What on earth did you like about 'Memory Keeper's Daughter'?

[CoteDAzur]

I'm wondering, because some people must have liked something about it, otherwise it wouldn't have stayed in bestsellers lists for so long.

Yes, I did count them In my defense, the book is so dull that there isn't much else to occupy the mind.

tis trus it is a real doozey .you cannae polish a turd even all that shimmering doesn't conceal fact that the book is relentless

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I wasn't impressed with the start, either.

Why on earth did he have to tell her she had another baby and lie about her dying? It's not like she knew she had twins.

I found a lot of the descriptions repetitive too. I don't read many books (too tired by the time I get to bed, which is the only place I read really), but I thought i might like this one. I made it to the end, but not really sure how as it was very slow and imo, not brilliantly written. Disappointing for me.

Currently enjoying 'How to talk to a Widower' by Jonathan Tropper.

It looks like I am really going to suffer with Labyrinth

Before I joined this book club, I had no idea that there were these books favoured by book clubs, all tugging at heart strings with minimal involvement of the brain, with feminine subjects (birth, babies, wife-beating) and female heroes, and even questions to download from their websites for 'reading groups'.

I finished it last night.

I actually thought the latter parts were more interesting. Phoebe was an actual character rather than a concept others agonized over. She had thoughts, feelings, and hopes.

OMG -pmsl- you said all that stuff, and you hadn't even finished it? Hilarious!

I read it fairly slowly and didn't find it a particularly well written book, although some of the underlying issues were interesting.

I found it a little odd as I thought Americans always used imperial measurements; yet there were several references to metric measurements (e.g. 10 c.m. dilated during labour etc).

I suspect it has been fairy popular as it was on the "Richard and Judy" summer book list last year. I was reading an article recently in the Independent and basically any book given the R&J seal of approval is almost guaranteed to take off. One or two of the others on the list were significantly worse imo.

Did you miss the post where I said I was at page 165?

Sorry to hear you just pissed yourself Peachy. We could also talk about a toilet training book that greatly helped DD, if you like

So, are the 'over 20' glimmerings and shimmerings just up to page 165 or are there more by the end, Cote?? Just joking, lol!!

I've recently started a bookgroup here, which seems to be going ok. We've read three books so far, Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie, The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble (don't bother yourself with reading it!) and this month's is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. September's choice is The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney. At this month's meeting we will decide on the books for the rest of the year. I won't suggest
'Labyrinth' which is still glaring at me from the bookshelf as I type - maybe I should start a poll to decide what to do with it??

I love MN for making me prioritise my book pile. I don't have Memory Keeper's Daughter but the swings in opinion of it make me think I might read it. On the other hand, I have both Labyrinth (lent to me by my Mum) and Sepulchre (bought half price because I knew no better) and think I might give them amiss.

sue - I was close to the end when I wrote that. There was only 1 more 'shimmer' after that comment: 'What was it Van Gogh had touched? Something that shimmered, something elusive.' (pg 334)

I'm so happy that book is finished. God help anyone who has to read it to the end.

The Reading Group is the most shallow dull and deathly boring book I have ever read. I second suedonim's don't bother. I think I chose it for the book group as well- just because of the name - however I also chose The Red Tent so some brownie points there (highly recommended and enjoyed by all) and a recent Murakami (I wanted Norwegian Wood but it was hard to get hold of at the time).

tee hee hee. i loved it, but i have crap taste in books and dont understand anything too intellectual. it was right up my street

The Reading Group was suggested to us by someone simply because of the name, Getback. But they really liked it and have bought the writer's other two books as well.

Cote, I think you've been scarred for life by the Memory Keeper's Daughter!! Did you count the picture on the front as one 'shimmer'? Istr that the frock was made of shimmery fabric, though I can't check that out as I gave the book away asap.

sue - Allow me to ruin 1000 Splendid Suns for you. Read this and weep

I couldn't get in to it , it was really boring. I tried a few times. Glad to see this thread. I'll just give it to the charity shop with a clear conscience now. I wasn't the only one to be bored rigid by it.

By the way, I am 60 pages into Labyrinth and quite enjoying it.

Maybe to appreciate Labyrinth one needs to have just survived "The Memory Keeper's Daughter"

I would also like to say for the record that Kate Moss manages to bring alive medieval France with her descriptions, names of places and castles, etc whereas Khaled Hosseini is so incapable of describing Afghanistan that he has written an entire book that passes indoors. Or outdoors but on top of a mountain, away from everyone else (beginning of the book).

It's like a book about the US that talks only about hamburgers. A book about Afghanistan that talks about nothing but women being punched around.

Kate Mosse, even

Thanks, Cote. Lol at MaryannSingleton trying to find her soul on that thread. I shall shamelessly plagiarise that thread at next week's book group meeting.

I tell you what's so annoying about many books nowadays. Ones like '1000 Suns' tell you 80% of the story on the back cover. What's that all about? Is it to save us time when reading the book itself, thus enabling us to rush out and buy yet another title?

That is because these 'book club books' have boring simple stories that can be summarized in four sentences on the back cover.