genre: chick litRating: 2/5
As a 22 year old philosophy student at Sussex, Susannah’s life revolves around her studies and her relationship with her older boyfriend Jason. When a boy in her course catches her fancy, she’s suddenly pulled in two different directions, but instead of making a decision and choosing one over the other , she floats along and lets her philosophical musings convince her that making no decision is a decision in and of itself. When the situation hits the fan and Susannah finally has to look into herself and decide what she wants, she once again turns to modern day philosophers to work through what she really wants for herself and her future.
There are things about this book that I liked. I did like that you get an introduction to philosophy and that you can see it applied , I also liked that Susannah grew up a bit throughout the course of the book. The writing style alternated between light chick-lit and deep philosophy, which was interesting. Beyond flowing hair for the men and disco, the book just didn't give me much of a sense of the 1970s - with the exception of the feminist debate, especially over the issue of abortion, which felt very realistic and gave me a sense for how hard it would have been to figure out your role as a woman during that time.
However, for me, the plot was too much based in Susannah’s bedroom life. The pace of the novel was a bit slow. Beyond that, I wanted her to stand on her own feet more and even at the end when she finally made a choice, I still felt like she was being self-absorbed, which was frustrating for me. I think my main problem can be boiled down to the fact that I just could not relate very well to any of the characters, despite my appreciation for their struggles.
If you’d like to read a different take on this one, please visit one of these other sites:
The Literate Housewife
Book Pleasures
5 comments:
Hmmm... doesn't sound like it would necessarily be a book I'd be drawn to... but I did have to say that the first sentence of your third paragraph here made me laugh for a reason that I KNOW you did not intend... read it again, and perhaps you may want to make this two separate sentences. :)
I like to read about strong female characters, so I think I'll skip this one.
Probably won't read it, but very jealous my legs don't look like that!! :)
I'll be reading this one soon. It sounds really good, but I've been seeing a lot of reviews that agree with your assessment. Well, I guess I'll soon see.
--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric
I have this one on the shelf for review. I'm now aware of some serious issues people have had with the book...hmmm...thanks for the honest review.
I'll have to see how it goes.
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