I honestly wish I hadn’t read that

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent. Beautifully written but really horrible.

What did other people think?

I'm intrigued now , I'm going to get it on my kindle. Will be interesting to see others opinions.

I read it last year without really knowing what it was about. Some bits are absolutely horrifying. I finished it and enjoyed the beautiful writing but wouldn’t say I enjoyed the book.

Just ordered it!

I'm going too get it on my kindle too. I nearly bought it in the ASDA but then I put it back.

There’s another mumsnet thread about it that had some interesting points.

Do you know what that thread was called please?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/what_were_reading/3733045-has-anyone-read-my-absolute-darling

Thanks for that link Wet. What people are saying on that thread is basically how I felt about the book. The author was trying to write as a teenage girl, but I feel that he didn't quite get it; there was an awful lot of man in her voice and how she reacted to her situation.

And basically, quite a lot of it was just vile torture porn.

Horrible book, I read it because it was suggested after I read Naomi's room (which bloody terrified me).

Thank you for the link to the thread. I'm going to read that thread before I read the book.

Didn't enjoy the book at all and found the rapes unpleasantly written (obviously awful events but something in the way they were written left a particularly bad taste.) I read a review in the guardian afterwards and the author mentioned the girl 'having sex' with her father... Which also hit a rotten note with me. Nothing about this book left me feeling anything other than faint distaste, I genuinely dont get the hype.

Agree 100%. I hated that the sexual abuse of a child was romanticised. And feel really uncomfortable that it was written by a man. Awful

Terrible book. Would have been much better there had been a great plot twist but about 1 chapter in, I knew exactly how it was going to end.

God , this was one of those books I read and then mercifully put out of my mind until you reminded me of it!

I found the male author/female pov really uncomfortably jarring, given the subject matter. I felt the relationship was presented in an equivocal way, as if the author couldn't quite bring himself to acknowledge it as out and out abuse.

this sounds horrendous and yeah- why do these books become bestsellers?

at first i thought you were talking about My Dark Vanessa, which i think sounds interesting (and better!)

The Loney. I thought it was well written but the last part of the book made me feel awful.

I'm not enjoying it at all, apart from the obvious , I don't like the writing. Not sure if I'll finish it.

I ordered the sample chapters - didn't think I would want to read the whole book but got it nonetheless.
It is an uncomfortable read but the descriptive prose of the geography and nature is stunning. It is a book that will live with me for a while.
Many reviews on Amazon complain about the sexual language used, but how could it be other, given the subject matter?
One issue; I would have liked some confirmation about Turtle's take on why her mother had died.

@rosegoldwatcher the author used words like "throbbing pussy" to describe a child's abused vagina IIRC. Awful use of language.

Bunker Diary was one I wish I hadn't read but it was for work so I had to.

@GlummyMcGlummerson - I don't remember that but you are right, that is vile.
Aspects of his writing were superb but the book, as a whole, I didn't enjoy and wouldn't buy or recommend it to anyone IRL.

I thought it was brilliant, albeit uncomfortable reading at times. The one bit I could not read was the finger amputation scene - I am not sure I have ever had to put a book down but this scene tipped me over the edge. I can't help but have some respect for the author just for that fact alone. He also completely nailed Martin's character.

Now one book I really wish I hadn't read is Where the Crawdads Sing. What a steaming pile of shit

I have just finished this book, I enjoyed the writing in certain parts of the book but the romanticism of the rapes I found really uncomfortable

Another thing I wish I hadn't read that I stopped reading after chapter 2 - the secret barrister. It's non-fiction about the alleged injustices of our judicial system written by an anonymous junior barrister. The author sympathises with a man charged with raping his ex (a man with a violent history of attacking women and refusing to answer bail) because he is eventually found not guilty - the author is angry he gets no apology. The author fails to mention that only 1% of rapes end in conviction and the reason the acquitted don't get an apology is because not guilty does not mean innocent. I find it bizarre and worrying that someone in the legal system can't recognise this and clearly thinks that juries get it right every time! It's really really pissed me off