Light on Pretty Much Everything
Written: Jun 19 '06 (Updated Jun 19 '06)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Nothing.
Cons: Thin storyline. No life in the characters. Bland dialogue.
The Bottom Line: Vacuous. An obvious attempt to swindle the reader out of a few bucks.
|
|
|
| jay1051971's Full Review: Anita Shreve - Light On Snow |
If Oprah Winfrey has done nothing else, her bookclub has made many authors extremely rich, simply on account of they being the subject for review. Oprah has a loyal following of millions of viewers, and when she recommends a book, you can be sure many of them are going to run right out and buy it. In the past, Oprah may have found some value in an author named Anita Shreve, but after reading her book, Light On Snow, I had to wonder at what sort of things tend to capture her attention.
The Story:
The narrator of the story is a young girl named Nicky. She and her father moved to New Hampshire after her mother and baby sister were tragically killed in a car accident. Her father, rather despondant over the loss, gave up a promising career as an architect, to seek a fresh start in a brand new – and secluded – place. The two of them live on the outskirts of a small town , in a house that is difficult to reach during snowstorms.
One day, the two of them are out walking in the woods, when they come across a rather frightening discovery – someone has abandoned a newly born infant out in a snow drift. They grab the baby and rush it to a nearby hospital, just barely saving its life. After being interrogated by detectives, they make the news, giving Nicky and her father a little bit of fame, especially with her classmates at school.
In a surprising move, the mother of the baby comes to their house a few weeks later. Although he has much contempt for her deed, Nicky’s father does not turn her over to the police. The mother ends up staying with them for a couple of days, riding out a snowstorm, before leaving. Just as she’s leaving, however, the police arrest her. In all likelihood, she’ll spend tiome in jail, while “Baby Doris” – the abandoned infant – will be adopted by a family somewhere.
Thoughts:
Now, if all of this sounds like the making of a decent, emotionally gripping story, nothing could be further from the truth. As I read this, I kept thinking to myself, “ok, when is something dramatic going to happen.” Instead, all I was treated to was the mundane ramblings of a 12-year old girl, trying to talk up a non-eventful plot. There were often “flashback” scenes to when Nicky’s mother and sister were still alive, which I had hoped would tie into the story in a way that would reveal some sort of grand motif. Nope. Nothing of the sort.
In hindsight, if asked what the book was about, I could tell you every thing that happened in three paragraphs – in fact, I think I just did here in this review. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. The characters were less than organic, instead just being there to provide some sort of bland dialogue. I came away from the book wondering why I bothered reading it. Personally, I think Shreve just mailed this one in…coasting on her success from her past works spotlighted by Oprah.
Overall
I would not recommend this book at all. There is nothing going on here, at all. Don't bother. One Star.
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
jay1051971
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Jason
Location: Dayton, Ohio
Reviews written: 343
Trusted by: 216 members
About Me:
The 4 Essential Food Groups: Drugs, Guns, Booze, and Hookers.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.