Monday, March 26, 2012

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff



Ok. So. I stopped reading this book like a week ago, but I keep forgetting to update!

I got more than halfway through, and then lost interest. I always feel slightly guilty when that happens, but feel that spending my time doing things I actually want to do is vastly more important (as in: not forcing my way through a book that doesn't excite me at all). There are far too many books in the world to waste time on one you don't want to read. So say I.

However, I was into this book. I really, really was. I find the church of LDS and its followers fascinating, wonderful people. This book was exceptional in that it held multiple points of view and still managed to retain its cohesiveness. I love that. I loved that the present-day plot was more than supplemented with historical backstory.

My problem was that, maybe, it had too much past and not enough present. I can tell you exactly where I got bored and lost interest. The 19th wife was starting her speaking tour when I had to stop. There was some commentary on how much of the story she wrote was fabricated or theatrical in order to entice readers - so as a reader, you're thinking "yeah, that is probably bull"...and then it goes right back into the pages of the book in question.

I liked the gay kid and his plight. I liked his little crude teenage sidekick. There just wasn't enough of them. I'm sure, if I'd stuck it out, they would have been there, solving things in the end. But I didn't need quite as much history to get there. In my humble opinion.

So there you have it. Onward...

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