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March 19, 2008 1:58 PM
BOOK REVIEW: When to Walk by Rebecca Gowers
Reviewed by Sarah Hague
Do you know the feeling of meeting someone and immediately all your hackles rise? For some reason, you dislike on impact the person before you.
There are books like that too. It may have nothing to do with the quality of the book but everything to do with a clash between the mindset of the author and yourself. When to Walk is one of those books for me.
One lunch time, Ramble's husband declares, in an offensive speech, that he is leaving her mainly due to her own shortcomings which have come to grate to a degree he can no longer stand. He gets up and goes out and leaves her to contemplate... well, everything.
Which is why the story grates on me. It is oppressively contemplative. I felt sucked in to the inner workings of a brain I didn't wish to know. Brains are notoriously unconnected when distressed and hers left me with an impression of irritation rather than compassion. Basically I didn't care what became of her.
Despite my antipathy to the story, it is very well written, and if you like that sort of thing, you'll probably find it funny in places and a beautiful portrait of a bewildered woman.
Me, I just wanted to smack her.
Rating: 1/4
Like this? Try The Ivy Chronicles by Karen Quinn
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Posted by Keris on March 19, 2008 in British Authors, Rating: 1/5, Recent Release | Permalink
Comments
I had this exact experience watching the film Into The Wild. I just wanted to smack that arrogant kid upside his fat head. But it was still a good film and even had me sobbing at the end. Isn't it funny how a character can be so damned irritating that it even makes you angry? Although, the "character" in Into The Wild was actually a real person, which was why I was so affected by the ending. But had I been reading the book, I would have tossed it against the wall two pages in.
Posted by: Lucie Simone | March 19, 2008 4:51 PM
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