I went to PA. Lancaster County. My friend Greg gave me a book to read, Shadows In Lancaster County, saying, "It's great. You'll love it."
Wrong on both counts.
Some of the poorest writing I've read. Ever.
Contrived, stupid, poorly put together, a gross underestimation of the intelligence of readers (which may reflect the intelligence of the writer), mistakes in the book--editing and proofing--too many words and too much extraneous detail, very predictable, except for the ending, which came out of the blue and led me to think even the author didn't know who dunnit until she had to come up with someone and this someone just happened to be the only "spare" person, if you know what I mean.
And the main character, someone we need to like, is someone I can't like. She is a skip tracer. We know that because she tells us and because she keeps getting out her skip tracer forms. One second she is smart and experienced and capable of just about anything, the next incapable of even intelligent thought. Why? Because she still loves Reed who kissed her once 11 years ago.
Oh yeah, and God is her co-pilot, so to speak. She brings in religion from time to time, and it's like, "Oh, I haven't mentioned prayer for a while or God or going to church. Better get something in here about that."
I am religious. Things spiritual matter to me. But her use of these things DOES NOT WORK in this book.
Here's one plot jiggle for you. A guy is murdered--turns out by his mother-in-law, the botanist, who is divorced (making her "spare") from his father-in-law and employer, the drug company owner, who is a good guy after all--and the murdered man's wife, I think so she won't have to grieve much, is suddenly dying of cancer. Handy.
And here's another thing. No one in the book is just a person. Everyone is something else important sounding. Except for the Amish.
I finished it so I could tell Greg I read it. But I wonder, did he love it? Think it great? Can I tell him what a mess it actually is? These things are difficult. Maybe I can tell him two of the characters had lunch at the Greenfield Inn, just a walk from my hotel in Lancaster and leave it at that.
It is hard and fast rule of mine never--perhaps I should type NEVER--to commit to read a book someone has recommended. I have plenty of books in my queue, and I will read what I want. During my last trip to Mexico I didn't take enough books, so I had to choose from a few George and Cecil had read. At Cecil's suggestion, I chose False Impression by Jeffrey Archer. It was touted as "a worthy successor" (or something like that) to The Da Vinci Code (which I have not read but which was evidently pretty popular). False Impression was garbage: stupid, predictable, implausible. It felt like the author had used "thriller template" to write it: enter in character names and places, perhaps an important item everyone is looking for, and mix it all up and pour it out and you have bestselling novel. Nice to see you, 21st century literature--I am going back to the 1800s and England. I won't be back.
ReplyDelete