Friday, July 19, 2013

Just finished reading

I normally wait until I have a round up for you but I really loved this one and had to share. I'm torn because I came to this book cold and I think it might be best experienced that way. But I know some of you would prefer to know something about it before you decide to read it, so I'll just try not to say too much.


I'd read Behind the Scenes at the Museum a long time ago and enjoyed it. I also really liked Case Histories, which is a beautifully written crime novel and therefore hits two of my sweet spots. Kate Atkinson is an exceedingly clever writer and I know some readers probably felt Life After Life was too much an exercise in cleverness but I devoured it.

It's a bit like an adult choose your own adventure, except you get to see how all the adventures turn out. This thrills me to core, since I'm a terrible overthinker. In real life, this is a disaster. There are infinite ways in which things could have gone differently and it generally doesn't pay to sit around thinking about them. But in a novel? I found it so satisfying. You get to see the protagonist live several different lives and you see how a small decision changes the course of her story.

A book with this structure has the potential to be extremely tedious. Atkinson is constantly backtracking, retracing steps, re-exploring covered ground. The book is long (over 500 pages) but somehow I never got tired of it. You see the same events but she manages to approach them from slightly different angles each time, which takes the repetitiveness out of it.

My one reservation is the denouement, which gets a little intense and involves Hitler. (I've tried to re-word that sentence so it makes more sense but I don't want to give too much away so I'm just going to leave it as is - it's a fair description, even though it doesn't do the book justice.) I think it was intended to be the thread that holds the book together and makes the plot a little more traditional, but I'm not sure I needed it. I would have been fine with the book just winding down.

I think this novel might require a certain type of reader. I'm happy to read dozens of iterations of the same story, provided it's done well. Atkinson does it well and makes it interesting.

Have any of you guys read it? As soon as I'd finished I wanted to force someone else to read it so I could discuss it immediately but a 500+ page book is a hard sell, especially when you're all on vacation.

14 comments:

  1. This sounds vaguely reminiscent of "Replay" by Grimwood. But only vaguely...

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  2. Loved this book! It was a quick read even though it seems large. I also, didn't know anything about it going in and am glad of it.

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  3. Also, my husband's birthday is February 11, which was a bit funny.

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    1. Oh,that must have been funny! You see the date so often.

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  4. I love a good recommendation.
    I know Behind the Scenes was critically acclaimed but I didn't get in to it...so may give her writing another go with this. Thanks!

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  5. Oh, I just got my copy from amazon last week (must say, the European cover is better than the American) and am a couple of chapters in - loving it so far, but do agree that you kind of need to concentrate to keep track, at least until you get the pace of the book.
    Hope I still love it when I'm done, had heard good things, but only that some loved it, nothing about the story (which I prefer)

    hugs from Denmark
    Heiðdís

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    1. Yes, this cover was not great! If I didn't already know the author I might not have checked it out (but I'm totally guilty of judging a book by the cover, at least when I'm browsing). Hope you enjoy it!

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  6. I can't believe you're posting about this book. My aunt, who recommends the best books, told me about this one. I put my name on the wait list at the library and I'm picking it up today. Can't wait to start!

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  7. I just started reading this and am a little more than half through, I devoured all the brodie series that began with Case Histories, and this book did not disappoint! Her ability to change voice is lovely, I really am loving it!

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    1. I haven't read the entire Brodie series yet, just the first one. I need to get on that! I'm not sure if my library has all of them.

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  8. Oh, we're reading this for book club this month! I haven't read it yet, but I've got to soon.

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  9. I want to read this! I have it on my list, I am glad to read that you gave it a thumbs up. My MIL got me hooked on the smart crime novels even though I usually don't like fiction, but they are like candy and I love it when I am genuinely surprised by the outcome!

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  10. I literally just finished reading it about 10 minutes ago and then I found you via Emily Schuman's blog and nearly fell over when I saw this post! I had never heard of this novel-- picked it up at Heathrow as part of the WHSmith 2-for-1 deal they always have going. And I LOVED IT! I am so sorry to be finished the novel and I can't wait to go and get more of her work to read.

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