Friday, January 31, 2014

Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple ~ DNF

Ehn, I just couldn't do it. First off, it's a book written through letters and emails and messages and whatnot, a style I already have a hard time accepting. Secondly, precocious kids. I don't know, call me curmudgeonly, but I found fourteen year-old Bee to be a tad too *smart* and brash. Kids like this are neither clever nor cute and I certainly don't believe they should be calling the family vacation shots no matter how stellar their report card is. But then I'm of the old-school belief that parenting is a benign dictatorship and not a friendship of equals. Not, at least, until said kids are well on their way to supporting themselves.

Anywhoo, I digress. Perhaps it's a fun and quirky book to read for some, but I wasn't enjoying it enough to keep going.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, it's a shame you didn't like it. I did, but then, I'm pretty much into this kind of postmodern fiction. I agree it is a book with a specific audience.
Also, I am accustomed to reading English/British fiction and I usually find American contemporary fiction quite different and shocking. They are different styles.

As the Crowe Flies and Reads said...

Ahh, sorry you didn't like this one. I read this book at the right time and ended up loving it. I'm drawn to the darkly humorous anyway.

Nan said...

Not for me, either.