Mindi
I read the entire book today. Good way to spend a morning/afternoon. I had to come out onto the porch to read it because I was getting creeped out sitting in my house. Overall an enjoyable read, though I figured the twist out early on and the ending will probably piss a lot of people off. Worse ways to spend a day off, though.
Loved it. I really, really hope they catch this guy and I'm really bummed that she died before she figured it out, because I feel like she would have.
Also, I need to talk to someone immediately about the Visalia Ransacker and the hilariously weird physical descriptions of him because this clearly wasn't a human person.
I'm blowing through the Matthew Scudder series in audiobook form during long hours at the office, and they're really great for work listening. Interesting enough so I don't fall asleep, but not so complex that I'm easily distracted and can't get any work done while I listen. You know those lists of books that are ‘easy reads' that are supposed to be great for vacations or when your brain is tired or you just want to read something mindless? You know how they're usually full of fluffy chick-lit and YA novels?* This crime series should be on those lists.
A quick note that there are some minor problematic things in these early books (which were written in the 70s) that I hope disappeared with the later books. Given the time when it was written, fairly understandable, but I feel it's important to mention. In spite of these issues I feel that even in the 70's Block did a decent job of depicting independent women and minorities even if his language in those depictions was a bit clunky at times. The narrator that I had for the audiobooks laid the effeminate voice on pretty thick for the gay male characters, but I'll blame the audio narrator for that and not the author.
I did finish book three, ‘Time to Murder and to Create', before I read this one, but did not review it, I enjoyed it but I would warn people who are easily triggered away from it. All of the books in this series feature violence and death but book three has a character who is a child predator.
I'm looking forward to listening to the next one on a 12 hour weekend shift!
*not that there's anything wrong with chick-lit or YA novels!
This is a sequel of sorts to ‘The End of Vandalism'..if you can really call a plotless followup to a plotness novel a ‘sequel'. There are several of the same characters and it's helpful to have read the first one, but not wholly necessary. Once again, Tom Drury amazes and confuses me. I can't get enough of his writing even though I can't figure out exactly why I like it. He's some sort of genius. In any case, the same thing applies to this novel as to the last: you're either going to fall in love with his style or loathe it. For me, it's the former.
Update 5/2024:
Just relistening to the audiobook and reposting this review. Still loving the book, and can't wait to read the other two in the series again. Highly recommended.
I listened to this book in audio form over the course of a few days and thoroughly enjoyed it. Why I enjoyed it, I have no idea. There's no real plot here, though the stories are all vaguely connected. There's no point.
But it's fantastic, in part because it's a lot different than any fiction you've probably ever read. It's a good choice if you're just bored with fiction, a nice palate cleanser when you're having a hard time getting into anything. When I reached the end I just said ‘What?'
That's not to say this is one of those books with a ‘you decide what happens' or cliffhanger ending, which I absolutely loathe. It just ends where it ends.
Tom Drury has a very unique style and I get the feeling individual readers will either love it or hate it. If you fall on love side of the fence you'll enjoy this book. If not I think you'll abandon it after the first couple of chapters.
I listened to Motherless Brooklyn in audio form, and I highly recommend you do the same. I have a feeling my rating may have been a little less if I had read it in book form. Although I wouldn't recommend listening to it in a public place. (Luckily for me, I'm all alone in the office on the weekends.)
This is the sort of mob-crime-mystery story that most people have read or at least watched in movie form at some point, but with a twist. The narrator and main character has Tourette's and OCD.
The potential for this portrayal to be problematic is high, of course, but I was pleasantly surprised. The author manages to make the reader/listener sympathetic to the character without making him pitiable. The story itself kept me hooked despite it's slight predictability simply because the narrator was so damn interesting.
Loved it.