The Bus on Thursday
Ratings5
Average rating3.6
15
Ratings5
Average rating3.6
'Intoxicating' Jeff VanderMeer, author of Annihilation 'Barrett's brilliant second novel plummets headlong into a darkly funny tale' Mail on Sunday Bridget Jones meets Twin Peaks in this black comedy about a woman's retreat to a remote Australian town and the horrors awaiting her. It wasn't just the bad breakup that turned Eleanor Mellett's life upside down. It was the cancer. And all the demons that came with it. One day she felt a bit of a bump when she was scratching her armpit at work. The next thing she knew, her breast was being removed by an inappropriately attractive doctor, and she was subsequently inundated with cupcakes, besieged by judgy support groups, and the ungrateful recipient of hand-knitted sweaters from her mum. Luckily, Eleanor finds that Talbingo, a remote little town, needs a primary-school teacher. Their Miss Barker upped and vanished in the night, despite being the most caring teacher ever, according to everyone. Unfortunately, Talbingo is a bit creepy. It's not only the communion-wine-swigging priest prone to rants about how cancer is caused by demons. Or the unstable, overly sensitive kids, always going on about Miss Barker and her amazing sticker system. It's living alone in a remote cabin, with no phone service or wifi, wondering why there are so many locks on the front door, and who is knocking on it late at night. Riotously funny, deeply unsettling, and surprisingly poignant, Shirley Barrett's The Bus on Thursday is a wicked, weird, wild ride for fans of Maria Semple, Stephen King and Henry James's The Turn of the Screw. And when have those three writers ever appeared in the same sentence?
Reviews with the most likes.
Um, ok, so that happened. Did it, though? I'm not 100% sure what I just read, but I thoroughly enjoyed the ride! 4.25 stars.
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The concept of this book really intrigued me and I was excited to start reading it. From the start I didn't like the main character at all (I actually didn't like any of the characters), but persevered because of books like Eleanor Oliphant, where I didn't like the characters at first but grew to love them.
The main character in this is just crass, inappropriate and completely unrelatable. The plot (if you can call it that) is not much better. It is completely bizarre and unbelievable. The demon part is not conceived in enough depth to be a significant part and if developed further could have been an interesting aspect to the book. As it is, the book seems half finished, with more questions than there are answers. It feels like a tangled mess of half complete ideas with awful characters.
Ah, sometimes the perfect book arrives when you are in the perfect mood for it. So it was for me when The Bus on Thurday showed up. I needed a laugh and this snarky little gem fit the bill. Eleanor finds herself starting over in a remote Australian town trying to fill the shoes of, apparently, the greatest teacher who ever breathed. The former teacher disappeared mysteriously and the townfolk still mourn her loss. Everything might be okay, except that Eleanor seems to be losing her mind and the people of the town-very, very strange. I went into it expecting Wicker Man and got more [b:The Red Tree 5356476 The Red Tree Caitlín R. Kiernan https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1312130705s/5356476.jpg 6823081], but I loved every minute of it and found myself laughing out loud multiple times. Also, dandelion leaves as a pregnancy test? WHO KNEW?As for the reviewers who are put off by Eleanor. Yes, she's abrasive and kind of obnoxious but would this story have worked so well if she had been a kind and attentive person? It would not. Also, yay to arrogant, mean female characters! There are not enough of them in literature, but tons and tons of grumpy, arrogant male characters.
Madness and fun. This was the perfect way to start the new year!
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