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I just finished Pachinko (good read and enlightening as to Korean culture in Japan through the decades) and How to Behave in a Crowd (which I think was genius). I'm now returning to Les Miserables for the 4th time.
Started reading All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr yesterday. It takes place during a time period I'm interested in, won a Pulitzer Prize, and got rave reviews on Amazon (70% of the 28,000 reviews are 5 stars, and another 18% is 4 stars). My thinking was "How could this NOT be amazing?"
I'm 40 pages in, and while the writing seems nice, the book is so boring, it's annoying that the chapters are 3 pages each (as soon as I almost kind of maybe start to get interested, it skips to another characters or place), and it started in the middle of the action (the city getting bombed) but then jumped back a few years in time to backstory.
Started reading All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr yesterday. It takes place during a time period I'm interested in, won a Pulitzer Prize, and got rave reviews on Amazon (70% of the 28,000 reviews are 5 stars, and another 18% is 4 stars). My thinking was "How could this NOT be amazing?"
I'm 40 pages in, and while the writing seems nice, the book is so boring, it's annoying that the chapters are 3 pages each (as soon as I almost kind of maybe start to get interested, it skips to another characters or place), and it started in the middle of the action (the city getting bombed) but then jumped back a few years in time to backstory.
Arg!
I was one who loved it but it is not for everyone.
What other books did you like from that time period? Maybe we can help with better recommendations for you
Started reading All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr yesterday. It takes place during a time period I'm interested in, won a Pulitzer Prize, and got rave reviews on Amazon (70% of the 28,000 reviews are 5 stars, and another 18% is 4 stars). My thinking was "How could this NOT be amazing?"
I'm 40 pages in, and while the writing seems nice, the book is so boring, it's annoying that the chapters are 3 pages each (as soon as I almost kind of maybe start to get interested, it skips to another characters or place), and it started in the middle of the action (the city getting bombed) but then jumped back a few years in time to backstory.
Arg!
I felt the exact same way. Nothing happens in that book and it was a huge disappointment to me. Lots of people loved it, though.
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 3 days ago)
35,613 posts, read 17,935,039 times
Reputation: 50634
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueFebruary
Started reading All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr yesterday. It takes place during a time period I'm interested in, won a Pulitzer Prize, and got rave reviews on Amazon (70% of the 28,000 reviews are 5 stars, and another 18% is 4 stars). My thinking was "How could this NOT be amazing?"
I'm 40 pages in, and while the writing seems nice, the book is so boring, it's annoying that the chapters are 3 pages each (as soon as I almost kind of maybe start to get interested, it skips to another characters or place), and it started in the middle of the action (the city getting bombed) but then jumped back a few years in time to backstory.
Arg!
I agree. My book club read it, and many liked it a lot, but I found it boring and depressing. And completely unbelievable.
Started reading All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr yesterday. It takes place during a time period I'm interested in, won a Pulitzer Prize, and got rave reviews on Amazon (70% of the 28,000 reviews are 5 stars, and another 18% is 4 stars). My thinking was "How could this NOT be amazing?"
I'm 40 pages in, and while the writing seems nice, the book is so boring, it's annoying that the chapters are 3 pages each (as soon as I almost kind of maybe start to get interested, it skips to another characters or place), and it started in the middle of the action (the city getting bombed) but then jumped back a few years in time to backstory.
Arg!
Put me down as another fan of this one. However, I do remember thinking that the beginning was slow going.
I just finished Where They Found Her by Kimberley McCreight. It was way too Lifetime Movie for me! Too many one-dimensional characters, a "mystery" that had an improbable ending and a small college town full of completely unlikable people. Oh well... on to something else.
Put me down as another fan of this one. However, I do remember thinking that the beginning was slow going.
Normally I would try to force my way through more of a slow-starting book to see if it got better, but the 3-page chapters are driving me crazy. :/ It looks like the rest of the book is about 1 to 4 page chapters. I think short chapters work great to build up urgency and suspense, but for parts where there’s no action or conflict it’s annoying. I’m not sure why he chose to use short chapters for an entire book. Was there any reason why the story would have worked better in short chapters?
Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagoliz
I felt the exact same way. Nothing happens in that book and it was a huge disappointment to me. Lots of people loved it, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ClaraC
I agree. My book club read it, and many liked it a lot, but I found it boring and depressing. And completely unbelievable.
Glad I’m not the only one that ended up not liking it. I was so excited about it that's it a big let down now. >_<
Quote:
Originally Posted by ylisa7
I was one who loved it but it is not for everyone.
What other books did you like from that time period? Maybe we can help with better recommendations for you[IMG]file:///C:\Users\Dane\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\c lip_image001.gif[/IMG]
If anyone has suggestions for great WWII fiction, I'm all ears. :] I love reading the nonfiction stuff, but it's nice to get it in story format once in a while too.
I was very fond of Code Name Verity (and the companion book Rose Under Fire), The Book Thief, and David L. Robbin’s novels.
I read Catch-22, The Winds of War, War and Remembrance, The Caine Mutiny, and The Naked and the Dead, but I don't remember much about those since I read them when I was much younger (early high school).
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 3 days ago)
35,613 posts, read 17,935,039 times
Reputation: 50634
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueFebruary
Normally I would try to force my way through more of a slow-starting book to see if it got better, but the 3-page chapters are driving me crazy. :/ It looks like the rest of the book is about 1 to 4 page chapters. I think short chapters work great to build up urgency and suspense, but for parts where there’s no action or conflict it’s annoying. I’m not sure why he chose to use short chapters for an entire book. Was there any reason why the story would have worked better in short chapters?
Glad I’m not the only one that ended up not liking it. I was so excited about it that's it a big let down now. >_<
If anyone has suggestions for great WWII fiction, I'm all ears. :] I love reading the nonfiction stuff, but it's nice to get it in story format once in a while too.
I was very fond of Code Name Verity (and the companion book Rose Under Fire), The Book Thief, and David L. Robbin’s novels.
I read Catch-22, The Winds of War, War and Remembrance, The Caine Mutiny, and The Naked and the Dead, but I don't remember much about those since I read them when I was much younger (early high school).
I know you asked for fiction, but two of my favorite books about WWII are nonfiction - and fabulous. The Boys In the Boat, by Daniel James Brown - the story of the American rowing team at 1936 olympics held in Germany. You get a really good understanding of Germany's adoration of Hitler, in the glory days of prosperity. Franklin and Winston by Jon Meacham was also fabulous. The story of their friendship. You come away with even more admiration for Churchill, and his vision, and his courage. Every page riveting.
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