LW

A Tedious Horror Story

Revisado: 01-18-18

Bizarre story involving a horrific account of evil adolescent behavior followed by an implausible and ultimatately boorish account of the adult lives of the victim, witness and perpetrator. Had to set this one aside after investing 5+ hours, finding no redeeming characters and the plot severely handicapped by mundane details of food blogging and cement mixers.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Thoroughly depressing.

Revisado: 01-11-17

A child-murdering mother and a father with early onset dementia provide the case study from the narrator's POV.
The audible narrator tries way to hard, infusing every sentence with unnecessary angst - this story would have worked so much better without the heavy dramatic speaking style.
This story is fairly hopeless and its tragedies remain unresolved. Not very fulfilling if you're a reader looking for answers and at least one redeeming characters.

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esto le resultó útil a 9 personas

Thinly disguised porn...

Revisado: 05-08-16

The narrator is the only saving grace of an unreadable story; I wish the description had mentioned the books sordid nature, it should be categorized as pulp fiction, not literary fiction.

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NOT A "THRILLER"

Revisado: 03-18-16

This is more of a character study and morality check than a thriller. Themes of child pornography and emotional dependence are presented with the main character, The Widow, trying to justify her marriage and her husband's behavior to herself while hiding her true feelings and knowledge of a felony incident from the press and the police. The story plods along with zero suspense, the husband's duplicity revealed during a drawn out courtroom scene, with little or no consequence. The reader is left wondering, why? More than who? The big reveal is little more than a footnote to a strange and unsatisfactory story.

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Earns its place among the Great American Novels

Revisado: 05-17-14

Terrific characters with the exception of the one woman - it was like the author couldn't decide if he wanted her to be strong or weak and the narrator for her part, way overdid the Texas twang, making Jeanne even more unlikeable - Eli and Pete will stay with you for weeks after putting this book down. The male characters are deep and complex and their stories are redolent with rich tales of love and loss. The dynamics between the white man, Native American Indian and Hispanics are simply fascinating; the violence and tragedy this country is built on is simply staggering. Its been a month since I finished the book and I'm still chewing on it - really makes you think and reflect on our country's history with guarded respect and a small amount of horror.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Niles Crane as Hugo Delegate

Revisado: 05-17-14

Great premise, boring story. Narrator is Hugo Delegate read by Edoardo Ballerini, who seems to be channeling David Hyde Pierce's Niles Crane. The character of Hugo Delegate is an improbable one that feels like it was written by a woman: He is a sensitive male, androgynous to a fault, prone to regular fainting spells and his thoughts and speech are fussy and affected: not your typical "leading man" type and therefore an unlikely suitor for Savage Girl. The girl herself is enigmatic but undeveloped as a character and it is hard to stay interested in the plot, which wants to be bigger and more important than it is. By the end, when the twist reveals itself, it is unimpressive, hardly surprising and disappointing. The whole thing is unbelievable and would have been better written as a fairytale, not historical fiction.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Like Eating Broccoli at 6 AM

Revisado: 08-04-13

This book starts off with great promise and then wades into a tedious, in-cohesive muck. And so many people (claim to) love this book!
Was Mr. Gilbert's editor on vacation before this book went to print and told the publishing house, "I'm sure its great - print the whole thing, ramblings, musings, stoner philosophy - It's all good." Yes, I picture the author's editor as one of those irritating people who sum up every conversation with "It's all good".
Great premise, horrible execution and cloning? really??
This book should have stayed in a drawer.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Simply Awful - Don't waste your time or money!

Revisado: 06-21-13

Very disappointing for a Grisham novel - almost like he had a teenager write it for him... dialogue was so juvenile as to be uncomfortable ("shut up! No, you shut up." ) REALLY?? The narration was elementary and vocal inflections only move the reader to loathe the main character. I was rooting for the main character to be busted or killed nearly the whole way through the book. Seriously awful writing, dull narration and a weak, unbelievable plot.

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Great Story, Abysmal Narration

Revisado: 02-19-13

Why she chose to narrate her own book, I cannot begin to understand...
As a reader I found it distracting and annoying to be read to as though I were under the age of five or mentally challenged. The story itself is lovely and very interesting as it addresses the extinction of, not only the monarch butterfly, but our very ecosystem as we know it. The characters are well developed - I already picture Jessica Chastain cast in in the role of Dellarobia for the big screen - and Dr. Byron, her intellectual crush, who is described as a gorgeous African American scientist. However, the muddied accent audibly bestowed upon him by the author makes him sound like a depressed Jamaican crossed with Arnold Schwarzenegger; I cringed each time "he" spoke.
Unfortunately, Ms. Kingsolver joins the ranks of Anne Lamott and Colm Tolbin in a group of authors who should never read aloud. In my brief history with audible performances the only author who successfully narrates his own story is the beguiling Michael Ondaatje whose melodious reading of THE CAT'S TABLE is one of the best performances I've had the pleasure of listening to.
Do yourself a favor and buy a hard copy or an e-book version of FLIGHT BEHAVIOR for best results.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Good Narration Can't Save A Boring Story

Revisado: 08-10-12

What seemed like a great premise was turned dull by the writer using words, so many unnecessary words, as filler and never really getting anywhere. You'd think bankrobbing parents and a murder would make for a great read but what this book needed was a great editor and someone to say "Get to the point, already!" I stuck with it through Part 2 because of the narrator, Holter Graham, who I'd just heard narrate a great book, "The Art of Fielding", but even Mr. Graham could not save this book - too bad, it sounded like a potentially great story.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas