Bookage - The Little Friend
The Little Friend
By Donna Tartt
After finally reading the oft exhilarating (but a tad too drawn) Secret History last year, I made time to start The Little Friend the other day. The back of the book had no description and I did not check other resources to find out the plot. I thought one would be clear with 550+ pages to cover. Alas, alas. I was rather disappointed with this read - a lot of endless description and detail that seemed to mainly swirl around itself. It wasn't horrible by any stretch, but a definite let down after TSH, especially since it was eight or so years between publications.
I don't mind meandering stories that tell about characters - subtle plots are often the most intriguing for my tastes, but this one seemed to just drone on. And on. It lacked a grace found in other character studies - I lost my reason to care about most of the characters about halfway through. My frustrating curiosity kept me skimming the last two hundred pages to get the gist of the plot - I really don't feel I missed anything by skipping through the book.
While others have criticized Tartt for her stereotyping of certain characters and for creating a seemingly hostile, classist and racist environment, I actually appreciated those aspects of the book. They set me ill at ease and made me uncomfortable - challenging my notions of what is right and good in writing. Seeing the humanity in the 'bad' guys and the shortcomings in their counterparts is always more rewarding than being spoonfed a 'proper' story. At least in my opinion.
Chickie shez: library this one if you are so inclined. Keep your cash.
By Donna Tartt
After finally reading the oft exhilarating (but a tad too drawn) Secret History last year, I made time to start The Little Friend the other day. The back of the book had no description and I did not check other resources to find out the plot. I thought one would be clear with 550+ pages to cover. Alas, alas. I was rather disappointed with this read - a lot of endless description and detail that seemed to mainly swirl around itself. It wasn't horrible by any stretch, but a definite let down after TSH, especially since it was eight or so years between publications.
I don't mind meandering stories that tell about characters - subtle plots are often the most intriguing for my tastes, but this one seemed to just drone on. And on. It lacked a grace found in other character studies - I lost my reason to care about most of the characters about halfway through. My frustrating curiosity kept me skimming the last two hundred pages to get the gist of the plot - I really don't feel I missed anything by skipping through the book.
While others have criticized Tartt for her stereotyping of certain characters and for creating a seemingly hostile, classist and racist environment, I actually appreciated those aspects of the book. They set me ill at ease and made me uncomfortable - challenging my notions of what is right and good in writing. Seeing the humanity in the 'bad' guys and the shortcomings in their counterparts is always more rewarding than being spoonfed a 'proper' story. At least in my opinion.
Chickie shez: library this one if you are so inclined. Keep your cash.
posted by chickie at 11:14 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home