I thought this was a lovely book, though the ending isn't a happy one. The characters were interesting and yet believable, the writing was elegant and humorous, and the plot moved at a good pace. Okay, so it moved a little fast at the end.
There are a number of discussion questions I thought we could talk about, but instead of writing them all at once, I thought I would post one now, with my response, and then post another later to talk about.
One french critic called the book "The ultimate celebration of every person's invisible part". How much does this "message" contribute to the book's popularity?
I think it contributed a lot. Things that I had thought to myself, or similar to things I have thought to myself, were being voiced (or at least written) for the characters, which gave me a greater connection to them. I am sure that almost everyone could see a piece of themselves in Renee or Paloma.
T found the writing style of this book very different. The author kept switching from one character to another and at first I thought Paloma was Renee as a child. I finally realized they were two different people.
The book would be easier for someone with a higher education to understand since there were so many references to classical literature, art, and music. Now I hope that I have put my commas in the right places. I wonder what Renee's IQ was. She was definitely above average in intelligence and in her thought processes. Her reactions were very much like that of a perfectionist, not to say that all perfectionists have very high IQs.
There was a humorous side to the story that made me laugh at times, especially the part where the two dogs meet at the elevator entrance And the scene where Renee uses Kakuri's bathroom and the classical music starts to play. The two of them laughing uncontrollably over the event was such a good lead in to their beginning to relax with each other.
The ending was sad and yet her death was what helped Paloma decide not to set fire to the apartment or to kill herself.
What a beautiful friendship Renee and Manuela had. We should all be that lucky.
2 comments:
I thought this was a lovely book, though the ending isn't a happy one. The characters were interesting and yet believable, the writing was elegant and humorous, and the plot moved at a good pace. Okay, so it moved a little fast at the end.
There are a number of discussion questions I thought we could talk about, but instead of writing them all at once, I thought I would post one now, with my response, and then post another later to talk about.
One french critic called the book "The ultimate celebration of every person's invisible part". How much does this "message" contribute to the book's popularity?
I think it contributed a lot. Things that I had thought to myself, or similar to things I have thought to myself, were being voiced (or at least written) for the characters, which gave me a greater connection to them. I am sure that almost everyone could see a piece of themselves in Renee or Paloma.
T found the writing style of this book very different. The author kept switching from one character to another and at first I thought Paloma was Renee as a child. I finally realized they were two different people.
The book would be easier for someone with a higher education to understand since there were so many references to classical literature, art, and music. Now I hope that I have put my commas in the right places. I wonder what Renee's IQ was. She was definitely above average in intelligence and in her thought processes. Her reactions were very much like that of a perfectionist, not to say that all perfectionists have very high IQs.
There was a humorous side to the story that made me laugh at times, especially the part where the two dogs meet at the elevator entrance And the scene where Renee uses Kakuri's bathroom and the classical music starts to play. The two of them laughing uncontrollably over the event was such a good lead in to their beginning to relax with each other.
The ending was sad and yet her death was what helped Paloma decide not to set fire to the apartment or to kill herself.
What a beautiful friendship Renee and Manuela had. We should all be that lucky.
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