Rating: 
Summary: Good Book Hurt by Marketing Ploy
Review: I had the impression, judging from the sinister looking doll on the book's cover and the description of the story as dealing with a twelve-year old girl searching for her brother's killer, that this was going to be some type of horror-suspense novel. What it really is is the story of a most unusual girl growing up in an atmosphere of dysfunction, whether it be within her own family or that of the white trash neighbors. Tartt's prose is mesmerizing, and I love her use of themes (dreams, sleeping, water and rain, etc.) that keep the narrative tied together. Most interesting is the author's refusal to give many of her characters a cut-and-dried type of morality. And yes, in a tongue-in-cheek way, Harriet is a genius.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the sum of its parts
Review: Tartt has said in interviews that it pleases her more if someone says "I like this sentence" rather than "I loved your book." One can't help wondering if it's because she knows the sum is weaker than the parts of The Little Friend.There's no question Tartt can construct sentences that sing and paragraphs that make you go back and reread them for their hyper-observant accuracy. And indeed she has said that the way she writes is to write a sentence and rewrite it, and rewrite it, and rewrite it until she's happy with the way it sounds. She won't move on to the next sentence until that one is satisfactory in tone and rhythm. (This should come as no surprise to those who waited ten years for her sophomore effort.) Attention to detail isn't the beef here; it's precisely why we love to read her writing. But her seeming inability to focus on the whole while scrutinizing and restructuring the parts has produced a novel that is more pleasing to read for its details than for its story. The artful writing in The Little Friend delights fans of language. But the poor storytelling disappoints fans of novels.
Rating: 
Summary: A Complete Waste of Time
Review: Let me start off by saying that if they offered a rating lower than one star, I would've rated it so much lower. I started this book because the reviews looked promising and the summary on the back of the book was intriguing. About ten pages into it, though, I got so bored. I was mixing up characters, I forgot who did what because of the rambling, nonsensical story telling. I've never read another book by this author, and I never will. I hate not finishing books and often finish the book just looking for the resolution of the story. This is what happened with this book. I tried to finish it quickly just because I had no interest in it and just wanted to get it over with. By the end of the book, I was so disgusted, I literally threw the book across the room, then had to dump it in the trash. I would NEVER recommend this book to anyone, not even my worst enemy. The plot lines, from the crack-addicted Ratliffs to the murder of Robin to the death of Aunt Libby, I didn't understand a single thing in that book and NONE of the plots ever finished. Rambling, mind-numbingly boring, complete and utter crap. Spend your money on something more worthwhile.
Rating: 
Summary: Right Up There With To Kill A Mockingbird
Review: Subtle, powerful, and full of the languid and long moments of childhood, this southern mystery is not for the reader who wants a cheap thrill, Each character is drawn carefully and completely with the plot woven around them until there is no escape, no possible place to withdraw or hide. The reader plummits forward holding hands with elderly Southern women, snake driving drug dealers and the small children who know the secrets that connect them. It is not a book that can be put down in the dark. I hadn't read the author's first book, but I will stampede backwards to find it. She is a genius. Her last page here is a masterful one. She can stand up with Harper Lee and Ray Bradbury in my bookcase any day.
Rating:
Summary: Did I miss the plot resolution?
Review: Although the positive reviews about this book are correct in regards to this author's ability to tell a story, you should not underestimate the need of a reader to find resolution to a story. You will read this book and get all wrapped up in the characters...but at the end you will throw the book down in disgust. Not only will you NEVER find out who killed little Robin, you don't find out the resolution to a SINGLE plot point in the story. Everything is up in the air. I could not help wishing that the author had cut out a bit of the rambling dream stories and provided instead an actual ending to the story. I wish I had never read this book as I find myself often wondering if there is something about the story I just missed. Did the author give us a hit and I just missed it? Sadly no. This book is simply a beginning and a middle....no end in sight.
Rating:
Summary: Brave and brilliant
Review: Long chapters, long book, lots of unresolved threads -- how brave, how brilliant of Knopf and Tartt to dare to offer this story. Tartt is among the best contemporary writers I have read. I can't believe I have missed The Secret History and can't wait to read it. I don't care what the story is -- the woman doesn't simply write, she composes. The way she puts words together reaches deep inside of me -- like listening to a Beethoven symphony. I too, am baffled by all of the negative reviews.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: It's been a long time since a novel has kept me up at night reading. This is a great read, guaranteed to take your mind off your daily woes for a few hours. Believable characters and a twisty plot makes it work. Quite an ending!
Rating:
Summary: I am a disappointed Tartt fan
Review: The Secret History is my favorite book, so I was really looking forward to her new novel. I had the book on order long before it was released. What a disappointment. It took me months and months to finish because I simply was not interested in any of the characters, the story or even the writing style. this book was really painful to read. It really isn't about the disappointing ending, but the almost unbearable journey getting there.
Rating:
Summary: With Friends Like These...
Review: If you're a fan of Tartt's earlier book The Secret History (synopsis: several pretentious philosophy-majors participate in a Dionysian revelry leading to murder, betrayal, Byron quotations, languid speeches by pale-faced heroines, etc., etc.), than you probably had your nose pressed up against the bookstore window in anticipation of her newest novel, The Little Friend. And while the book shares the same gothic sensibility as The Secret History, the story line lacks the imagination and intensity of its predecessor. Eleven years after the murder of her older brother, twelve year old Harriet decides to solve the mystery of his death. In the process, she unearths not just circumstantial details about his hanging, but also what's concealed in her family history. Works well for the first 100 pages, but then you begin to fear that you've somehow blanked out while reading or accidentally skipped a few chapters. Otherwise, you might wonder why Tartt decided to take an intriguing idea and turn it into an increasingly dull narrative that becomes The Little Summer Where Nothing Much Happened Until the Very End if You Even Get That Far. The characters are likable enough, especially Harriet, who loves reading The Jungle Book, catching poisonous snakes, and hanging outside bars frequented by speed freaks and murderers. However, Harriet adventures slowly begin to resemble a Disney movie in the making. And while the prose is engaging, and the other characters lively, the Southern slow pace might make you droopy, frustrated, and ultimately uninterested.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: Tartt had a great idea here but definitely did not fulfill the promise of the story. There were so many things that could've happened that would have made a satisfying story, but Tartt only drops hints at the most interesting aspects of the characters. For example, why not explore why it is that the family will not speak of Robin's murder, and why it is that it was deemed acceptable for Charlotte to hole up in her bedroom and withdraw from her life and her living children? I also found Harriet and Hely to have few redeeming characteristics, and felt unsatisfied that they almost killed several people, including themselves, and at the end of the story they had still not been held accountable for any of their ridiculous actions. From early on I kept hoping that they would get caught. I think that this book is so dissatisfying because in the end nothing changes. You get the impression that Harriet's messed up life is going to stay exactly the same. She might give up on trying to avenge her brother's murder, but her familt will still be screwed up and she will still be a lonely misfit. And are we supposed to believe that Harriet actually has epilepsy? Does that explain all of her thoughts and behaviors? What a weak ending!! If you want to read a book about an unsolved murder without ever seeing the killer brought to justice, read The Lovely Bones instead. If you want to read "Southern" literature, turn to the experts: Carson McCullers, Eudora Welty, Lee Smith, Terry Kay. Spend less time and read something more satisfying like To kill a Mockingbord, or, for humor, Crazy in Alabama. There are so many better books out there.
|
