To be perfectly honest...I still have about fifty pages left in our first book. But perhaps this speaks to the book slightly. I went in with high hopes and I have to say it hasn't really clicked for me. While I appreciate her style, I'm not feeling any emotional connection to the material. I'll have more thoughts later...
But for now...Book #2
I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle
Here is a link to where to buy it on borders.com: Buy "I Love You, Beth Cooper"
I've been really curious about this book...and I'm hoping this helps me get through a Nick Hornby drought...we'll see.
3 comments:
This book reads quickly. I got it from the library two or three days ago, and I am now done. It reminded me of John Hughes movies more than any book. The writing was quick and definitely funny, but the story feels like a filled out version of the prom queen-dork story line in Sixteen Candles. This is not itself a bad thing, just limited to the specific emotional urgencies and comic embarrassments of high schoolers.
Over the last ten years or so, my tolerance for violence has really waned. There was some dialog that felt honest to their years, but a little to hip for a kid getting the shit beat out of him repeatedly. (Wouldn't have happened to that kid at MY high school; he would have been a pack-travelling, protected cool kid.) After about the third delightfully detailed face-pounding (Me: "Oh god, AGAIN?!"), I skipped to the end just to see how everyone fared.
I'm with Edie on this. I thought the book read more like a screenplay than a novel. It makes sense since the author is a tv/movie writer, and he obviously intends to adapt this project into a motion picture. When I read a screenplay, I don't want it to read like a novel, and when I read a novel i don't want it to read like a screenplay. Overall, i got tired of the relentless "abuse and embarrassment" that our hero had to go through. I also thought it was trying to hard to be ironically modern. All the made up sodas and gadgets and crap weren't funny or poignant, they just seemed silly. I liked the cover art :)
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