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Post by Dominique on Jan 24, 2007 22:03:12 GMT -5
Well, I finished it yesterday and I did end up really enjoying it. I would recommend it to people. The pace of the book speeds up immensly towards the second half and the book has some really good insights on life and what it's like to live in this world, usually done through either a quotation from a book or an analysis of a quotation. I have to say though that I figured out the twist before it was revealed Which always makes me feel smart! It was kind of modern literature blended with crime fiction and mystery. Anyway I really enjoyed it, just got a bit bogged down in the first 100 and something pages. You know it was a good book when you finish it and you're still thinking about it the next day I'm interested to hear what other people think when they get through it.
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florence
First piece published in the school’s newspaper
Posts: 60
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Post by florence on Jan 25, 2007 7:11:07 GMT -5
I finished this book last week and I really liked it. I thought it was a very erudite novel and I liked the way the author made references to so many books and websites. It was just like a scientific publication. On the other hand, I can relate to people saying this irritated them, because it interrupted their reading time after time. It seemes to me that Pessl suffers from what I call 'the fallen bookcase syndrome'. Harry Mulish, a Dutch author which I really like (you absolutely must read the discovery of heaven) does the same thing. They both know a hell of a lot on different subjects and they (randomly) want to show that to you. Hate it or love it.
I thought the language was beautiful and very visual. I liked the caracter of Hannah, so mysterious an attractive at the same time. The only thing I not really sure about is the ending. But I read in an interview with Pessl that there is a solution to all of it, but she won't tell us. You just have to figure it out yourself. So maybe you have to read it twice to get all the hints to get the puzzle complete.
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Post by Dominique on Jan 25, 2007 7:17:56 GMT -5
I agree I wasn't sure about the ending either, I felt it seemed a little tacked on at first but now I think it was good. I thought the ending wasn't that ambiguous, maybe I missed something? There were some parts I didn't get (the Andreo guy) but I thought I got the ending as a whole (I don't want to say what I thought it was though because I'm worried about spoiling it for other people:)). I loved all the quotations, but some of the just intext bibliography stuff without the quote got a bit too much for me.
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Post by Dominique on Jan 25, 2007 7:28:16 GMT -5
I'm having a bit of a dig around the internet for that interview you were talking about, I haven't found it but I found this new york times article that had something interesting in it: Blue is relentlessly intellectual, making incessant literary references, whether to Argos, the dog who recognizes Odysseus on his return home, or Dante’s love, Beatrice Portinari. Then there is “the late great Horace Lloyd Swithin (1844-1917), British essayist, lecturer, satirist and social observer” who, like a number of authors cited by Blue, was invented by Ms. Pessl.
“She filters every life experience she has through books,” Ms. Pessl said last week of her main character. “A lot of the references are tongue-in-cheek.”
www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/books/21pess.html?ex=1313812800&en=bc0c2d69fb793a2f&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
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Post by Dominique on Jan 25, 2007 7:37:22 GMT -5
there were quite a few smaller elements of the plot that I couldn't answer in the pop quiz at the end, but I thought I had the most probable big questions figured out I hope, I just looked back over the quiz and now I'm not sure again!
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Nathalie
Collection of short stories bought by Random House
Posts: 1,309
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Post by Nathalie on Jan 25, 2007 17:56:17 GMT -5
is the language in the book difficult to understand or can I as a non-english speaker follow more or less easily?
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Post by Dominique on Jan 25, 2007 18:19:02 GMT -5
you should be able to follow it easily enough, but with an occassional word you might have to look up.
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cauthoncrazy
First short story featured in regional newspaper
I've got the dreamers disease.
Posts: 158
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Post by cauthoncrazy on Jan 26, 2007 15:53:55 GMT -5
I have about 300 pages left...it has really picked up and gotten good. I'm glad you liked it Dominique!
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florence
First piece published in the school’s newspaper
Posts: 60
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Post by florence on Jan 31, 2007 8:54:15 GMT -5
So I took a look at the website that had the quote from Pessl in it where she talks about the solution of the book. It was in a website from 'the volkskrant' an important newspaper in Holland, but unfortunately the piece was in Dutch. I'll try to translate the quote from Pessl:
" I can tell you that there is one fitting solution for the murderstory, but I will never reveal that solution. If you read the book carefully enough, you will find all the elements you need to tie all the loose ends together".
I couldn't find the quote or the interview in english, but I'll try to find it on the internet
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Post by Dominique on Jan 31, 2007 23:46:01 GMT -5
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florence
First piece published in the school’s newspaper
Posts: 60
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Post by florence on Feb 1, 2007 7:02:23 GMT -5
Yeah, me too Dominique! Thanks for the link.
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cauthoncrazy
First short story featured in regional newspaper
I've got the dreamers disease.
Posts: 158
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Post by cauthoncrazy on Feb 4, 2007 12:04:29 GMT -5
Only 200 pages left and I can't believe I'm not done yet....the language is starting to get on my nerves. Even though it is very enjoyable to read most of the time, I think it overshadows the plot.
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Post by Dominique on Feb 6, 2007 7:23:16 GMT -5
does anyone have any feel for the extra clues Pessl talks about or the plot complexities? I'd definately like to hear some opinions on it, all over google everyone's talking about the mystery of it but no one seems to have any idea
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cauthoncrazy
First short story featured in regional newspaper
I've got the dreamers disease.
Posts: 158
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Post by cauthoncrazy on Feb 6, 2007 17:08:33 GMT -5
I just spent the last fourish hours finishing the book. I thought the twist was totally unexpected and the Final Exam cleared things up for me.
So Dominique, what d you wanna chat about?
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zeldafitzgerald
Collection of short stories bought by Random House
ancora imparo
Posts: 1,948
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Post by zeldafitzgerald on Feb 7, 2007 19:26:51 GMT -5
I finished it this morning, and I LOVE it. I had it checked out from the library, but I'm ordering it from Amazon so I have my own copy.
I love the references she used and the chapter headings too, but my favorite part of the book was Pessl's writing. I think she is an amazing writer. I think that she is incredibly talented at description. She gives examples of things that she is describing and they are so spot-on clear and correct that you can just picture what she is talking about. I love that.
I am also confused about the definitely answer to the mystery. When I read it it still seemed very up in the air as well.
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