The less said about this week, the better. Well at least I didn’t drown.
The Golden House. I don’t really know how to sum up my feelings on this. I liked that it was chock full of movie references. There was a decent story. The characters were nothing special; female characters especially left a lot to be desired. Mostly I could not bear the writing style. I know it’s been a long time since I read Salman Rushdie, (and it will be a very long time until I read him again) and I don’t remember if this is just how he writes, and it didn’t bother me back then, or if this one was especially overwritten. Also, not that this is the author’s fault, but the book jacket’s description comparing it to The Great Gatsby is really annoying; you just picture some dude at the publisher going, “Gatsby is about rich people in New York, right?” This book just really irritated me on many levels.
The Stars Are Fire was such a perfect palate cleanser after that one. This is, in a nutshell, the exact opposite of The Golden House. Very spare writing style, excellent female characters, and a story that is completely compelling and keeps moving forward. This is an excellent choice when you’re looking for something with a good story that’s not going to tax you too much.
I’ve somehow managed to check out Eleven Hours and return it unread three times, which is weird because it’s so short. It was just the luck of the draw, I guess. So I finally got around to it, and it’s very worthwhile. This is just the story of a woman in labor, so very relevant to my interests, and I think she did a great job. It’s by turns thrilling and tedious, just like labor! If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, pick it up.
Finally, huge thank you to my friend Deb for recommending The World of Tomorrow. OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS BOOK. I’m definitely going to be posting about this some more when I’m done with it, but for now I’ll just say this is perfect, perfect fiction. So much going on here, awesome storylines, fantastic characters, I’m dying to see how it ends. Sometimes you see a really big book like this and think, ugh this will be a slog, but this is a great example of a book that totally justifies its length. I am so glad I picked this up and I can’t wait to finish it. Definitely the highlight of my week!
