Court
Amazing message and perspective...it just had the potential to be told in a more powerful way. Ms. Walk comes off to me as a casual/beginning writer and her prose is not to my taste.
Her message is beautiful, share with it with family and friends, or anyone who you think might need it.
(I've not read ‘Eat, Pray, Love' but it makes me think that those who enjoyed that story might enjoy it; read into that what you will)
3.5?
Parts of it was exactly what I wanted: man's nature, what it means to create and to be responsible for our creation, difficult decisions, man v man, man v self, man v nature, eloquence, gothic fiction...
At other times it was long winded about things that did not connect (or at least did not seem to) such as the level of detail about the people the creature spent time with. At least when Hugo went on and on about the Paris sewer system it connected in the end.
It helped that I had recently read a graphic adaptation of the story; they helped make sense of each other.
Huh, I read this six years ago... I don't recall. However, I'm rating it just the same as I did the first time.
I think that Jason is authentic (enough). He has things he wants, things he wants to avoid, preferences, a special interest/skill (SO glad it was not referred to as a super power), insight, and at times he changes his mind.
I also thought that the family and school setting were really well written.
I was expecting so much more...
This book was meta, it read like a fanfiction about fanfiction, but whereas I believe that well written fanfiction is out there, I perceive that most of it is juvenile, clumsy writing that is stereotypically lacking on structure/plot and goes for drama.
I understand that Cath spent ten years without a mother, and she's supposed to be this awkward person, but it still came off like she didn't know how to be a person. Towards the end she had a fight with Levi and she kept saying that he didn't understand. When someone, especially someone you love, doesn't understand something, instead of saying that over and over, you're supposed to explain it to them. She also put forth minimal effort to find the dining hall...
I loved what the writing professor said about fanfiction/plagiarism and I wanted it to be addressed more. I loved where it was heading, of the possibility that it doesn't matter the form but that great writing/storytelling is being created. I mean I love graphic novels and it can be argued that they are not ‘acceptable' forms. I wanted Cath to make an argument (at least in her head), to bring up ghostwriting or hell even ‘50 Shades of Grey'. I also wanted more with the Nick storyline being connected to that.
I'm not a fan of romance as a genre. I'm fine with it as being part of a story, but if it is an integral part of the plot I'm already grumpy. I didn't understand Cath's motivation or even emotions behind being intimate (kissing and ‘stuff').
That being said I do think that Levi was well written.
As much as the book made me (literally) cringe, I still wanted to know what was going to happen next and I did laugh at parts. I enjoyed the neurotic and semi-clueless dad (gravioli thought was funny: ‘panda bears don't hibernate') Reagan was bearable.
There were SO many good elements to this book, but I guess they just didn't mix right for my taste. I liked that it was a little odd, but, at times, I had difficulty assessing the intended tone as well as subject/time jumps.
Additional volumes are available at my library, currently I'm undecided if I'll check out the next volume.
Somethings made me squirm, somethings I loved, some of these things aren't mutually exclusive. Caitlin at times felt very real and I loved that at times she was ‘bratty'. I also felt that she was very inconsistent, sometimes that inconsistency broke my suspension of disbelief, yet other times it paradoxically lent to her authenticity.
Her portrayal of Aspergers is her own. There's some rigidity, not understanding figurative language/taking things literally (yet at times being very adept at using it squirm or engaging in imaginative play), not being self aware, repetitive motions, routines, etc.
There were others things that frustrated me, but they're supposed to (?). Such as Caitlin's school. Her teachers are awful at treating her with respect - one refers to her as autistic in front of the class and at another time she is shaken by a teacher. I understand that the author may have chosen to portray imperfect teachers, but I felt it was incongruent because it talked a lot about how it's such a small community, how it's so close. The author also says that this was supposed to show her receiving early intervention, but if that were the case these things would not have happened. I give some leniency due to ‘Unreliable narrator', but these were out of line.
Caitlin's (mis)understanding of working in a group project irritated me, she's at least ten and has a ridiculously high reading level. She knows what group means.
