All agreed it was a great title
Becky 5.5 Revealed the author was her wacky college roommate. Gave the book two points for roommate status, one point for title, two points for theme, and two points for a diverting story. That adds up to 7. I must have missed how Becky docked points, perhaps for the time Amanda locked Becky out of the dorm room while clad in only a towel. The book touched on lack of desire and wanting what you can't have. There was much that was both clever and bizarre. An art studio with blank walls, Roland purposefully losing things, a homeless therapist who was always disappointed in people's problems. If taken literally you would hate it. She found it surreal, clever, funny, and bizarre.
Miles 4.75 Can't think of anyone to recommend this to. It wasn't painful or offensive. Miles has an issue with satire, he needs to be able to relate to characters, but these were so 2-dimensional he was unable to do so. The bit where they were floating in the ocean after jumping overboard had some good dialogue, but overall it wasn't ever about content but more just cleverness which wore him down. He saw nothing new in the themes of things that drive humans, and everyone has their quirks. Roland needed a comeuppance that never happened. It was a flat read.
K'Lynn 7.5 Laughed all through out the part where the instructor explained how to read maps in the subway. Finding deeper meaning with scenes like three adults eating topaz beads or a nude adult covered in chocolate whilst holding his pet rat escaped her, and she decided it was light reading material. She liked Ray the bum and how he wanted to know everyone's story, but was afraid he would be disappointed so he didn't ask. Loved that Lynn got rejected from so many clubs and the fact that her art studio was covered in blank walls. Hadn't read a comedy for a while.
Michelle - 5 Probably wouldn't have finished if it weren't a book club pick. Got rummy 3/4 of the way through and then began to laugh. At first she was bugged by Alan's rat on his chest, but then came to like the rat. She thought the Alan/Lynn/Max bit in the hotel would have been funny in a Princess Bride cyanide sort of way. There was no closure with Max's death. Roland's eventual model girlfriend had killed several times. How do writers ever come up with this stuff? Unlike anything we've ever read before, but she would probably recommend it.
Letiticia 5 Is a literal reader, and found it ridiculous. She couldn't take it seriously and it annoyed her. She understands the wanting what you can't have and could envision it as a silly movie in the same vein as Sideways. The characters were pathetic and damaged in that movie, and so were these characters. She too liked the part about Lynn not being able to get into clubs. Thought Alan would be killed. It wasn't her type of book. It was smart and well done, but she didn't care.
Artie 7.5 Identified with the ideas, but not the characters. He found it very original and thought the idea of losing desire and seeking it worth thinking about. "I keep bees. I bicycle. I'm quirky. I think about this type of stuff." He found it at times to be joyful and wished there were more feeling in the book so we could have more empathy for the characters. There's a fine line between sanity and insanity and function. Sometimes we fall off the balance here and there, but most of us get back on. He is going to recommend to his mom and will give us her report.
Maggie 1.5 Didn't like it at all, and would have abandoned ten pages in if not for book club. What on earth did K'Lynn find so funny? She had to rush to finish it, and gave it 1.5 because the author took the time to write it. Couldn't connect with the characters. Alan was slightly sympathetic, but a stalker!
Sandy 7/7.5 At first thought this was the stupidest book, and was going to rate a 3! Then she began to love hating Roland, and it grew on her a bit. She found Alan sweet and pathetic. Parts that stood out to her were Lynn's applying to clubs, Roland's cyanide filled locket, Alan's one trump card of being consistently carded, Max being killed by the cyanide, Roland getting away with murder, and Miss Tuttle's secret name. We all wondered if Alan had indeed been sexually abused and the exact meaning of a mango fish. She liked it when Alan stood up for himself and told Roland he lost things because he was a loser.
Pat: 4 To me, a farce reveals truth by looking at something in a ridiculous way, but I'm not sure this revealed any truth about anything, least of all love or stalkers. Its absurdity reminded me of Seinfeld. There were laugh out loud moments, especially when Alan joined the feminist class and had to make his vagina and refer to himself as a goddess. Funny because, well that's just funny and I could see this possibly happening. It was too silly to take seriously so wasn't upset when Roland killed the innkeeper. Jumping overboard...it just didn't work for me as a book. I thought it would be a hysterical movie if done right.
Comments