Have you ever read a book where none of the characters held any appeal for you? Well I just finished that type of book for me. The title is You Remind Me of Me by Dan Chaon.
A friend sent me this book because I shared that I don't like novels that move in a linear fashion but bend time with flashbacks. I started it months ago and first kept reading out of obligation because I admire this friend and her literary sensibilities. Then I kept thinking 'maybe if I just get to the middle of the book' the characters will undergo some major developmental change...didn't happen...then when I was 2/3rds of the way through, I kept thinking that all the adults should just vanish to save the only child present in the book from a generational curse. I finished it because I couldn't stand the thought of not knowing how these characters turned out since they didn't seem to have the ability to learn from their experiences.
At the end of the book, I figured out that it was a story of how mental illness and the environment surrounding our births can be passed on from one generation to the next and never be recognized as such. Overall, it was a dull (sometimes interesting) story about dull people living ordinary lives and their unresolved issues.
I will definitely bookcross this one...if anyone wants the book, let me know...first one who says so, I'll gladly mail it to you...otherwise I'll do a book drop at one of the coffee shops I frequent.
OOps! Think I'll pass on this one. Funny though, how differently people can read the same book. I've recommended books that friends found...lacking. They recommend books that I can only finish through a sense of obligation. YET we will also have books in common that we both love.
ReplyDeleteBut I HAVE to be able to connect to the characters in some way.
Okay, so guilty as charged! Glad you finished it, though. Please cut my name out of it before you drop it off at a coffee shop. Or else it might end up worth a ton of money when I become famous. Then you'll regret not having held onto it! lol...
ReplyDeletePeace,
Michele
I've done the obligatory book read more times than I think is good for me -- and I'm about half mad at myself at the end of the book for persevering when I could have done something more enjoyable with my time. I guess I always think that the book of the moment will be the one where there suddenly is an "ah ha" moment and I'll have missed it.
ReplyDeleteSee, Michele, I was going to let you remain anonymous, as in I didn't finger point a link to your site.
ReplyDeleteYou're more virtuous than I am, having persevered..but it's not worth it to me to read anything where I find I don't care about the characters. Life is too short.
ReplyDeleteYou might like "A Bend in the Road" by Nicholas Sparks. It is written in a very interesting way where the past and present merge at one point in the book. Plus, it sounds like it will be a more compelling read than the one you just finished! Aloha!
ReplyDelete