Although I'm giving up on this novel at this time, and giving it only one star rating, I think I might give it another chance at some time in the future.
Obviously, on a first reading, I didn't like it much: I found the characters flat, and "one note." I didn't feel that the horror of Melmoth was well conveyed. I thought Perry was skating over things like plot and charcterization with lush, over-written descriptions. When it dawned on me that I was breathing a sigh of relief when I was able to put it down (Oh, laundry, yes PLEASE!!), and dreading picking it up again, I realized that it was time to put it aside, and start reading something I could really look forward to. This book has received rave reviews, a real love it/hate it deal, very little middle ground.
But as I was reading this book for a book club discussion, I decided to skim the last couple of chapters, just to give me a sense of where it might have been going. And -- trying to avoid spoilers here -- what I discovered was a bit of a game changer, and makes me want to try again, knowing what I know now. Hmmm, how terribly mysterious, I know.
I still feel that this is a deeply flawed book -- however clever the outcome, there remains the fact that Perry hasn't set it up, or executed it as well as she might have done.
Obviously, on a first reading, I didn't like it much: I found the characters flat, and "one note." I didn't feel that the horror of Melmoth was well conveyed. I thought Perry was skating over things like plot and charcterization with lush, over-written descriptions. When it dawned on me that I was breathing a sigh of relief when I was able to put it down (Oh, laundry, yes PLEASE!!), and dreading picking it up again, I realized that it was time to put it aside, and start reading something I could really look forward to. This book has received rave reviews, a real love it/hate it deal, very little middle ground.
But as I was reading this book for a book club discussion, I decided to skim the last couple of chapters, just to give me a sense of where it might have been going. And -- trying to avoid spoilers here -- what I discovered was a bit of a game changer, and makes me want to try again, knowing what I know now. Hmmm, how terribly mysterious, I know.
I still feel that this is a deeply flawed book -- however clever the outcome, there remains the fact that Perry hasn't set it up, or executed it as well as she might have done.
