Anyone read The Names?

The Names is only £3.64 for the paperback version on Amazon currently. Bargain!

I didn't think id like it either, not my type of book, but so glad I did. I too listened on Audible and had to keep rewinding, not because I hadn't followed the story, but because certain bits resonated so much.

Interesting to hear everyone’s take on this book. I liked it a lot, it was such a clever idea for a book but maybe just didn’t have enough depth for me. I maintain that the main character would not have gone through with the name change to Bear if actually in this position…that stuck with me throughout and made it a bit implausible for me

“…..I lost my mum to DV…….”
I am so sorry this has happened to you @HighLadyofTheNightCourt.

I read it all today. Found it uplifting, upsetting and unputdownable.

Do agree it should have some kind of trigger warning. My mum suffered DV at the hands of my dad. I need to sit and unpick my response to it through this lens.

@malwarethat’s a good summary. It’s not literary fiction, but it’s a good read.

I think the criticism of it being chick lit is a bit badly expressed. The Names is not chick lit, but it's not literary fiction either.

I listened to The Names on Audible and although I did really enjoy it and I found it interesting but it lacked the depth of other novels I have read and really really enjoyed. For example, I have also just finished The Story of A New Name by Elena Ferrante which is also written by a woman, covers similar ground: DV, women's lives, relationship and feelings. To me Ferrante's characters were more multi-dimensional, the range of issues covered were wider & richer, the writing was more beautiful.

It doesn't mean I didn't enjoy The Names. It's just I think what I would call literary fiction has another level to it and that's why I enjoy it more.

Chick lit?!?!

I completely agree with this post. I lost my mum to DV and thought the book handled it with compassion and depth.

I definitely did not read the author's intentions here vis a vis the VS as "... a bit trivialising and a bit of a cheap way to get attention."

Goodness that's a stretch and I also think unfair.

She obviously included some details but stepped back in places too and very obviously left it to the reader to fill in the blanks in an effective way.

Every book doesn't have to do all things, from my POV. It just needs to do what the author has set out to do well, and I think those of us who enjoyed it 'get' what Knapp was trying to do.

It's interesting that you reference chick lot here and that you thought it trivialised DV.

I felt that it was handled extremely well and took a very in depth approach to the immediate as well as long term feelings and consequences.

I also didn't think it was anywhere remotely near chick lit. Do you think you may be characterising it as a 'chicklit type genre' book because it was written by a woman and is concerned with relationships and emotions?

I think the problem was that the first person to come on disagreeing with everyone who enjoyed it, just said something like “am I the only one who found it disappointing?”.

That’s not engaging in discussion: it’s pissing on everyone’s chips.

Subsequent remarks have been more elucidative.

I also read this recently and just thought it OK.
Maybe partly because that's two books I've read in the space of a month or so which have DV as a main theme in a somewhat chicklit type genre. It feels a bit trivialising and a bit of a cheap way to get attention.
As others have also said, the characters lack depth and for me the writing was just average.
But the concept was clever. The way it all hung together and kind of accelerated to the finish line was impressive and of course it was very readable.

I thought this was the most unputdownable book I’ve read in years. Just incredibly well written and original and clever. I agree that some of the characters weren’t terribly well fleshed out, but I found it interesting how I had different reactions to the same characters in each version of the story.

I do think the blurb is misleading though. The book is absolutely not about nominative determinism! Which was the reason I wanted to read it! The names were really not important, rather it was about the outcome of Cora’s decision. I did also think the name Bear was almost too silly and far fetched to be taken seriously. Yes Kate Winslet named her son that, but no one would ever have considered it in 1987.

The DV was unexpected and I agree could have done with some advance signalling. I’m not a huge fan of TW in general, but some of it was a very difficult read.

I was confused by one bit of the epilogue- who is the teenage girl it references towards the end?

That was a difficult read, agreed, and it crept up on you. I didn't feel it was egregious though. It was interesting to me in the relevant Julian chapter you never find out how she died, although you know it was him (sorry spoiler.)

Yes I agree about the DV @NoYouCantComeToTheWedding and it almost stopped me reading the book.

I thought it was OK, a clever concept but hard to read in places because of the descriptions of DV. I would be reluctant to recommend it to others in real life because of that.

Anyway none of this is to do with The Names so I'll leave that discussion there.

It's nice you can do that @TheBlueKoala but sadly many people on so many areas of MN can't, and can get quite rude about things, and determined that their view of something is superior. So some people seem to think if they don't like a book it must be because it is badly written, weak characters etc. It's fine to think those things but sometimes it comes over as if they are absolutely right and people who do like the book just don't understand good literature.

I am able to respect people's opinions about books/music/art without having to "try" to share their opinions. Surely as an adult woman you won't let a negative opinion about something you appreciate change your opinion?

Began it yesterday for my bookclub next month. It's so good that I don't want it to end and I rarely say that about any book! Superb characterisation and writing generally. TW for domestic violence though so it won't be everyone's cup of tea.

It was subsequent posters who said how much they loved it.

Based on the OP though, the OP was asking if people had read it not just if people loved it. And if someone important to me was sharing their favourite thing with me, I would be nice about it.

<don't read on if you haven't read the book>

I liked it, not loved it and I found the domestic violence really quite disturbing. Well written and realistic but not an easy read.

I think my issue is based on a quote I heard about it someone shares their favourite book or music with you they're sharing something very personal so treat it with respect. I can't find it now and I've tried. This is the closest I found.
So while in general I love discussing books, I think given the number of people who have said this is their book of the year, or their favourite book, I just think it would be nice to bear that in mind.

why is it a bad move?! It’s a discussion forum - surely people might expect a range of views that might not be the same as their own? Why is it ‘dissing’ to have a different opinion?