topic Re: Fates and Furies--wretched! in Book Club

Fates and Furies--wretched!

insomniac2 — Mon, 15 May 2017 05:21:23 GMT

I just finished reading Lauren Groff's Fates and Furies and suffered during most of it. It's supposed to be a contender for some major literary prize. Why, I do not know.

Has anyone else read this book? There are two main divisions. The first one starts out in a most dreadful way and that keeps going way past the halfway point.

Then the book gets slightly better. There are actually several pages I enjoy.

But then I'm so tired of everybody that I can't wait to finish. (I read and read, and only move through a handful of pages.)

It's supposed to be remarkable because it tells a story from two different sides. Lionel Shriver did a far superior job in her brilliant The Post-Birthday World..

Any comments?

Re: Fates and Furies--wretched!

smoky22 — Mon, 15 May 2017 14:21:17 GMT

I have to agree. The two different sides of a marriage. It was a chore to finish. I don't understand all the amazing positive reviews for it either.

But if you're going to read it, you should read both parts before being allowed to review it. I get miffed at the Amazon reviews that give a book one star because they couldn't finish it. There should be a category that says "Did Not Finish."

Re: Fates and Furies--wretched!

zitawins — Mon, 15 May 2017 14:30:38 GMT

If you didn't like it, why finish it, struggling all the way? I never put myself through that. If the author can't grab my inerest in the first chapter, he/she's gone! Life is too short to wast e on a book that's unreadable.

Re: Fates and Furies--wretched!

insomniac2 — Mon, 15 May 2017 15:45:54 GMT

I always used to pride myself on finishing every book I began. Now I'm more flexible.

However, if I'm reading something for book club (i.e., Fates and Furies), I do make a point of reading it all. (Especially since one person I really respect said she thought the book was great! Now, of course, I wonder why.)

Otherwise, I certainly would have closed the door on this one.

Re: Fates and Furies--wretched!

smoky22 — Mon, 15 May 2017 20:12:54 GMT

There are a lot of books I give up on after a few chapters. They're just not for me. Then there are books that I want to finish even though they may be a chore to read. I have a variety of reasons for why I give up on a book and why I keep going. The standard response of "why read it, if it's chore" is a little simplistic.

Re: Fates and Furies--wretched!

auburndawne — Tue, 16 May 2017 16:17:14 GMT

Oh I am SO glad that I'm not the only one that absolutely hated this book. I am very OCD about finishing every book that I start but I just could not stand to read one more page of this book and quit about 1/2 way through. The characters had nothing likeable about them at all and I just didn't care about them in the least!!!