This is Kate Atkinson's first novel, but its the second of hers that I've read. A few years ago I read Started Early, Took The Dog, and it was okay. Now that I've read behind the scenes, I'm thinking of re-reading Started Early, Took The Dog to look for plot twists I hadn't noticed before.
This is the first book I read after a dry-spill infested with exams and tests and assignments, and just plain laziness, so naturally I dived in full force. However, I found myself unable to continue the book a third of the way through. Up until that point the book had been slightly too "Little Women" for my taste. You see, the book tells the story of Ruby Lennox, and her maternal ancestors up to her great great grandmother. And it gets confusing. But I plowed through, because I thought it would be rude of me to not give it a chance.
Besides the over-whelming number of names and characters, or possibly because of them, the book starts slightly slow. But the slight turns of phrase soon got more and more interesting and it became obvious that there are further depths to this story that I hadn't seen.
You see, this story is narrated by Ruby Lennox, and one of the most interesting twists is that she actually has a twin sister who died when they were four. She has no recollection of this sister, but hints of her are subtly included, like how Ruby notices that there are double as many photos of her than there are of any other sibling. So I have to give Atkinson this, the book is cleverly written. The plot may not be the most engaging, but the writing sure is.
If there was one theme to this book it would be misery. Every character is unhappy. And it really got me down. It made me realize how easy it is for life to turn south, and it creeps me out. So, dear reader, please appreciate your life and remember that it could be substantially worse.
All-in all I wouldn't exactly recommend this book to anyone, unless they have nothing else to read. And I don't think I would be re-reading it anytime soon.
This is the first book I read after a dry-spill infested with exams and tests and assignments, and just plain laziness, so naturally I dived in full force. However, I found myself unable to continue the book a third of the way through. Up until that point the book had been slightly too "Little Women" for my taste. You see, the book tells the story of Ruby Lennox, and her maternal ancestors up to her great great grandmother. And it gets confusing. But I plowed through, because I thought it would be rude of me to not give it a chance.
Besides the over-whelming number of names and characters, or possibly because of them, the book starts slightly slow. But the slight turns of phrase soon got more and more interesting and it became obvious that there are further depths to this story that I hadn't seen.
You see, this story is narrated by Ruby Lennox, and one of the most interesting twists is that she actually has a twin sister who died when they were four. She has no recollection of this sister, but hints of her are subtly included, like how Ruby notices that there are double as many photos of her than there are of any other sibling. So I have to give Atkinson this, the book is cleverly written. The plot may not be the most engaging, but the writing sure is.
If there was one theme to this book it would be misery. Every character is unhappy. And it really got me down. It made me realize how easy it is for life to turn south, and it creeps me out. So, dear reader, please appreciate your life and remember that it could be substantially worse.
All-in all I wouldn't exactly recommend this book to anyone, unless they have nothing else to read. And I don't think I would be re-reading it anytime soon.
I've read one book that I was really excited about because of the idea of the book (Life after Life). A very morbid story I must say. It started it off well, but then it got draggy and boring and I pushed myself really hard to finish it.
ReplyDeleteIts really stopping me from reading any of her other books
Oh! thanks for warning me, I was planning on reading that. I just don't enjoy books that bring me down. Especially if they aren't even that interesting.
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