Mercury : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Southern Classic
Review: A wonderful novel. Really well written and with fascinating, quirky characters: a girl with mercury poisoning; a teacher who doesn't have a place to live and sneaks around sleeping in the high school at night; a woman who runs a tour boat that sinks and drowns a lot of people. It kept me reading. And Holladay really evokes the place too: the lakeside community with all its characters and its history. I read her story chosen by Stephen King for the O Henry Prize collection a couple of years ago and this has the same unusual perspectives. It's the kind of writing that makes you see life from a different angle after you've read it.

Rating:
Summary: Mercury
Review: Although I liked many parts of Mercury, a few times during the book I was quite bored and wanted to stop reading the novel. I saw it the whole way through, however, and I found the whole idea to be just average and nothing quite special. I liked a few of the characters, such as Louisa, however I really didn't like most of them, especially Glo. The overal way that these characters thought and acted wasen't very belivable to me, and I was displeased with the ending. Plus, the flashbacks of Louisa were quite long and boring to me.

At the same time, I commend the plot and the theme, which I actually did like- the mercury poisoning, the defeat of being second best to your best friend- that is what I enjoyed and found more realistic.

So I will say that I mixed feelings for the book, and I say to at least give it a try. Perhaps a different personality will enjoy this book more.