In this novel Mr Watts tells Matilda, the main protaganist, that 'you cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames.' So true. But sadly not me when reading this book. Its a shame as I loved the idea of a group of children on a South Seas Island enchanted by Great Expectations. Essentially the narrative is just too detached from the events depicted in the book, terrible things happen, some as a direct result of reading Dickens, but as a reader I was completely undisturbed. But having said all of that, Lloyd Jones is an author I will look out for again as I like his ideas. The good news is that having made it to the 2007 Booker shortlist with this novel his other works (past and future) should be published in the UK.
5 comments:
I am so glad you felt like me - I lost interest and belief some way in, but felt he was a great writer even so.
PS You are very brave to be reading the Didion - don't think I could bear the pain. Even more to the point, I don't know how she bore the pain
I'm glad you think he is a great writer too - as for the Didion, this has been reproaching me from one of my TBR piles and it felt like the right time to read it, but watch this space.
I have read very mixed comments about this book, ranging from it's the best book ever written to how did it ever make the short list? Somehow it hasn't appealed to me and given your experience I don't think I'll move it up the list.
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