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James Koppert (2698 KP) rated The Porpoise in Books

Oct 30, 2019  
The Porpoise
The Porpoise
Mark Haddon | 2019 | Crime, History & Politics, Mystery, Thriller
5
6.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Could have been so special
The Porpoise is a difficult book to review. It is indeed an accomplished piece of work, well written, engaging and very clever. It's just a little schizophrenic. The Porpoise is the name of a boat. Well not a boat, various boats throughout time. The book begins set in modern times with a plane crash leaving a very rich man with a daughter and no mother where an unhealthy relationship begins. This is a great engrossing story, brave and strong and you become completely invested in the story and characters and just as one of them boards a boat called the porpoise it becomes a retelling of the ancient story of Pericles, a story Shakespeare also retold, and its Shakespeare's retelling that in combined in future and past. Confused? You may be. And again, his retelling of Pericles set in ancient times is expertly done, bold, extravagant and inspired. It is just that, what happened to the girl from the plane crash, and now where has Pericles daughter got to...and...and...?
I have read all three of Haddon's novels, and he is a great storyteller and this novel just feels like an opportunity missed. It's not that it's badly done, and I am sure the critics adored it but in terms of being absorbed and invested in characters that just disappear as we disappear back in time and never really giving you the meat to any of their adventures to digest, it is a little like having a gourmet meal but not filling your tummy up enough to leave your stomach satisfied.
  
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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated The Secret History in Books

Jan 3, 2018  
The Secret History
The Secret History
Donna Tartt | 1993 | Fiction & Poetry
7
7.7 (9 Ratings)
Book Rating
Engrossing at times but overall disappointing
This novel left me with mixed feelings, as sometimes the prose was wonderful while other times, there were glaring flaws.

Surrounding a misfit at an exclusive New England college, Richard finds kindred spirits in the five eccentric students of his ancient Greek class. He becomes engulfed in their dark secrets and things spiral out of control.

The atmosphere surrounding this group of elitist college students smacks of a wannabe Great Gatsby - there's a sense of self-importance, entitlement, and grandeur, of self-indulgence and pretence. While this worked to an extent in terms of characterisation, it also made for a great exasperation for the reader. The characters are so unlikable that you don't even care about what happens to them. And they do appear to be grotesque caricatures of 19th century archetypes bolted on to an otherwise standard 1980's drink and drugs college environment.

The characters lacked depth, although Tartt attempted to mirror them in the Greek stories they studied. In essence it is a good story with some stylish writing but also some dull and tedious conversations and descriptions. Disappointing.