I'd say YA, but I never really read many YA novels and I don't know to what extent they are allowed to have sex in them.
Hmm. I don't think it is fair to compare it to Dracula. Suburbia will never measure up to epic treks to Transylvania
Yes, the characters were mostly good. I liked Will and I liked how he started out dangerous and following the cliché, and then it took a turn for the worse and he became just unsympathetic.
But the way they were written didn't appeal to me. I don't agree that "show, don't tell" should be a fixed maxim, but there is rather too much telling here for my tastes.
It does flow very well. I found the language a little too rudimentary, however. You told me it was originally a screen play, and I think it would work very well as that. While I found the book very easy to read and not annoying, it felt a little uneven to me. I mean, there were moments of brilliance, and then there were moments that were really too flat. And sometimes he took a good thing too far.
Yes, I liked the ending. I was a little worried they would all go back to abstaining, which would have been ridiculous. It was solved in the sensible way. A happy middle way between repression and indulgence? Aristotle would be proud.
This is a story about vampires. I don’t normally read those because I doubt that they’ll live up to the quality of Dracula, which is one of my favourite books, and because I have no desire to read about the modern vampire: sexy, misunderstood, and not really all that threatening. My worries were unfounded – this is a very good book. The vampire described in the story is violent, animalistic, and thirsty. And, while not sexy (which is great), the vampires are compelling, in much the same way that Dracula was.
Hmm. I don't think it is fair to compare it to Dracula. Suburbia will never measure up to epic treks to Transylvania
Haig’s characters are people you’d meet in the street – your next-door neighbour, that clever but shy kid at school, the suburban mother living for her children instead of herself. Haig seems to possess the ability to get inside a person’s head – say the frustrated husband of said suburban housewife – and explain his feelings, his motivations, his hopes and fears. This realism is a nice counterpoint to the fantastical in the story.
Yes, the characters were mostly good. I liked Will and I liked how he started out dangerous and following the cliché, and then it took a turn for the worse and he became just unsympathetic.
But the way they were written didn't appeal to me. I don't agree that "show, don't tell" should be a fixed maxim, but there is rather too much telling here for my tastes.
The book flows really well. It’s a quick read, with basic storytelling, which I really appreciated. No need to be overly clever, no long paragraphs philosophising on this or that point of human nature. Just a good story, told well and simply. Lovely to read.
It does flow very well. I found the language a little too rudimentary, however. You told me it was originally a screen play, and I think it would work very well as that. While I found the book very easy to read and not annoying, it felt a little uneven to me. I mean, there were moments of brilliance, and then there were moments that were really too flat. And sometimes he took a good thing too far.
For all that, though, it isn’t a shallow book. Haig explores the denial of our appetites and what this does to us, as well as the process of growing up and what we become – can we fight against our nature? Perhaps what I appreciated most, though, was the description of family life and family love, that despite our shortcomings and issues with one another, we carry that love with us. Sometimes it’s crippling, sometimes it’s strengthening, and sometimes it hides the truth from us. The decisions we make based on familial love have big implications for our lives, and that fact colours so much of the action of this story. Finally, this is a book about hope, and people getting a second chance in their lives.
Yes, I liked the ending. I was a little worried they would all go back to abstaining, which would have been ridiculous. It was solved in the sensible way. A happy middle way between repression and indulgence? Aristotle would be proud.
The Radleys is a charming novel about something very odd happening somewhere very normal. The story is interspersed with quotes from “The Abstainer’s Handbook”, which I rather enjoyed as it set up the struggle faced by the central family in the novel, giving the reader more insight into the lives of the people involved. There’s a quiet, gentle humour throughout the book, and a strong understanding of human nature. I thoroughly enjoyed it and think most people would too.
*MySmiley*
structured procrastinator
structured procrastinator
The Radleys by Matt Haig: secrets and lies in suburbia.
- 13/06/2010 05:07:38 PM
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Re: If I can get a UK address-monkey can/may I take part? *NM*
- 13/06/2010 10:39:26 PM
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It was a very quick read, indeed. *spoilers*
- 11/07/2010 11:36:13 AM
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