Reviews for The book borrower

The average rating for The book borrower based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-05-08 00:00:00 Jake Snake Many Goodreaders disliked this book, but it was a New York Times notable book, and a few people liked it a lot. So it was an interesting experiment to read through the reviews and for readers whose tastes match my own. Turns out, those who liked it are a lot like me reading-wise (duh). It has been a long time since I read Anne Tyler, but I kept thinking of her and Raymond Carver as I followed the characters through their very ordinary, slightly sad, very believable lives. This was an unromanticized story of friendship, art, and loss that, for me, captured the ordinariness of extraordinary people. Some readers disliked the switches between two different stories, but I love the early 20th century immigrant culture of my grandparents and I found the transitions engaging and easy to follow. The end of the novel made the effort required worthwhile.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-04-01 00:00:00 Tim Makinli 4-09 I really didn't care for this book, and it was quite an effort to get through it. It was for book club. We all read the blurb and decided that it sounded great, but I think we've been let down. I had a lot of trouble with her writing style. It jumped erratically from one thought to another when characters were talking and thinking. That drove me nuts. Also hated that there were no quotation marks. Just those dash things, which made it confusing figuring out what was spoken, and what was thought. Couldn't find a single character to like or identify with. I just wanted to give Ruben a kick in the butt for being so gloomy and self centered. Are we supposed to like the character of Berry? She was just awful. Hated what she did at the end of the book. I had to force myself to get through it.