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The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith - NO SPOILERS

298 replies

CrossPurposes · 17/02/2023 21:41

I know we still have a long wait but JK Rowling has announced she has completed the next Strike novel: twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1626688428523016192?s=20

OP posts:
EggTheParrot · 02/10/2023 03:39

Just gonna keep dropping this link in here so we
Can keep this thread spoiler free Spoilers spoilers spoilers

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4906913-spoilers-spoilers-spoilers-the-running-grave-spoilers-thread

WobblyLondoner · 02/10/2023 09:25

I'm listening on Audible - about 9 hours in (25 to go - :0). I could happily spend all day listening but unfortunately family, work etc are getting in the way! It is rather shocking to realise that the total narration is almost an entire working week...

They are getting ludicrously long (as did HP) but I do enjoy them. When Strike and Robin appear in the narration I actually let out a contented sigh!

BabyStopCryin · 02/10/2023 14:12

Phew just finished. 😲

InTheCludgie · 02/10/2023 14:29

BabyStopCryin · 02/10/2023 14:12

Phew just finished. 😲

Did it feel like completing a marathon? 😬🤣

MargotBamborough · 02/10/2023 14:38

BabyStopCryin · 01/10/2023 18:38

Sue always get new eyes on a final final read. I always get an assistant/secretary to proof final
run through for me. When you’ve read a document a million times you go word blind.

I'm sure a lot of people on this thread would volunteer to do the final final final proofread for free!

I would anyway, JKR if you are reading this! When Book 8 is ready to be sent to the printers, you know where to find me!

BabyStopCryin · 02/10/2023 15:44

InTheCludgie · 02/10/2023 14:29

Did it feel like completing a marathon? 😬🤣

Well yes I do think I should get a medal!

Calmdown14 · 02/10/2023 17:37

I absolutely loved it. Have had an audible marathon but Robert Glenister is an amazing narrator.

It's not an easy read in the relaxation sense. I woke up in the middle of night and had to listen to more to find out what happens! But it is well worth persevering with if you struggle with the initial letters etc.

I like a book with a proper ending and it didn't disappoint.

To plot all that out is really quite something.

2Rebecca · 02/10/2023 23:21

I'm 1/3 of the way through and finding it quite stressful. It's darker than the others. I'm quite glad when they switch to discussing one of the other cases for some light relief. I don't see the attraction of Strike, in the last book he spent the whole time whinging about his leg and not doing anything about it and he's not endearing himself to me in this book. As characters he and Robin are fairly boring workaholics.

the80sweregreat · 03/10/2023 05:31

I don't find Robin boring , but I doubt I'd find Strike attractive myself! He must have something though as women seem to love him !

StBrides · 03/10/2023 12:19

I'm just over halfway through and a little disappointed with it if I'm honest - it suffers from too little honing as did a couple of the later HP books...chapters where very little happens at all and it all gets quite boring & very put-downable.

As a reader you know you're being fed the occasional clue but so great are the gaps between them all that it's a separate activity to put them together; so I just ignore them, which then really makes the long parts where-not-much-happens quite pointless.

As a writer myself, I know she can accomplish the same in fewer pages, with greater tension so it doesn't feel like you're wading through mud to get to the good bits. She wouldn't actually have to reduce the text by much at all.

It's a real shame since part of JKR's genius lies in how un-put-downable how writing can be and the joy of a large book is tempered knowing it would be more enjoyable for being a couple of chapters shorter.

It's difficult at times when writing to notice when the pacing is off because you're so immersed in the story and you know what it is you're aiming to achieve, but levelling the challenge to cut at your stories as you hone them is crucial.

I haven't read all this thread yet as I'm wary of spoilers creeping in but it's great to see Robin & strike being honest with themselves about their feelings for each other and I agree with the comment that they're not wholly likeable. I love that about them though, none of us are wholly likeable and I love that Jo doesn't spare them in her writing.

MorrisZapp · 03/10/2023 13:46

JKR doesn't half like detailing exactly how attractive women are in comparison with each other, does she?

Lots of physical description, down to exact clothing brands.

I agree it's just too longwinded, with endless minor characters getting pages or at least paragraphs of description.

I'm sticking with it but to me it's very meat and potatoes.

StBrides · 03/10/2023 15:42

JKR doesn't half like detailing exactly how attractive women are in comparison with each other, does she?

Yes, I've noticed that. Sometimes it's the character's point of view, but I don't think always - and you've nailed it with "in comparison to each other"

Hanlonsamazer · 03/10/2023 17:09

JKR must have visited the places she uses, right? I live in one of the villages in the book and I’m gutted I didn’t see her on her field trips!!

redavocado · 03/10/2023 17:19

Hanlonsamazer · 03/10/2023 17:09

JKR must have visited the places she uses, right? I live in one of the villages in the book and I’m gutted I didn’t see her on her field trips!!

Yes! I remember someone on here meeting her in Norfolk last year (maybe?) and she mentioned then that she was doing research. This is clearly the book!

BabyStopCryin · 03/10/2023 18:07

I used to work near spearmint Rhino and the Japanese kitchen, pub, Denmark street. Always funny to think these are real places.

SweetAndCrunchyLettuceMix · 03/10/2023 18:22

I loved it. I wasn't been able to put it down and sadly, I finished it today, possibly at the expense of a promotion! I'm going into a period of mourning for being exiled from their universe until the next one. It was totally satisfying. I think establishing the drumbeat is incredibly hard for large pieces like this, and it worked. It's nice not to have the tension tightly wound all the way through and space to breathe and reflect, more like a large Russian piece. Writing purely for tension is a bit like trying to keep a big dopamine hit going; not good for writer or reader, and is I think part of an unhealthy obsession with constant impact and lack of integrity. This was a beautiful (although frightening in places) experience.

Hanlonsamazer · 03/10/2023 18:25

BabyStopCryin · 03/10/2023 18:07

I used to work near spearmint Rhino and the Japanese kitchen, pub, Denmark street. Always funny to think these are real places.

Yes, I moved from Soho about 15 years ago and there’s stacks of books set there (Rivers of London a favourite) but this is only the second one I’ve come across anywhere near my tiny hood!

StBrides · 03/10/2023 19:22

SweetAndCrunchyLettuceMix · 03/10/2023 18:22

I loved it. I wasn't been able to put it down and sadly, I finished it today, possibly at the expense of a promotion! I'm going into a period of mourning for being exiled from their universe until the next one. It was totally satisfying. I think establishing the drumbeat is incredibly hard for large pieces like this, and it worked. It's nice not to have the tension tightly wound all the way through and space to breathe and reflect, more like a large Russian piece. Writing purely for tension is a bit like trying to keep a big dopamine hit going; not good for writer or reader, and is I think part of an unhealthy obsession with constant impact and lack of integrity. This was a beautiful (although frightening in places) experience.

Great points

paranoidnamechanger · 03/10/2023 21:02

I’m 45 % of the way in and finding this mid-section pretty sluggish. Which is a shame as the book started so well, but at least I’m invested in the main characters.

Hallelujah2020 · 04/10/2023 10:03

Had mine on order from Amazon to be delivered next week. Was just looking at books in Tesco and there it was, Amazon order cancelled and looking forward to getting stuck into it

2Rebecca · 05/10/2023 15:49

I've only 5 hours left to listen to and enjoying the pace and the fact that it isn't non stop emotional tension all the way though which often makes me feel I'm being manipulated by the author. This is my favourite of her books so far although the prophets themselves are disappointing and it's a shame she couldn't have thought of a concept for a religion that was more believable and made Papa whatever his name is the centre of the religion as a guru with just 1 or 2 prophets as more minor things

BabyStopCryin · 05/10/2023 16:47

I started watching some awful film about nuns last night - spookily similar! Well not quite exactly.

MorrisZapp · 06/10/2023 13:46

Has she learned nothing from Dursleygate? Still using fatness as a characteristic.

Robins waistband slipping down, Strike's switch to salads.

I mean I'm no snowflake but she could ease up on the heavy class stereotyping too.

I'm still reading though, nearly halfway there 😊

StBrides · 06/10/2023 15:35

MorrisZapp · 06/10/2023 13:46

Has she learned nothing from Dursleygate? Still using fatness as a characteristic.

Robins waistband slipping down, Strike's switch to salads.

I mean I'm no snowflake but she could ease up on the heavy class stereotyping too.

I'm still reading though, nearly halfway there 😊

Tbf

Robin lost weight as a natural consequence of what she was going through (avoiding spoilers here) and strike needing to overhaul his lifestyle...

I don't see a problem with either (other than how annoyingly quickly the weight seems to fall off strike)

MorrisZapp · 06/10/2023 16:23

No I won't be fair 😂

I just feel there's a 'slim is good' air to the whole thing. And the shrinking waist of our heroine is all a bit 'ooh I forgot to eat' although of course that's not at all the situation.

'I just happen to be getting hotter' said many, many fictional characters.

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