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Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

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Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

What we're reading

The Essex serpent-am I ever going to like it?

31 replies

buckeejit · 21/04/2018 23:35

I'm half way through & not connecting with it at all. It's on audio & wondering whether to bother continuing....everyone else seems to love it. Is this as good as it gets?

OP posts:

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NambiBambi · 21/04/2018 23:40

Reading this with interest as I have got it out of the library for the second time and still haven't got round to it. I don't know why exactly...

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butteredbarmbrack · 21/04/2018 23:41

I struggled through to the end, but also wasn't convinced. I read The Power by Naomi Alderman recently too and similarly finished it more through a sense of duty than because I enjoyed it.....

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buckeejit · 22/04/2018 08:42

I hated the Power-worst book of last year.

I'm going to return it-both these are on audio. I'm all my life I've struggled to the end of books that I'm not into & what is the point? There was such hype behind this one too. No more! Probably didn't help that I quickly absorbed a very good book on the middle of this one. Oh well, onwards & upwards. Thanks both!

OP posts:

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falaciousreasoning · 22/04/2018 08:48

I gave up about a third of the way through. Just couldn't get into it at all. It is the first book I have ever given up on, normally I just trundle along to the end for closure but haven't given TES a second thought.

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AlonsoTigerHeart · 22/04/2018 08:50

I found it bloody dull! Nothing happens
I thought I must of missed some hidden subtext because people rave about it

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Macauley · 22/04/2018 08:56

I was disappointed. I Just couldn’t get into it, so gave up.

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ElasticFirecracker · 22/04/2018 09:03

This has failed to grab me too. I had expected to enjoy it, but it just seems flat and dull. I was listening to it in audio and I wondered whether it could be something to do with the voice of the reader which has a certain unexpressive tone to it.

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EyeDrops · 22/04/2018 09:18

I'm struggling through The Power at the minute, and gave The Essex Serpent to read next - oh dear!

I've been stuck on The Power for months. I just don't like any of the characters and it's all just a bit miserable.

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MrsMarigold · 22/04/2018 10:01

I read The Essex Serpent last summer, quite weak and I didn't enjoy it, Ulysses was easier to read which is saying something.

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buckeejit · 22/04/2018 10:03

Put it away! I'm feeling so liberated by the thought of not finishing & using that precious time to spend on something I will actually enjoy. It's taken me to get to 40 years old to reach this point though.

I've already moved on to Dark matter by Blake Crouch & 40 minutes in, its good so far

OP posts:

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WrenNatsworthy · 22/04/2018 10:07

I loved both of the books you mention.

The Essex Serpent is funny, reminds me of Jane Austen with it's subtle humour.

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fredabear · 22/04/2018 10:10

I didn’t enjoy it, kept thinking I would so persevered but was relieved to finally finish it.

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NaomiAlderman · 22/04/2018 10:32

As the author of The Power (really, I promise!) I would say: 100% don't finish it if you're not enjoying it. Give it to a charity shop and find something you like better. You have my full permission!

(A lot of people have "must finish book" guilt. I used to have it myself. But I realised that literally no author in the world wants you to struggle through their book while going "I'm hating this, I can't bear it." None of us wrote the books for that. Let them go, be free, not all books are for everyone.)

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Thiswayorthatway · 22/04/2018 10:35

I liked The Power, dark but interesting pretext. The Essex Serpent was dull.

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UtterlyDesperate · 22/04/2018 10:41

It took me a good while to get in to the Essex Serpent (about 1/3 the book) but it was worth persevering with imo - I came to really enjoy it.

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Helmetbymidnight · 22/04/2018 10:50

Hello Naomi (eek fan-girl)
I loved disobedience- can't wait to see the film. I also liked the one you did set in university - too excited to look it up.
The power is on obamas list of books of the year- that must have been thrilling- I'd love to see a film of it- its a very filmic book!

I enjoyed the Essex serpent v much but found the Essex serpent the least interesting thing about it. I loved Cora and martha and the rev- beautiful characterisations.

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AlecOrAlonzo · 22/04/2018 10:53

I really enjoyed The Essex Serpent.

I thought all the different portrayals of love were so interesting.

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StoatofDisarray · 22/04/2018 10:55

I got to the end but it wasn't worth it.

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runningoutofjuice · 22/04/2018 11:01

'Interesting enough to keep me wanting to finish it but the ending was a bit of a damp squib'.

My review on Amazon

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Helmetbymidnight · 22/04/2018 11:24

'Interesting enough to keep me wanting to finish it but the ending was a bit of a damp squib'

This would have been a good review of the Miniaturist too.

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Nuffaluff · 22/04/2018 19:12

I read this very recently. I found it a bit meh. It was readable. I liked the characters well enough. It was well written, very lyrical.
But. Nothing much really happened. And it didn’t make me feel anything. And why were three people in love with her? Just why? She really wasn’t that amazing.
I enjoyed The Power though. Lots of fun and covered every feminist issue in a clever way. Looking forward to a heated debate about it at my book group next week! I love it and one of the other members hated it.
The Miniaturist. Oh yes, so underwhelming. A complete cop out with the whole magical dolls house thing at the end.

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SeriousChutzpah · 23/04/2018 09:42

Hi @NaomiAlderman, I have a bone to pick with you. I have no less than three undergraduates writing dissertations on gender in speculative fiction, and if I read one more slightly clunky comparison between The Power and The Handmaid's Tale, occasionally with a sideloop via The Hunger Games, I will lie down on my office carpet and bang my head off the filing cabinet.

Thank you for listening.

OP, I thought The Essex Serpent was a brilliant premise that wasn't worked through well at all -- I thought it was all premise and a vivid setting, but no fully-realised characters, and just needed more revisions.

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SatsukiKusakabe · 23/04/2018 10:55

I loved The Essex Serpent, but I would say if you aren’t enjoying it at half way then you won’t. It doesn’t go anywhere, there is no major revelation or big twist, or anything that will make it “worth it” - it is a subtle and beautifully written exploration of themes of friendship, progress and mystery and I enjoyed on those terms. If it’s not for you at the beginning it won’t be at the end

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TonTonMacoute · 23/04/2018 16:35

It’s not going to get any better.

I stuck with it, but didn’t love it, DH really enjoyed it though.

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karmatsunami85 · 24/04/2018 09:54

I absolutely loved 'The Essex Serpent', easily the best book I read last year next to 'Autumn' by Ali Smith.

That said, I really struggled to get into Sarah Perry's first novel, 'After Me Comes the Flood'. I stopped reading a few chapters in and haven't gone back to it. I agree with everyone who says that if you're not enjoying it, don't keep going. As an ex-literature student, there seems to be this massive taboo about not having read/enjoyed the big hitters of lit-fiction. Such nonsense, you like what you like and everything else can be for others.