Date Finished: 10/04/2011
My Rating: 2/5
This was the second time that I've read this book, and I wasn't particularly looking forward to having to re-read it. But a challenge is a challenge, and it would be a sad thing to admit defeat before even reaching Gormenghast just because I remember a book boring me.
Nevertheless, I actually enjoyed it a little bit more this time round. I think I'd missed the fact that it was supposed to be a parody, and therefore funny. Now I don't really like to advertise a possible lack of sense of humour, obviously, but I was pleased to find that this time round there were some parts that made me smile. Not laugh necessarily, just smile.
Understanding that this book parodies the fiction of the time it was published (early 1930s if I recall correctly) probably helps, but I just found Flora annoying and unwelcome. In fact, there wasn't a single character that I even liked a little bit.
So, who should read this book? I think this is one for people who appreciate subtle humour, but who also enjoy the rural-life, romanticised novels that it pokes fun at. It is a pleasant read, just not particularly for me.
Next book: Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
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