Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Book Review: His Illegal Self by Peter Carey


I had the exact opposite problem with this book that I did with the last book I read. The problem with this book is that the story is good. It's interesting, if a bit cliche, but it takes some turns that intrigued. The problem is the writer is not a terribly good writer.

I know it's in vogue not to use quotation marks, but if you're virtually incapable of distinguishing between your characters' voices, it's probably necessary. It's not that the character's were unbelievable, but they ...more I had the exact opposite problem with this book that I did with the last book I read. The problem with this book is that the story is good. It's interesting, if a bit cliche, but it takes some turns that intrigued. The problem is the writer is not a terribly good writer.

I know it's in vogue not to use quotation marks, but if you're virtually incapable of distinguishing between your characters' voices, it's probably necessary. It's not that the character's were unbelievable, but they seemed to all think in the exact same way, and use the exact same words and logical processes, regardless of age, gender, life experience, etc. And the problem is, ages and genders and experiences presented HUGE differences in the context of the story. This should have been made a bit more clear.

The story itself is interesting, and might have benefited from a bit more historical context, but in all shows promise that this particular writer can create an interesting world for his characters to inhabit. I just wish that the quality of writing were more enjoyable, that I actually wanted to spend time with the book, rather than feeling I had to suffer some mediocre prose to find out the ending to a story that genuinely had me hooked. Not to mention the bitter aftertaste of a truly unsatisfying ending.

This review was reposted and expanded from my review at Good Reads. Oh, you love reviewing books, too? Join! We can be friends!

No comments: