... Kevin Holtsberry explains in his Link roundup. Actually, I just read The Thirteenth Tale over the weekend and plan to review it. It's maybe the best book I've read this year.
What Jane Eyre has that The Thirteenth Tale doesn't have is a passionate statement of social criticism and a main character with a passionate nature tempered by reason and a sense of what is fair and what is right.
Thirteenth Tale is beautifully written, but what does it mean? Reading is important? Yes, and possibly that needs to be said at this moment in time, but it doesn't seem enough to make a book a classic or a "best" book of the year. I enjoyed the novel for what it was: a traditional gothic. I thought the characters were poorly developed and mainly forgettable.
Frank, I've always liked your reviews. Hope your Thirteenth Tale review addresses some of the points raised here:
ReplyDeletehttp://7decade.blogspot.com/2006/07/thirteenth-tale-by-diane-setterfield.html
What Jane Eyre has that The Thirteenth Tale doesn't have is a passionate statement of social criticism and a main character with a passionate nature tempered by reason and a sense of what is fair and what is right.
Thirteenth Tale is beautifully written, but what does it mean? Reading is important? Yes, and possibly that needs to be said at this moment in time, but it doesn't seem enough to make a book a classic or a "best" book of the year. I enjoyed the novel for what it was: a traditional gothic. I thought the characters were poorly developed and mainly forgettable.