Loved this book.
It reads like the novelization of your favorite romantic comedy.
It's a cross between The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and The Accidental Tourist.
I understand that it has already been optioned as a film, and that it began its life as a screenplay.
I just read the New York Times review today and the NYT reviewer compared it unfavorably to The Curious Incident; there, the reviewer opined, one was not dependent on observations made by the protagonist but could infer social cues and other information not provided by the protagonist by reading the dialogue. It's a been a few years since I read Mark Haddon's book; my recollection was that as the book wore on, especially as it came to its conclusion, it became more and more contrived. Nevertheless, that "shapeliness" is probably part of why it was so popular.
It's probably also a little slighter than The Accidental Tourist, if only because the latter book deals with grief and loss, and there, the love object lady was more problematic, and so, probably more interesting: not the same class as Mason, the writer of the Accidental Tourist series, not educated, with the unfortunate name "Miriam," and an equally unfortunate dress sense, and a child who was struggling. Anne Tyler is a resolutely hopeful writer and she manages to talk about dreadful disappointments in a poetic way and makes you believe that a happy ending is possible.
It reads like the novelization of your favorite romantic comedy.
It's a cross between The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and The Accidental Tourist.
I understand that it has already been optioned as a film, and that it began its life as a screenplay.
I just read the New York Times review today and the NYT reviewer compared it unfavorably to The Curious Incident; there, the reviewer opined, one was not dependent on observations made by the protagonist but could infer social cues and other information not provided by the protagonist by reading the dialogue. It's a been a few years since I read Mark Haddon's book; my recollection was that as the book wore on, especially as it came to its conclusion, it became more and more contrived. Nevertheless, that "shapeliness" is probably part of why it was so popular.
It's probably also a little slighter than The Accidental Tourist, if only because the latter book deals with grief and loss, and there, the love object lady was more problematic, and so, probably more interesting: not the same class as Mason, the writer of the Accidental Tourist series, not educated, with the unfortunate name "Miriam," and an equally unfortunate dress sense, and a child who was struggling. Anne Tyler is a resolutely hopeful writer and she manages to talk about dreadful disappointments in a poetic way and makes you believe that a happy ending is possible.
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