Book Review (The R*oad)

(I'm pretty careful to write (or talk) about books/movies with NO spoilers. I'm pretty sure I've not given anything away that you'd not want to know if you plan to read the book.)

I've read many O*prah Book Club books. Usually I really like the books. When I saw that she got an exclusive interview with the author, and how much she recommended the book, I decided to try it out. (As an aside, I was really wanting the Sara Donati book in the sidebar, but the bookstore didn't have it in stock and the paperback (which I prefer to read) was coming out in Sept. (I was told) so I decided to wait.)

Most of you probably don't know but I really like survivalism books. So having heard a bit about it, it seemed right up my alley.

Let me just say here that the book was a good read. Not at all what I was expecting and so dark in places that it took my breath away, but it had good content.

Having said that, and really disliking strong critique of someones work, the style of writing just drove me nuts.

There. I said it.

Did you know that there is not chapter one in the book? Really. I'm not joking. No chapters. Just different paragraphs.

And the boy and his father are not named, did you know that? No names. (And yes, I know many "reasons" why this would be done in writing. I get the writing style. But mostly it doesn't work for me. And in this case, it really doesn't work for me.) So at times it's hard to know who is saying what. Another reason you might not be able to tell who is saying what is because there are no "punctuation" indicating that someone is saying anything at all.

But that's not what drove me nuts. What drove me nuts was how flowery the style of writing was.

I know it's me. I know that others get a lot out of poetic writing styles, but I just don't. I don't "see" others flowery visions.

I like things plain and simple. Practical. I suppose I get overwhelmed when I need to decipher every second sentence.

My husband, on the other hand, thought the writing was beautiful. I'd read him a paragraph now and again that was driving me crazy and he didn't see it the same way at all. He thought the writing was stunning and poetic.

If anyone is interested, I'd be happy to pass it around. I'd really like to hear others thoughts on it.

Any takers?