After I finished I was reading some of the praise the novel had been given and the review from the Philadelphia Inquirer summed up exactly how I felt about this book.
"Harris makes us care about her characters, that alone makes this a novel worth ready. Her particular skill, however, is for sensory detail... Her prose reads like poetry, and it is a physical experience to fall into her imagery."The book is about Framboise Simon (I had no idea how to pronounce this and it drove me crazy throughout the book. Her nickname is Boise and it felt wrong to say it all western US country when its a lovely French name). She tells the story from her 65 year old self perspective. Much of the story takes place during the German occupation when she is 9 years old. During this summer some tragedy takes place and Boise's mother is held responsible, thus changing the lives of her and her siblings, as well as the entire town.
The story unfolds, quite slowly, layer by layer as Boise reads through her mother's scrapbook of recipes and ramblings/journaling. At first I didn't know what to make of the characters, not sure if I wanted to like them or sympathize with them. I eventually did come to empathize and also like many of them. But what is really amazing about this book is the storytelling. Its amazing how intricately the story is woven and unfolded. And even more amazing is the sensory detail. You can taste, smell, and feel so much reading this novel.
However, with all that said I don't feel like I can recommend this book to anyone. It is (like so many other "grown up" books) rated "R" for language and for some pretty dark things happening. It is also very sad. Some of the reviews were that it was "sweet" but I think its more like a downer sprinkled with some sugar throughout. The downer didn't really get me down, and like I said I was able to empathize with most of the characters so I was able to enjoy it. I really, really hate the language though. Seriously, don't recommend a book to me if it has a bunch of swearing, I'm better off without it. Perhaps you think this childish of me, but I am a firm believer that swearing is never necessary to a story. As an actor, I was always able to convey the emotion without needing the language to convince the audience I really felt that way. Authors can (and should) be held to the same standard. When I read to Bryant, if there is a cuss word I just skip it, I don't replace it because there is generally absolutely NO need for it. OK, I'll get off my soap box now.
All in all, the storytelling was so well done that I was able to enjoy the book and I give it 3 stars. I think I may have to stick with Young Adult fiction and some safe classics... darn those modern "grown up" authors.
2 comments:
Kim I personally say thank you for sticking to your moral values when it comes to the language of a book. To me that is refreshing. Things can be put across without the bad language.
I love you tons.
Mom Holliday
What happened to "jeese louise," "golly," "gosh darn it," "love a duck," and so forth? Totally works for me!
I just finished a non-fiction book written by an anthropologist that had more swear words in it than I care for - I tried to be patient with it because she was simply putting on paper what her subjects were saying. Ughh.
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