So did I say that my goal was to get up-to-date on all my reading posts by the end of October? Well, after this one I still have two to go... and likely will wrap on another one, so I am not quite sure all will be posted by the time the kiddies are in a sugar coma, but we'll get there just maybe a tad fashionably late!
Next up, is the book that I spent the bulk of my September with, Little Bee by Chris Cleave. This was another one of those books that seemed to have some buzz going on about it. It was lingering on my to-be-read list for awhile until I read that an Academy Award winning actress had scooped up the script, so that moved it up this list pretty quickly (why that mattered to me, I can't honestly tell you). I am not going to name the actress since ultimately I think I was too distracted by the internal picture of her while reading the story, though I do think it is very good casting.
Regular readers of my book posts know that I don't spend much, if any, time talking about plot. I am not a big fan of spoilers, but apparently neither are the folks marketing this book. When I got around to reading it I was even more tantalized to find this in lieu of the traditional blurb:
"WE DON'T WANT TO TELL YOU TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS BOOK. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it. Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this: It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific. The story starts there, but the book doesn't. And it's what happens afterward that is most important. Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds"
Pretty intriguing, huh?! But (ah, the dreaded "but" already!) I think it also sets up a lot of expectation. Ultimately, I am not sure that my expectation was filled and I am conflicted since I would guess it was not Cleave's idea to market the book this way. Though in spite of the marketing, I still think I would have had issues with the "what happens afterward" part.
Though there are many good points. It is hard not to fall in love with the title character of Little Bee who shares the narrative with a British woman named Sarah, who is a quite interesting and morally complex character (no wonder Oscar winner's interest!), and I am a fan of well-constructed novels that unfold in putting the pieces together fashion. Likewise, it is a worthy addition to what seems to be an increasing amount of literature about and taking place (though not exclusively in this book) on the African continent. This is eye-opening stuff and certainly not getting enough of the world's attention (or perhaps, just my skewed US view, but I am still guessing it is the world that is turning a blind eye).
So a bit split decision on this one. Most everything about this book points that I should have LOVED it... but there was enough nagging issues that my end opinion got dragged a bit down. Good fodder for a book group discussion for sure!
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