Tag: didn’t like it

The Given World by Marian Palaia

The Given World by Marian Palaia

thegivenworldThe Given World gave me a headache. Why is it that when “serious” fiction “examines” life that it only focuses on the bad stuff?

Riley is a young girl in Montana who worships her brother. He’s drafted and shipped off to war in Vietnam. It breaks her heart and she systematically begin to ruin her life, because she can’t get past it. She eventually leaves home, gets lost in worlds of drugs, domestic violence, and alcoholics on the California coast. Everyone she meets is as dysfunctional as she is or on their way to dysfunction. Personal opinion here: if society was only composed of people like that, it would have fallen apart a long time ago.

Riley is a character that I tried to like but just couldn’t. She always made the worst decisions and if there was a way to improve her situation, she didn’t choose it. It was like she had blinders on to the possible goodness in life and jumped enthusiastically into the darkness. She turns her back on her family, blames everyone else in life for her problems, and consistently isolates herself from anyone who could possibly lend comfort or stability. In this passage, she’s talking about her father: “The way they smoke, so casually oblivious, reminds me of my father- on the porch, maybe, or out in the yard at night, looking up at the sky, for weather, but it’s not as if he could miss the stars. I hear my name in his voice: “Riley…” Never loud or angry, just gentle reminders: try to grow up with some degree of intentionality and grace; try to believe the world is more benevolent than not. I wonder if he knows I did hear him.” pg 10, ebook. Riley, I don’t think you did.

I did grow to feel sorry for Riley. She didn’t ask for her family to be ripped apart by war. I guess, after experiencing that sort of emotional turmoil at an early age, that it might be almost impossible to put your life on track to begin with. “She reminded him of a deer who knew you weren’t out to shoot it. Like she’d let you get just so close, and then bolt to the edge of the clearing; the forest nearly impenetrable behind her where she knew you couldn’t easily follow.pg 40, ebook. But, I just couldn’t get over the fact that she didn’t use her intimate knowledge of pain to help other people.

Riley’s mother was a hot mess too, but she managed to raise two children fairly successfully. I was surprised that Riley didn’t use her as a role model, even for a moment. In this passage, Riley’s mother writes her a letter, trying to connect with her wayward child: “And lost as you already are these days, or as I think you must be, you still probably understand, maybe better than most, that kids don’t necessarily hold you steady. Even if they do, somehow, hold you in place.” pg 97, ebook.

Rather than continue on in this vein, I will end this review with acknowledging that The Given World was not for me. But, if you enjoy reading coming of age stories with multiple flawed characters and plenty of bad decisions, you may want to pick this one up. Some trigger warnings for sensitive readers: domestic abuse, racially motivated violence, and drug use.

Thanks for reading!

Grey by E.L. James

Grey by E.L. James

We all know what this book is about and why I didn’t like it. If you don’t have any idea what it is, here’s the Goodreads link.  Instead of writing a negative review about that, let me tell you a story about Fifty Shades of Grey and my first days as a librarian.

It was March of 2012. After being unemployed for four years to be a stay-at-home mom, I was hired to work behind the circulation desk at the public library in town. That particular day, a line formed at the front desk, which, as I would discover, happens all the time- but it’s stressful to have people waiting while you’re learning the ropes.

At the front of the line, a sweet, little elderly lady asked me, “Honey, do you have that book about the color grey?” I looked at my manager in confusion and he immediately answered, “Yes, ma’am, we do, but all SIX of our copies are currently checked out. Would you like me to put you on hold for it?” He walked me through the process of doing a hold request and then we were on to the next person in line. This time, a teenage girl giggled behind her hand as she asked me about, “That Fifty Shades book, do you have it?” I gave her the answer that we just gave the little old lady, and I put the girl on hold for it too.

All day long, for my first two weeks on the job, women, old/young and from all walks of life, asked me to get the book, Fifty Shades of Grey, for them. I still had no idea what this series was about… remember, this was before E.L. James did the talk show circuit in the states. After she made her appearances on Rachel Ray and, I can’t remember where else- was it Ellen?-, all hell broke lose. We couldn’t keep the books on the shelves and irate patrons were calling and storming the circ desk, wanting to know why the second book in the series arrived on their hold shelf before the first book did. (Short answer-the first book had four times as many holds on it as the others in the series.) To accommodate the demand, the library bought another six copies of the regular print books, bringing our own total copies to a dozen, not counting the audiobooks and large print versions. The library system that we take part in, owned nearly 500 copies of Fifty Shades of Grey, altogether. It was a literary phenomenon.

I decided, that even though it wasn’t my thing, I was going to read this trilogy that was blowing up the library world. So, I did. I wasn’t floored by it, but I could see how it appealed to a certain crowd. Erotica is very popular at the library, after all. Conscientiously, I read all three of the books, because that’s just the kind of professional reader that I am. :p After awhile, I started skipping the sex stuff because, frankly, it became repetitive and boring. I soldiered on because I wanted to know what happened to Ana. And, I found out.

In this book, on the other hand, I knew what was going to happen before I even picked it up so I didn’t bother to finish it when I discovered that it had nothing really new to offer. Grey is just for the true fans of the series and, unfortunately, I am not a true fan. I’ll always equate Fifty Shades with my first days on the job and my whirlwind introduction to the world of public libraries. I believe that it is a cultural touchstone for me in that regard. But, that doesn’t mean that I think it’s worth the ridiculous hype that it has garnered. Pick up Grey if you truly loved the original trilogy and wanted it to go on and on. I’d advise all other readers to steer clear.

Thanks for reading!