I hope it's OK to just start a thread here like this, if not please move it to wherever it should be.
I just finished A Changed Man, and was curious about what others thought of it so I checked out some reviews on Amazon.com. Wow, I feel like I read a different book than most of those reviewers! I'd like to hear some opinions from AWers.
At first, the POV felt a little removed compared to the books I usually like (I'm a fan of 1st person, and ACM is multiple/omni), and by the time I was on chapter four I'd started to wonder whose story it would turn out to be. I kept reading, because the premise was so interesting and the characters so compelling. I wanted to find out how things would play out and whether Prose would fall back on stereotypes (especially with Raymond). It would've been very easy for her to do so, but I didn't see it.
Usually, by 100-150 pages in I'm not surprised by many developments in a book, but this one surprised me. More than once. The last third was very satisfying; I didn't think Vincent would be the one to explode on the Chandler show, and didn't see Meyer ditching his comfy life. And yet, I believed both. Prose must have sons, I loved watching Danny and Max's interactions with each other and the other characters, they're very real teenage boys. Bonnie's transformation was the most fun to watch -- as a woman who also went through an icky divorce & spent my kid's teenage years as a single parent, I really empathized with her and rooted for her the whole way through.
One of the things that surprised me the most, is what Vincent was really hiding from his new friends. I thought it had to be something more ominous than the stealing from his cousin and pill-popping we already knew about, more along the lines that he really hadn't had a change of heart or would unapologetically bring violence (Raymond/ARM) to Bonnie and/or the foundation. I didn't see it coming in this book, but I'm a sucker for a love story so the ending felt perfect. I want to know what happened after the ending; if someone said that about one of my books, I'd be thrilled.
I don't know how I'd missed Francine Prose up until now, but I plan to go back and catch up. I hope the rest are as fearless as ACM.
I just finished A Changed Man, and was curious about what others thought of it so I checked out some reviews on Amazon.com. Wow, I feel like I read a different book than most of those reviewers! I'd like to hear some opinions from AWers.
At first, the POV felt a little removed compared to the books I usually like (I'm a fan of 1st person, and ACM is multiple/omni), and by the time I was on chapter four I'd started to wonder whose story it would turn out to be. I kept reading, because the premise was so interesting and the characters so compelling. I wanted to find out how things would play out and whether Prose would fall back on stereotypes (especially with Raymond). It would've been very easy for her to do so, but I didn't see it.
Usually, by 100-150 pages in I'm not surprised by many developments in a book, but this one surprised me. More than once. The last third was very satisfying; I didn't think Vincent would be the one to explode on the Chandler show, and didn't see Meyer ditching his comfy life. And yet, I believed both. Prose must have sons, I loved watching Danny and Max's interactions with each other and the other characters, they're very real teenage boys. Bonnie's transformation was the most fun to watch -- as a woman who also went through an icky divorce & spent my kid's teenage years as a single parent, I really empathized with her and rooted for her the whole way through.
One of the things that surprised me the most, is what Vincent was really hiding from his new friends. I thought it had to be something more ominous than the stealing from his cousin and pill-popping we already knew about, more along the lines that he really hadn't had a change of heart or would unapologetically bring violence (Raymond/ARM) to Bonnie and/or the foundation. I didn't see it coming in this book, but I'm a sucker for a love story so the ending felt perfect. I want to know what happened after the ending; if someone said that about one of my books, I'd be thrilled.
I don't know how I'd missed Francine Prose up until now, but I plan to go back and catch up. I hope the rest are as fearless as ACM.