Comments on: A book I hurled across the room (plus some cheap shots at The Machinist)

By: cro1983

cro1983 — Tue, 27 Dec 2016 04:32:00 +0000

In reply to Celia. OMG I just finished it today. It was weirdly written in that they would describe the character of Tatiana multiple times within the same 10 pages. And what was with the no chapters bullshit? I don't generally hate any book i read but seriously i did not like this book. It was hard to read with a weird tempo and the ending just sealed it.

By: misswells

misswells — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 14:44:18 +0000

This reminded me of everything I hated about Shutter Island, which I’m guessing you a) haven’t read but b) don’t mind me spoiling because c) it’s a murder mystery SORT OF and d) it has an incredibly disappointing ending. Did you see the trailer for the Scorsese movie? Did it scare the pants off you? It did me, so I read the book first, gleefully anticipating being totally creeped out. But no, [SPOILER ALERT] it’s all in DiCaprio’s head. He’s really a PATIENT in this asylum, not a detective, and all the hallucinating is because he can’t deal with having killed his wife. Apart from being totally disappointing, I hate when endings like this are told from the first-person perspective because it means the narrator has to conveniently regain his sanity just long enough to explain everything to us. UGH. I hate when the payoff for having an unreliable narrator is “just kidding, shit’s totally normal.”

By: Celia

Celia — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 03:08:00 +0000

The ending really irritated me as well – because yes, what was the *point* of it all – but I had already been irritated by the tedious repetition of the narrative. Which I suppose is a stylistic choice, but not one that I enjoyed.

By: Nish

Nish — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 12:57:08 +0000

Ughh! I hate books (and movies) where everything seems to be a dream. So corny and a total cop out. I think the only time I actually swallowed something like this was Alice in Wonderland.

By: Gin Jenny

Gin Jenny — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 13:24:37 +0000

In reply to Chrisbookarama. Hahahaha, no, no, your position is very valid! It's just a personal taste that I have. If a book's going to sell itself as supernatural, I damn well want it to be supernatural!

By: Gin Jenny

Gin Jenny — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 13:15:26 +0000

In reply to Sharon. What'd you think was going on?

By: Gin Jenny

Gin Jenny — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 13:13:43 +0000

In reply to Aonghus Fallon. Yes! This is my thing -- if you are sold on a book being one kind of story, and it turns out to be something different, that's a really frustrating experience. And, I think, a failure of marketing, in a lot of cases.

By: Gin Jenny

Gin Jenny — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 13:12:04 +0000

In reply to Heather. What fuckery is that? I am not familiar with that fuckery. SAY ON.

By: Gin Jenny

Gin Jenny — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 13:09:38 +0000

In reply to @MegsGranger. So, I guess my thing was that I like psychological thrillers, and I like stories about guilt, but I don't like it when stories sell themselves as one but actually are the other. That is the source of my rage with The Machinist. Also Christian Bale. I hate that dude's face.

By: Gin Jenny

Gin Jenny — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 13:07:35 +0000

In reply to Stefanie. And I so rarely throw books across the room!