Reviews from (secret!) book club members
of the fabulous novels read by the group.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Skin
The next book for (secret) book club is Skin. I read it - its really good in a sad sort of way, and had some things I could definitely relate to. It'll be be interesting to see what you guys think about it!
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I'm only on the fourth or fifth chapter, so I can't tell you how I completely feel about this book yet. That being said, it's pretty good so far. It was slightly confusing at first (and what a way to start a book, hu?), but I think it portrais a young boys mind pretty accruately; and that's really saying something since a woman wrote this. Unlike "It's Kind of a Funny Story," I'm able to connect with each of the characters in different ways. I'm excited to see how this one will turn out!!
This book made me really, really angry with a bunch of the characters -- I guess that's a good thing, because a good book is one that gets you "hooked" and involved with the story! The parents, in particular, were frustrating; I wanted them to get out of their own petty problems for just two minutes and look at how much their children were hurting. And ooooh, the line that got under my skin (pun intended!): "She told me I had to let her go [... because] it was harder for her to stay sick when she knew how much I cared about her" (Vrettos 208). It just made me crazy that someone could be as sick as that -- and I was really sad that her friend didn't try to stay and help, or talk to an adult, or *something*!
It'll be interesting to talk about this with you all...
Well I have to say that I liked "Skin" a whole lot more then "It's Kind of a Funny Story". I managed to forge a more personal relationship with some of the characters. I especially liked Donnie. His reserved nature combined with his fantastic imagination made for a really likeable character. I thought that the author did a pretty good job of capturing the voice of a freshman guy…pretty good. That being said I absolutely have to agree with "Larkspur": This book completely frustrated me. During the painfully slow decline of Karen after the first chapter I found myself wanting to scream at the characters. It made me absolutely crazy that Karen simply wasted away right under their noses while they did nothing to help her. The parents were worst of all; the petty, sneaky way that they would fight at dinner, in the car or where ever was absolutely despicable. The moments in which the parents deftly stabbed at each other with seemingly innocuous phrases were some of the most intense parts of the book. The father was my least favorite character of all. It’s absolutely confounding to me how anyone could possibly be as selfish as he was. In the end Donnie cast off his family and created a makeshift one from the people he truly loved. Amanda was his sister. Bobby was his brother. Bobby was an idiot, but, that’s kind of what older brothers are for. Ya know?
4 comments:
I'm only on the fourth or fifth chapter, so I can't tell you how I completely feel about this book yet. That being said, it's pretty good so far. It was slightly confusing at first (and what a way to start a book, hu?), but I think it portrais a young boys mind pretty accruately; and that's really saying something since a woman wrote this. Unlike "It's Kind of a Funny Story," I'm able to connect with each of the characters in different ways. I'm excited to see how this one will turn out!!
Hmm, I get the sense that you are not a young boy yourself... It will be interesting to see if our male club members agree with your assessment!!
This book made me really, really angry with a bunch of the characters -- I guess that's a good thing, because a good book is one that gets you "hooked" and involved with the story! The parents, in particular, were frustrating; I wanted them to get out of their own petty problems for just two minutes and look at how much their children were hurting. And ooooh, the line that got under my skin (pun intended!): "She told me I had to let her go [... because] it was harder for her to stay sick when she knew how much I cared about her" (Vrettos 208). It just made me crazy that someone could be as sick as that -- and I was really sad that her friend didn't try to stay and help, or talk to an adult, or *something*!
It'll be interesting to talk about this with you all...
Well I have to say that I liked "Skin" a whole lot more then "It's Kind of a Funny Story". I managed to forge a more personal relationship with some of the characters. I especially liked Donnie. His reserved nature combined with his fantastic imagination made for a really likeable character. I thought that the author did a pretty good job of capturing the voice of a freshman guy…pretty good. That being said I absolutely have to agree with "Larkspur": This book completely frustrated me. During the painfully slow decline of Karen after the first chapter I found myself wanting to scream at the characters. It made me absolutely crazy that Karen simply wasted away right under their noses while they did nothing to help her. The parents were worst of all; the petty, sneaky way that they would fight at dinner, in the car or where ever was absolutely despicable. The moments in which the parents deftly stabbed at each other with seemingly innocuous phrases were some of the most intense parts of the book. The father was my least favorite character of all. It’s absolutely confounding to me how anyone could possibly be as selfish as he was. In the end Donnie cast off his family and created a makeshift one from the people he truly loved. Amanda was his sister. Bobby was his brother. Bobby was an idiot, but, that’s kind of what older brothers are for. Ya know?
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