Helpful Score: 10
This was definitely a book that I trudged through. Books I love I often breeze through; books I don't care for are skimmed or flipped. This was a book that I so wanted to like, but it simply didn't capture me.
The writing was difficult because there was too much of it; too many metaphors and too many excess words. It was beautifully descriptive, but the cover's declarations of 'dazzling' and 'devilishly clever' are certainly not ones I agree with.
It would have been a lot more likeable if I found a way to connect with the characters, but everyone seems horrible and false, utterly unsympathetic. There simply wasn't anything in the book for me.
The writing was difficult because there was too much of it; too many metaphors and too many excess words. It was beautifully descriptive, but the cover's declarations of 'dazzling' and 'devilishly clever' are certainly not ones I agree with.
It would have been a lot more likeable if I found a way to connect with the characters, but everyone seems horrible and false, utterly unsympathetic. There simply wasn't anything in the book for me.
Helpful Score: 5
Yes, I fell for the old "the book is always better than the movie" line. Let me just say that, in this case, that saying couldn't be further from the truth. John Updike, for all of his fame and Pulitzer winning glory, is an arrogant, if not condescending, writer at best. He uses "big words" just for the sake of using them. I was so bored with the characters talking just to hear themselves talk and with the author describing just to see his words in print that I actually stopped reading. This is really saying something for me because I normally just "suck it up" when reading a book that has received such acclaim, but I have to say that my life is just too short to read crap.
Helpful Score: 3
I actually liked the MOVIE more.
Helpful Score: 1
I was expecting the book and the movie it spawned (with Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfiefer) to be very similar and that's why I read the book. They are not! The stories are completely different as are the personalities of the three female characters. I was really disappointed by the huge differences and actually liked the movie much more. If I'd known beforehand, I might have enjoyed the book more. The book is still good but it's not an easy read.
Helpful Score: 1
I have been watching the new TV series Witches of Eastwick so I thought I would read the book. I like the show a lot more. The book just prattles on. If you cut it in half you wouldn't miss much. Characters are very boring.
