Anyone read The Names?

[wherethewildthingis]

Has anyone read this one. Really enjoyed it and keen to talk about it!

Thanks, MyOtherProfile.

I am itching to discuss two of the names in more detail. But it doesn't feel fair.

I thought aa the title of the threads says “Anyone read The Names ? that we could assume it’s past tense, so we can post spoilers ?
Would @wherethewildthingisthe OP mind adding spoilers to the title ?

I have never read a book twice but after having listened to The Names on audible, I’m considering reading it in book form.
It was my book of the year last year.

was thinking the same.

What a strange concept. You only want people who agree with your opinion to engage with the thread? No curiosity? No debate? No discussion?

It's not a 'downer' - most people enjoy hearing other people's views. Especially when it comes to Art and Literature. I'm sorry if I sound like I'm up myself, but I can't get my head around that kind of thinking.

Anyway - all my comments as above stand. Loved it.

Like @TheBlueKoala , @FKAT and others, I wasn't keen.

I'd seen such positive reactions here perhaps my expectations were too high. The basic premise was an interesting one and I felt a lot of it was well written.

However, in one fairly short novel you don't have the space to fully explore three separate sets of lives over the timespan. Each felt rushed, or not fully fleshed out.

The common threads of Lily, the vet, the grandmother being the same people while the damage changed by how the family dynamics played out was nice, but some characters' incarnations felt a bit flat.

Absolutely fine with debate and discussion. I just think it's a bad move if someone just comes in to diss a book that clearly other people have loved.

No. You said that you are not interested in differing views once you've read a book. That's ridiculous.

I'll be sure to check in with you in future before posting anything, just in case you think it's ridiculous.

I’ve just started it. Picked it up as I love baby names and also the idea of one choice changing the course of everyone’s lives. Finding it really absorbing but extremely upsetting too!

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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?

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.

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

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.

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

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.)

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?

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 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.

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?