I "only" read two books this month. The use of the quotation marks is because one of them was Justin Cronin's The Passage. This was a monster of a book. When I read a novel like this one, I am always amazed by how some writers can create a complete world of their own. This book was tense and complex but so easy to read at the same time. Paradox? Yes, those are the best kinds of books. If someone had told me that this book was about vampires (and I hesitate to write that because I don't want to turn you off), I probably would have thought, "More than 700 pages about vampires? No, thanks." But it's not about vampires. It's so much more. Just give it 25 pages and you'll see what I mean.
This was a month of extremes because the other book I read was The Grownup by Gillian Flynn. I read this in under half an hour. Some people might argue that this is more of a short story, but I'm counting it because it was actually in the physical form of a book, all by itself. I think Flynn easily could have developed this story into a full blown novel, but I'm glad she didn't. I've read books where it feels like the author is milking an idea that should be a short story into a novel. I find this annoying. This book was short and completely satisfying. I really applaud Flynn for being the master of the unlikable, but somehow likable, protagonist.
I thought this picture says it all. Good things come in all sizes.
Kim
I've heard such good things about The Passage. Someday I'll jump into those 700 pages!
ReplyDeleteWhat you described above is part of the reason why I've been hesitating about The Passage, but it's been recommended to me so many times that I'm going to see if I can check it out.
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