Recently read for my book group. I really struggled with this one....again.I first came across this book when I was sitting my English O Levels back in the mid 1980s. I hated the book and struggled to get into the book then, finally gave up and together with a friend we clubbed together and purchased the study guide! More than 25 years later I was confronted with the book again. I still dislike the book, but this time I read it.
I simply did not understand the need for the science fiction part of the story. Was this the way the author copied with his feelings of survivors guilt I wondered? For me the story had to be either about his time as a prisoner of war, which he spent in Dresden or a science fiction novel, a mix of the two did not work for me and I was relieved that I finished the book.
That's a pretty limited way to view literature. Maybe authors should just use a checklist so they'll know what all they should include and what they shouldn't include.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about limited view. I struggled with this book. I did not warm to it, and kept wondering just what it was that I missed. The rest of the group, there was 8 of us all commented. There was 1 person who liked the book, the rest of us pretty much felt the same. I think we have to accept that there are many books, all of us enjoy different books & take different messages from the books we read.
Delete