(no subject)

[electricland]

Okey. I'm back. Yay for half an hour of sobering-up time! What did I say before?

*checks*

Wow, that was so comprehensive I'm not really sure I can top it. < /irony > Time to go home, methinks.

I'll check back with y'all regarding the boys, sweet creatures that they are.

wanderingaengus, reviews on Shopgirl were mixed. Very. Maria and Marisa liked it in an inoffensive sort of way (partly because it was short, I think). Paul opened with "I thought it was absolute crap" but softened over the course of the evening to "I didn't absolutely hate it." I only got halfway through so didn't feel fully qualified to comment.

I am realizing why the omniscient narrator is used sparingly in fiction: he/she is really, really tiresome.

I had no particular feeling for any of the characters. This is a defect for me, but doesn't seem to be a drawback for everyone.

Marisa found the two-way conversations, in which Mr. Ray Porter says one thing and Mirabelle understands another, illuminating. She demanded that her husband explain them. I found them condescending ("and she thinks this, but he actually means that, and a lot of people would believe this"). Paul found them pretty realistic, in terms of the relationship.

We all found it fairly slight. It lacked substance. Again, some liked it for this reason. I am witholding judgment until I finish it.

It was my turn to pick a book, and I hadn't had time to prepare, so I'm decreeing that all shall read Wyrd Sisters. And why not, after all?

Comments

[iagofan.livejournal.com]

somebody gave me Shopgirl as a gift, because i'm a fan of Steve Martin. but i found it to be an uninspiring read. i also didn't absolutely hate it.

[lilactime.livejournal.com]

I read Shopgirl a few years ago, and would have to agree with the general consensus - it was cute, and sort of fluffy in a "good book for the beach" kind of way. No one's going to be handing Steve Martin any literary awards for it, but it's light and inoffensive enough that no one is going to hate it either. I'd recommend it as a beach book or as a good airplane book (I can never read anything serious on an airplane, as the engine noise really distracts me from concentrating - I need either silly fashion magazines or fluffy light fiction).

[wanderingaengus.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised at the range of responses. It's a fun book -- a quick, pleasant read. I was surprised to find myself getting mad at the book when I tried thinking about it for a minute. Just writing a couple sentences was enough to completely alter the initial impression. I got angry that I'd wasted a few hours on that dust bunny of a book.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

I'm realizing that the main aspect that bugs me (and why am I still thinking about this?) is the narrator, in addition to being omniscient, is one hell of a know-it-all. Perhaps that's it?

[wanderingaengus.livejournal.com]

It's not a book about what the characters are feeling, but what they should be feeling, and what they will be feeling five years later, and so forth. It seemed a very LA book, steeped in therapy culture and the notion that there are rules and regulations which human emotion ought to adhere to. It seems a bit inimical to the whole idea of the novel. As though mystery were reducible to manners -- to swipe Flannery O'Connor's line.

[electricland.livejournal.com]

Yup to all.

There's also a problem if you go in expecting riotous comedy because of the author, 'cause it ain't there.