by Paige Nick.
I don’t know.
I really don’t.
I was looking forward to reading this book for a couple of reasons.
- I won it
- It’s had lots of critical acclaim and loads of people have been talking about it
- I like the title
- I like the cover
- It’s a New York Times Bestseller.
So I started out with high hopes.
At first I really didn’t like it at all. And then I liked bits of it and not other bits. And then by page 200 I was hooked and I raced on down to the last page, thoroughly enjoying the ride.
I was completely charmed by the story of the French concierge and the other characters living at number 7, rue de Grenelle, but the problem was that as soon as I got stuck into their lives I was pulled rudely away from them to go into pages and pages of philosophy, that if I’m honest, went right over my head.
I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, but I feel like perhaps I’m just not smart enough for this book. I’ve never read any Tolstoy, Marx or Freud, so a lot of that stuff about ‘the meaning of life, etc.’ just came across as a little pretentious and boring to me.
I suppose a philosopher would say they liked the philosophical ideas in the book, but that the author kept interrupting it with all those pesky characters.
I often felt like the author only created these characters because she needed a framework within which to spout her philosophical ideas and show how smart she is.
Overall though I ended up really thoroughly enjoying it. (I know, sorry, it’s a bit of a schizophrenic review) and I’m so glad I read it. Curious to hear how others have felt about it.
I will now continue to ‘pass on the love’ by handing it over to A Million Miles from Normal reader, Chryssa, who won it by default, by being the only person who showed any interest in getting it after me. (http://amillionmilesfromnormal.blogspot.com/2010/02/im-winna.html) Maybe she’ll write us a review too, and we can compare them.
Thanks so much book club blog. I’m so glad I got to read it.
Paige.
Thank you so much, Paige. I have to be honest here, and tell you that I would not have been able to write a review for this book, pretty much for all the reasons that you stated. Saying that, I did enjoy the book,the characters were quite vivid but the ending had me just a little stumped.
Ok well that’s it i suppose? I was so looking forward to reading this and was hoping to be included in the ‘pass the love’ project.
Should i just give it a miss? I’m so not into the philosophical book reader.
Pity really.
Shayne, email me with your details if you want to read it and i’ll pass it on to you as soon as chryssa is finished with it.
paige@polka.co.za
we will continue to pass on the love with this book, promise.
Shayne, email Paige with your details, read the book. Its a lovely book. It is a wee bit philosophical but (you can sort of skim read those pages…;-).
yay to passing on the love! Love this idea. Hmm, think i may think about doing something with that…