Very long and slow-paced, more character sketches than plot-driven. There's no main character; you follow the stories of several people in the small town of Pagford and how their lives are affected by the death of council member Barry Fairbrother. No one is painted black or white, but rather shades of gray, so it's difficult to fully like or detest any one character. Rowling is a fantastic storyteller. I'm always amazed at her talent for developing characters and interweaving their story lines. Even though the book was sometimes tedious and slow, and quite depressing throughout, I found myself compelled to read on. I wanted to know how it would all end, how Rowling would tie it all together. I was a little disappointed in the ending. It seemed a little anti-climactic after all the excitement of that one fateful day about 3/4 of the way through. But in the end I was just kind of relieved it was over, so I didn't care all that much about how it ended. Now I feel like I need to do something uplifting and fun-filled, to get the heavy, depressive feeling off me. Ugh. Three stars from me.
Get the book on Amazon.
Read reviews of it on Goodreads.
Read about J. K. Rowling on her Goodreads page.
No comments:
Post a Comment