“it stinksIt was way too clever for me......asthough she just spent a few years jotting down bit of cleverness that came her way on index cards and mashed them together during a long vacation. Exhausting and unreal.”
“I find that while it does slow me down, it's part of what i love about the main character. She's Holden Caulfield meets Rory Gilmore... and that just makes me smile. I love a title character with an uncontrollable inner dialogs. Perhaps I identify... though most of my inner dialogs is comprised of funny connections between what is said and what is too belabored to explain in words (a long-forgotten film, book, or experience). No one likes it when you chuckle and explain how what they said reminds you of a conversation you had 3 years ago with someone they've never met about a film they've never seen.Am I deranged???”
“This was the one issue I had with this book also. I found the citations distracting. As for any tips all I can say is I just pushed through and finished the book to see if it was worth the trouble. My opinion was-just barely.”
“This book must be skimmed through, the asides, citations, and references were terribly distracting. Like watching a movie where the camera angle changes every 5 seconds, manic and discombobulating. The underlying story is decent, but I skipped alot in order to get to it, I could not read it cover to cover. I really wish the books the chapter title referred to, were more incorporated into the plot...”
“I enjoyed the book a lot and sort of went with the ones I "got" and let the others pass me by and didn't worry about them. I don't think , in the end, you have to have picked up on all the references and citations. Besides, some of the books she quotes don't exist! (although the ones that are used in title chapters do, of course)”
“A bit of diagonal reading here and there may do no harm! I liked the book, but must admit I did not read every single word of it....”
“Ok, I understand what you're getting at, but honestly: Aside from nods to Breakfast At Tiffany's and Goodnight Moon, how many of her cultural references had any meaning for you? Finnegan's Wake it's not.And I meant "clever" as facile, superficial...not smart.”
“I quite liked the book, all the "cleverness" fitted the principal character and her development, her history, etc. very well, I thought, and when things went over my head, I just let them be, I did not feel the need to be as clever as the principal ( or as she thought she was? ) but I enjoyed the story and the many questions that you have to keep posing yourself. So, sorry but no, it does not stink! It was a bit long and a bit show-offy perhaps, but nothing to warrant such violent displeasure. ”
“Well maybe she was going for a reader participation thing, forcing you to pay close attention and draw your own conclusions. I ended up discussing with lots of people whether her Father was really part of the secret organisation. I like it when a book provides for its readers like that. ”
“ok, but the ending? It was way too rushed, and too many questions were unanswered.”
