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The Other Hand - have I missed the point?

5 replies

deaconblue · 31/07/2009 19:31

the blurb goes on about not telling anyone who hasn't read the book what happens and there's lots of talk about the "magic" of the story revealing itself. So have I missed something? it seemed fairly predictable to me as soon as Sarah joined Little Bee in Nigeria that she would give up her life for the little boy at the end.

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MamaKaty · 31/07/2009 19:43

I quite enjoyed parts of it, but I agree it definately did NOT live up to the blurb on the book

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MummyDragon · 31/07/2009 20:07

Yep, I agree ... after reading the back cover I was intrigued, but I really had to struggle to get to the end. I suppose the point of the book was that Little Bee's whole journey was in vain as she lost her life anyway - but I didn't think that this was revealed in a particularly moving, clever or wham-bam way .... and what sort of a point is that anyway?! Or is that the point??? I dunno. I think we're looking for a deeper meaning that isn't there!

Bit disappointed really!

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Thinkstoomuch · 31/07/2009 20:15

I found the blurb a bit baffling too. In fact the book was a bit of a disappointment and I might have enjoyed it more if I hadn't read the guff on the cover. And am I the only one who thought the speech of the four-year-old son in the book just didn't sound realistic? The choice of words and the oddly babyish phrases were like no real four year old would use. I love Chris Cleave's column in the Guardian where he talks so movingly about his kids and portrays them in a way I can completely relate to, so it was a bit odd that the child in the book didn't ring true.

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stubbyfingers · 31/07/2009 20:18

oh god, I'm reading this at the mo but haven't got that far!

But it's taking me a while as I'm not loving it really. I agree Thinkstoomuch, that having enjoyed his column I am disappointed in the little bot character.

I'm about half way through - is it worth persevering or is life too short?

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deaconblue · 31/07/2009 20:38

agree little boy just odd. My 3 yr old doesn't make the grammatical baby errors the 4 yr old makes. Worth reading to the end but I wasn't moved and I always cry at sad endings.