or 4.5-star book for me, but those run-on sentences lost it a whole star. Great story, barely mediocre sentence structure.
Reading in the Clouds
I actually have enjoyed Frankel's verbal construct very much, and I find it mirroring the actual thought process; I feel it is actually what it it meant to be: verbalising a whole, complex, accepting approach to child raising and parenting.
Cynthia Dunn
I never even noticed that it was out of the ordinary.
slauderdale
LOL! I tripped hard on this sentence too. "Cataloging doctors? Like, because they were going to have to classify various specialists for their child, or...?" It took me three or four reads to parse it. I do think Frankel is a good author - on the other hand, as my mom commented the other day on a different book, sometimes good writers can be the worst offenders when it comes to writing a simple sentence.
Crissy Bauman
I hardly noticed it, and when I did it usually felt like the stream-of-consciousness type of expression that Mary McBride mentioned above, but I also listened to the audiobook. The only thing that bothered me was that I think the narrator in the audio book pronounced a few words wrong or oddly. Since it was an audiobook, I'm not sure how the words were typewritten in the book, but several times she said "Cashay" which I think was probably cache. And her pronunciation of eschew sounded odd. There was at least one other word used several times that wasn't right.
Elysa
While I liked the book, I totally agree!!
Melinda
I fully agree with many prior reviewers - I chose the audio version, and found the occasionally meandering stream of consciousness lovely to behold.
Sidna
I agree. It was also full of cliches and repetition. I thought the author was a terrible writer.
Walleye23
It drove me crazy.
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