The basic premise is that Sam Pulsifer accidentally burned down the Emily Dickinson house when he was a teenager and that there happened to be two people inside at the time that perished in the fire. Sam is found guilty of arson and murder and when he comes out ten years later, he doesn't even feel welcome in his own home. He goes off for years and becomes entrenched in a new life but then pieces of his almost-forgotten past come back to disturb the relative peace he's found.
I didn't really have too much of a problem with the plot of the book -- just a few little things. My main problem was with Sam. I really, really didn't like him. Terrible things keep happening to him but he's too stupid to do anything about them or even to fully care. He's Forrest Gump without being lovable or sincere. And his parents? Awful. His wife and her parents? Don't get me started. The other random characters splattered throughout the tale? Blah. I was so frustrated that I looked at other reviews on LibraryThing while I was reading the book (something that I never do) and found my same thoughts in many of the reviews.
HOWEVER (in caps because it's a big however), I think that there are definitely readers who will like this book (see this review or this one). I'm just not one of them. Neither is Trish. So, if you have this one in your TBR pile or are considering it, I strongly suggest reading a few reviews and deciding if the complaints that are made are dealbreakers for you or not. As the husband said, "well, I thought it had a good title ..."
Watching it all burn to the ground,
K
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Sometimes I think the worst thing I can say about a book is that I don't really want to write up a post about it.
ReplyDeleteI agree, up to a point, although I've read plenty of books I don't feel compelled to review, not because they're bad books (bad books I can find plenty to write about!) but because I can't think of anything to say that hasn't already been said. The worst thing I can say about a book is that I didn't finish reading it - and this book certainly sounds like it'd be in that category.
"He's Forrest Gump without being lovable or sincere." Nobody stone me, but...I hated that film.
ReplyDeleteOh ... I know that feeling. It isn't pleasant Thanks for taking one for the team.
ReplyDeleteTracy - True. Some books are good but ubiquitous. And I definitely saw many people say that they couldn't finish this book. I almost stopped in the middle as well.
ReplyDeleteJenny - I'm not a huge Forrest Gump fan either. So if this guy is worse ...
Jenners - Any time. :)
I read this one as part of LiterateHousewife's informal readalong with Indie Reader Houston and my gosh was I flummoxed by Sam and his poor choices, but I guess he is a product of his parents...
ReplyDelete